|
|
 The
first thing you can do to increase your speed is to run faster as you do your
long slow distance. I'm not referring to the natural increase in speed as your
body gets stronger. I'm referring to an intentional increase in speed. Also, I'm
not suggesting that you sprint during your runs. You still want to do a majority
of your running such that you're not overly tired at the end, but you can run a
little bit faster |
I
refer to this form of speed training as a "low-level" form of speed training,
because it doesn't put an awfully large stress on your body. I like to use this
as my first attempt to increase my speed.
Cadence Drills
Jeff
Galloway, in his book
Running Until You're 100, explains that one way to be a faster runner
is to perform cadence drills. The drills help one to run faster by running
smoother and easier. He describes them as a "gentle" drill, and I recommend them
as an early attempt to systematically do speed training because they don't put
a lot of stress on your body.
A
cadence drill has two phases. First, jog or run a 30-second interval and count
the number of times your left foot touches the ground. Next, after a minute or
so of walking or jogging for recovery, run another 30 seconds and try to
increase the count by 1 or 2. Repeat this sequence several times. Notice that
each repetition starts with the first phase that yields a new count.
Fartlek
Running
fartleks is my favorite method of training for speed. I like them because they are fun and because they
have no predetermined structure -- you vary them according to how you feel
and the location where you're running. When running fartleks, you include
a lot of variety in what you're doing, all in the same session. Imagine a
child at play. The child doesn't follow a regimented schedule of "run now"
and "rest now". The child runs around the playground, trying this and
doing that. The child spends more time with some of the equipment because
of his or her interests at that moment. So it is with fartleks.
According
to Webster, fartlek is "Swedish, speed play : fart,
running, speed (from fara, to go, move, from Old
Norse". I like that definition, speed play. Speed:
training to run faster. Play: having fun doing it.
Suppose
this is the day for your speed training and you decide to do fartleks
while you run LSD. As you run down the street, you see a house up ahead
with a flag pole in front. The house is, maybe, a couple of hundred feet
away. You pick up speed and run to that house at a pace that is faster
than your LSD pace. When you reach the house you slow down to your LSD
pace and run a rest period for a minute or so. Then you look down the
street and see a car parked at the side of the rode. It is closer than the
house was. You sprint to the car and then slow down to your LSD pace. You
decide that's enough speed work for the moment so you continue your LSD.
After a few minutes, the desire for another fartlek comes, and you look
around for another "target". You see a big tree down the street, further
away than the house was. You increase your pace and go to the tree. You
continue your run, mastering a few more "targets" at various distances and
speeds. As you near your house, you see your 8 year old neighbor on
her bike. You throw out a challenge, "I'll race you to your house!" The
girl immediately heads for home as fast as she can peddle. You give it
your all and run as fast as possible to the girls house (she beats). With
a smile, you say, "I'll get you next time", and you jog down the street to
cool down and recover. This is how I do fartleks, and it illustrates why I
think they're so much fun.
Fartleks
can be done on a track as well as during a LSD run. Vary the number of
times you circle the track (or portions of it) and the pace you use.
Fartleks can even be done on a treadmill by varing the speed and incline
of the machine.
When
I run LSD I run at my "comfortable" pace such that I feel good at the end.
I like to finish the LSD with a short fartlek or kick in which I sprint to the finish. I may not do
this in every run, but I like to do it at the end of most runs. Similarly,
when I race I end the race running "all out" for the last two hundred feet
or so. I remember a five mile race I did in Townsend, Massachusetts in 1985. The course took a gradual increase to the top of a high hill (approximately 500
feet elevation change) and then a steep descent down the hill and a level stretch to
the end. I paced myself going up the hill, but coming down I really
"poured it on". I really flew down that hill. As I neared the end, I heard
footsteps behind me, and they were getting closer to me. I thought, "That
runner won't catch me!", and I did an all out sprint to the finish (he
didn't pass me). Adding that kick to the end of the race gave me a great
finish to a great race. I finished in 33 minutes 44 seconds; not bad for a 48 year old guy and a course that had
a big hill in it! When I ran marathons, I always finished them with a
kick at the end. The few seconds I saved didn't do much for my overall
time, but the sprint gave me great ending to the marathon.
Intervals
| Intervals
are one of the standard ways that runners train for speed. Tracks are
frequently used, but intervals can be run anywhere there is a circular path, such as around
city blocks or around a trail in a city park. Intervals can also be run on out/back routes, where out is one interval and back is another interval. |
In
running intervals, the runner runs a specified distance at a very fast
pace and then follows that with a rest period of slow jogging. This sequence of fast-pace/rest-pace is repeated a number of times. The length of the
interval
is short enough that the runner can complete it in 2 pr 3 minutes. In doing
this, the runner is pushing his or her body into the anaerobic level in
which the runner isn't getting enough oxygen; because of this lack of
oxygen, the runner doesn't run long intervals. The rest period is long enough that the runner's heart rate comes
down significantly. Through running intervals, the person's body becomes
used to higher levels of lactate and to having an oxygen debt.
When
you begin doing intervals, do short intervals that you can complete in about 30
seconds, and use a pace slightly
faster than your LSD pace. As your body gets stronger run the intervals at
a faster pace and longer distance. In addition, vary the distance and pace
on different days so your body has to adjust to changing conditions.
Listen to your body as you do intervals so you don't push yourself into
fatigue or injury. Intervals drastically raise your heart rate (HR), so
give yourself enough rest by doing slow jogs or walks between intervals such that
your heart rate comes down significantly.
Don't
run intervals more than once a week, and don't run them for more than
15-20 minutes a session. Also, don't do a lot of fartleks and intervals in the
same week. Your body can only handle so much stress.
Before
you start an interval session and after you finish the session, allow 15
minutes to warm up and cool down by walking and slowly jogging so you don't pull a muscle due to the
fast acceleration when you begin an interval and the high stress during
the interval.
Back
in the early 1980s, when I was running marathons, I went once a week with some
friends to the local high school track, and we ran intervals on the track.
Once a month I would time myself for a mile on the track. During that
summer, I worked up to just a few seconds greater than 6 minutes for the mile, and
then I finally broke 6 minutes and set my PB of 5:57 for the mile. I
thought that was pretty good for a 48 year-old guy who isn't built for
speed. At that time I was doing 7 minute miles for my LSD, and I never
would have cut 63 seconds off of that time without interval training.
Runners
who want to maximize their speed will learn to burn lactate for energy by doing
running short intervals anaerobically followed by slower aerobic recovery jogs
or walks. Many of those runners run anaerobically in 5K races.
Strides
Another
type of speed training is called strides. Strides are similar to fartleks,
but they aren't done to increase ones speed. They are done to overcome the bad
form that often results from running LSD.
In
running strides, you run several short bursts of speed, and you run at a
comfortable pace between each burst to allow your body to recover. By doing
this, you are forcing your body to have longer steps and faster leg movement.
Aim for a stride rate close to 180 steps per minute. Don't force your body to
take longer steps. Focus on getting a faster stride rate and let your body
automatically increase the stride length.
Strides are similar to fartleks but are shorter and faster. Keeping them short,
say 30-50 meters, is important so you don't enter the anaerobic phase of
running. During each stride, avoid looking down at your feet by looking down the
path or road. Because strides are actually a form of speed training, they
increase the stress on your body. So, don't do them more than once or twice a
week, and don't do more than 5-10 bursts each time.
Racing
One
form of speed training that is popular is entering races. Even if you're not
very fast compared to how you'd like to be, you can enter races and enjoy the
crowds, excitement, adrenalin rush, competition, and just have fun. By running
faster in races, you'll be conditioning your body to run faster in races. Be
careful, though, that you don't over do it and become injured. With all of the
excitement of the event, it is easy to get caught up and to push yourself too
hard.
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