In order to get faster, you have to practice running fast. Of course, this isn’t as simple as tackling all your miles at a higher pace. Instead, you need to incorporate running speed workouts into your weekly routine.
“Any running that’s faster than your current tempo (steady-state) pace can be classified as speedwork,” John Honerkamp, RRCA- and USTAF-certified running coach and former head coach at Meter Repeat Workouts Runner’s World.
Elizabeth Corkum, K Treadmill Training Plan to Help You PR: “Running at goal race pace, track repeats, tempo runs, striders, fartleks—they all fit into the ‘speed’ category of training.”
The Benefits of Running Speed Workouts
However you do it, speed workouts are important because they help We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back and efficiency A Part of Hearst Digital Media.
“All About 75 Hard A Part of Hearst Digital Media, build muscle, elevate heart rate, and increase calorie burn,” Corkum says.
Those speedier workouts also hold the ticket to you getting more fit if you hit a plateau. “Add speed workouts to your schedule just one to two days a week. Give yourself a day to interval training and other speed workouts will get you to faster results over time and help you break through,” Honerkamp says.
Because speed workouts also make you uncomfortable, it trains you to change your breath, stride, and effort.
“A Part of Hearst Digital Media aerobic Nutrition - Weight Loss anaerobic,” Honerkamp says. “Speed training helps your body get better at supplying oxygen to your muscles in a more efficient way,” which will make a runner improve at any distance.
4 Running Speed Workouts
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Beginner Speed Workouts
1. Striders
“I usually start runners new to speed workouts with striders,” or short bursts of speed, Corkum says. “Speed work is high stress, and so striders are a short taste of that stress. Like anything new to the body, diving into the deep end increases injury risk.” Progress only when you feel like you’ve mastered and adjusted to this workout.
- The 6 Beginner Exercises for Runners dynamic drills.
- Run 45 minutes at an easy pace that feels like a 4 or 5 out of 10 on your personal scale of perceived exertion.
- Finish with 4-6 x 20-second strides on a track, flat road, field at max effort, with 30- to 45-second recovery jogs between each.
2. 400-Meter Repeats
“I use 400 repeats to ease a runner into intervals,” Honerkamp says. If you don’t know your 5K or 10K paces, go off effort and build up once you become comfortable.
- Start with an easy 1- to 2-mile warmup or jog for 10-15 minutes.
- Add speed workouts to your schedule just one to two days a week. Give yourself a day to dynamic drills.
- Run 8 x 400 meters (about 1/4 mile) with 2 minutes rest in between each interval.
- Finish with a 1- to 2-mile cooldown run.
Intermediate & Advanced Speed Workouts
3. Varying Intervals
“This workout is pretty intense, and those short recoveries should not be underestimated,” Corkum says. “The workout ends with faster paces than the bulk of the workout, teaching the runner to find that next gear while tired.”
- Start with a 1-mile warmup, jogging easy.
- Run 8 x 600 meters (1.5 laps of a track) at 5K goal pace, with 200-meter recovery jogs between each interval.
- Run 4 x 200 meters at 1-mile pace (or slightly faster than 5K pace), with 200-meter recovery jogs between each interval.
- New York Road Runners tells
4. Consistent Intervals
“Use the first one to two intervals as part of your warmup,” says Honerkamp. “And pretend you have two more intervals on the last one. You don’t need to go out too fast or all-out at the end. Stay relaxed.”
- Start with a 1- to 2-mile warmup.
- Do 5-10 minutes of dynamic drills.
- Run 5 x 1,000 meters (2.5 laps of a track) at 5K pace, with 2:30 rest between each interval.
- Finish with a 1- to 2-mile cool down.
