Speed Training

I need some help concerning speed training.  Do you run at a faster pace for abit and then walk to recover and then run again or do you run , jog, run, jog?  I'm having a really hard time with this!!  I find it very difficult and I tend to put it off for "my next run"!  So far I've only done about three runs (in 6 months) where I have worked at speed training and I hated every minute of it!  I have been running and jogging but maybe I should do running and walking?  I would appreciate any advice anyone could give me!  Thanks!

Reba

Hi Reba!

I'm certainly no expert as I am just a beginner runner myself but from what I've read, you can do either of the things you mentioned - run/walk or run/jog - as long as you're able to recover adequately during your walk/jog phase.  I try to do a speed workout once a week on a treadmill and I run as a warm-up for about 1-1.5 miles, then I'll do pace work where I run .25 miles really quickly, then jog .25 miles easy.  I repeat that 4 times and then cool down.  It's a tough work-out but breaking it down to 1/4 mile intervals makes the time go really fast and I feel really good afterwards.  Good luck with your work-outs!

So I went speed training on Friday and although I did not enjoy myself I felt pretty good afterwards!  I warmed up for about 1K and then did 4K of running and jogging and then warmed down with 1K.  I kept telling myself that this was going to help me in my next race!  I haven't yet decided when I'll be running a race next.  Maybe New Years Day although we're going out New Year's Eve so I don't know how that will work!

Hey Reba!  Glad to hear you tried your speed workout and it went ok.  I think it may be my least favorite workout of the week but I'm always so proud of myself for completing it and I think it really has helped my speed.  My other least favorite workout is working on hills on the treadmill.  Mind you, they aren't big hills but they're hills nonetheless.  I start out at a 1.5% incline 7.0mph and decrease it by .5% every mile until its flat again.  Those two workouts make me really appreciate just running flat on the treadmill and I really look forward to my long runs outside on the weekends. 

Happy running!  Maureen

I HATE speedworkout lol, but I know that they are so important to increasing your overall speed and stamina. I run 1/4 mile normal pace (I am not much into warming up, even though I do recommend it), then 1/4 mile at a very fast pace, then 1/4 mile normal pace, and so on...I do that for a total of 3 miles.

Like I said I hate it, but I feel very good about myself when I am done and it has helped my speed a lot.

When I am really into my training schedule, I usually do one speed training workout one day one week and hill repeats one day the other week, and so on.

Penny

I prefer to do speed workouts on a track at the Y... I try to get there at at time when I know there aren't too many people there... I used a trainer last year for about 3 months and this is what he had me do... 20 minutes... sprint 1 minute, walk 1 minute... do this until I was done with 20 minutes... then I took it up in sprint time to 1.5 minutes and then 2 minutes of sprinting... It worked pretty well for me.... I hated doing it, but I liked having a clock to watch as I counted down... I need to reincorporate this into my workout... good luck!

Thanks everyone for the advice on speed training.  I guess its unanimous that we all hate speed training but it is necessary....I'm putting mine on hold until the ice and snow is gone, but come spring I'll be back on it.  Thanks and good running to you all!

Original Post by rasmom:

Hey Reba!  Glad to hear you tried your speed workout and it went ok.  I think it may be my least favorite workout of the week but I'm always so proud of myself for completing it and I think it really has helped my speed.  My other least favorite workout is working on hills on the treadmill.  Mind you, they aren't big hills but they're hills nonetheless.  I start out at a 1.5% incline 7.0mph and decrease it by .5% every mile until its flat again.  Those two workouts make me really appreciate just running flat on the treadmill and I really look forward to my long runs outside on the weekends. 

Happy running!  Maureen

if you are on a treadmill, working at a 3.0 incline is equivalent to running outside. so pump it up!!