A serious racer should use a variety of 3-4 "standard" types of speed training to prepare to race his or her best at any distance from 5k to marathon. What changes with race distance is the mix of different speed workouts. The following reflects my opinions based largely on what I have gleaned from my two favorite running reference books, "Daniels' Running Formula" by Jack Daniels and "The Competitive Runner's Handbook" by Bob Glover, plus my personal experiences in 17 years of training and racing.
There are several body "systems" or features that, together, determine how fast you can run for a given distance. Each has to be developed to enable your maximum race pace ability. Let's call these the "goals" of speed training. These goals are:
1. Improve anaerobic threshold (AT) or lactate threshold (LT), which determines pace at which you go into the anaerobic zone and lactic acid begins to build up in your muscles, which causes fatigue and reduces muscle fluidness.
2. Increase aerobic capacity or VO2Max, which is a combination of maximum oxygen uptake and your body's ability to process the oxygen to muscles where it's needed to burn glycogen and fat for energy.
3. Improve running economy, running strength, and anaerobic capacity. Running economy is how efficiently you use oxygen when running at a given pace. That's not the same as aerobic capacity. Increased running economy permits you to utilize a lower percentage of your aerobic capacity at any pace. Running strength is your body's overall ability to handle "overload" demands, as well as to stay within the "comfort zone" at faster paces. Anaerobic capacity is your ability to run without sufficient oxygen or to hold pace and form outside the "comfort zone."
4. Condition and program your body and mind to run at race pace.
There are 4 basic categories of speed training to accomplish these goals. I'm going to use Jack Daniels terminology because I think it makes it easier to relate the categories to the above goals.
1. Threshold training. These are tempo runs and cruise intervals which improve the anaerobic threshold. They are run at 85-92% of maximum heart rate (Hrmax) or AT pace, which is reached at 10-20 sec/mile slower than 10k race pace. A tempo run is simply 20-40 minutes of running at AT pace. For most of us, that translates to 3-6 miles. It's best to do them on fairly level ground so you can better control the pace. If your route requires that you run hills and you don't use a HR monitor, just adjust the pace so that it "feels" like AT pace. Cruise intervals are a substitute for a tempo run. They are 800m to 2 mile intervals at AT pace with brief recovery, like a minute or less, between them. Keeping the recovery periods very short permits blood lactate levels to remain fairly constant so that you experience a threshold effort throughout the session. The advantages of the breaks are that they permit you to do a little more threshold running (like 4 miles instead of a 3 mile tempo effort) while still making the session a little easier mentally than a tempo run since you have the breaks to look forward to. I seldom do tempo runs, but mostly use 1 and 2 mile cruise intervals instead, mainly because my brief breaks are to drink water, which I do at least every couple of miles even when doing speed training.
2. Intervals. These are for VO2Max, or aerobic capacity, development. They are 400-1200m (440-1320 yard) intervals at 98-100% of HRmax or about 5k race pace with recovery time equal to or slightly less than interval running time. The trick here is to recover sufficiently to be able to complete the session at the target pace without making it an "all out" effort, but also without recovering fully between interval workbouts. One of Glover's guidelines is to recover to a heart rate of 120. Glover also allows these to be run over a pace range of 5-10k pace and for as long as 1 mile, depending on the stage of a training cycle you are in. Intervals are considered by many as the bread and butter of speed training. Yasso 800s are simply a special form of intervals used for a specific reason....to verify your aeroic capacity readiness to run a particular marathon time. However, doing them successfully doesn't mean that your endurance, AT and running strength/economy are adequate to support the pace over the full 26.2 miles.
3. Repetitions. Glover calls them power intervals. They are short, fast intervals which improve anaerobic metabolism, as well as running mechanics, strength and economy. Usually 200-400m (220-440 yard) repetitions faster than 5k race pace, but not an all out sprint, with very long, full recovery. Daniels guidelines call for a repetition pace of 6 seconds faster per 400m than interval pace (that's 24 sec/mile faster than 5k race pace) and recovery times as long as 4 times the rep time. Glover says to recover up to 5 times the rep time. These are fast and hard. But short enough to stay relaxed through them. They call into play the fast twitch muscle fibers that not only help you to run faster, but also play a large role in determining running economy.
4. Marathon Pace runs. Obviously, these are intended to practice race pace so that your body and mind become comfortable with it. They are usually 6-13 miles at marathon pace, but can be as long as 18-20 miles for experienced marathoners. You only have to do a couple of them late in a marathon program. Race pace training for shorter distances doesn't make a lot of sense….at least not over continuous, extended distances. Such training would quickly approach being a race effort. It's better to "train" at race pace for shorter distances by racing frequently. There is more flexibility to run a lot more races in a shorter distance program than there is in a marathon program. Also, there is plenty of race pace running in the intervals.
Daniels also provides guidelines on how much of weekly mileage should be comprised of the first three categories. He says that threshold running can be up to 10% of weekly mileage, intervals up to 8% and reps up to 5%. In other words, the harder and faster the speed work, the lower the percentage of weekly mileage it should be. Of course, you shouldn't do all three types in any one week. One or two speed sessions per week is enough hard work for any of us. In weeks that include a race, only do one speed session and make sure it's at least 3 days before the race. And, obviously, all other running, including long runs, should be in the "easy" range of 70-80% HRmax or 1-2 minutes per mile slower than 10k race pace.
There are lots of variations of these 4 basic speed work categories. Hill repeats, for example, which are intervals run on hills. Daniels considers them to be a form of Repetitions and prefers they be done on a treadmill so the incline can be precisely controlled. Glover considers them to be a key element of the strengthening phase of a training program and talks extensively about them in his book. He defines categories of long hills (a quarter mile or so) and short hills (50- 200 yards), with the short hills twice as steep as the long ones. He recommends that both be run anywhere from repetition pace to 10k race pace, depending on your level of ability, but the short ones faster than the long hills. Hill repeats are great for improving running strength and economy. I can verify from my experience that hill training will go a long way to make you a faster runner and stronger marathoner.
Fartlek, the Swedish word for "speed play", is simply a less structured form of any of the speed work categories and can include a mix of them. Fartleks are a good way to introduce speed work into each training cycles or to provide a little "break" from the rigors of a training program while still deriving speed work benefit.
There are lots of other variations of speed training....ladders, pyramids, cutdowns, cut times, cruise repetitions, rolling hills fartlek, long run tempo, and others. All are forms or mixes of the 3 basic categories of threshold, intervals, and repetitions.
Some speed training categories provide other training benefit in addition to that for which they are primarily intended. For instance, intervals not only develop VO2Max, but they also help lower AT. However, that doesn't mean that threshold runs should be eliminated and replaced with intervals to get a "double bang" for your effort. Intervals aren't as efficient as tempo runs for developing AT. Since intervals are harder and run a lot faster than threshold pace, you can't run as far at interval pace as you can at AT pace in a single session. It's for that reason that Daniels recommends that they be a lower percentage of weekly mileage than threshold running. The best approach is to include the optimum balance of speed training categories in any training program.
In scheduling speed work into a training program, I use a few guidelines:
1. Three of the four categories should be included in every training program from 5k to marathon. The exception is Marathon Pace runs, which is only used in marathon training.
2. The shorter the race distance you are training for, the more emphasis should be placed on Repetitions.
3. The longer the race distance you are training for, the more emphasis should be placed on threshold (AT) training.
4. Intervals (VO2Max or aerobic capacity training) play an equally important part in training for all distances.
For example, in training for a marathon, which is raced mostly in the aerobic zone, I try to schedule up to 50-60% of my speed work as threshold runs, 30-40% as intervals and 10% as repetitions, plus a couple of MP runs. For 10k training, where race pace is slightly anaerobic but not quite at aerobic capacity, it's more like 30% threshold, 50% interval and 20% repetition with more frequent speed sessions, since total mileage and long runs are less than in a marathon program.
For more details about speed training, I would strongly recommend the two references that I mentioned earlier.....Daniels book, "Daniels' Running Formula" in which he does an excellent job of explaining the categories of speed work, what each does for you, and determining pacing for speed work.....and Glover's 1999 edition of "The Competitive Runner's Handbook," which is a very comprehensive guide to training for all distances from 5k to marathon.
Jim2
Thursday, January 1, 1998
Natural Assets and Weaknesses
Where should a runner place the greater emphasis in a training regimen? On inherent assets in order to maximize them? Or on the development of natural weaknesses?
I prefer to emphasize the area in which I can realize the most gain at the time and under the conditions that currently exist. That can be either an inherent (natural) asset or weakness. It depends on the purpose of the training program and current state of development.
I think there are three basic elements of training....speed, strength and endurance. (Some will argue that there is a fourth....economy. I think economy is an inherent characteristic that is optimized by working on the other three.) Also, there are two variables that determine how fast you run.....stride rate and stride length. And, there are three body "systems" that have to be developed to become the best one can be.....VO2max, AT/LT and cardio-respiratory.
Generally, I relate speed to stride rate and VO2max; strength to stride length and AT/LT; and endurance to the capacity and efficiency of the cardio-respiratory system. That's an over simplification and there are interrelations between all of these, but this "compartmentalization" gives me a framework of reference to use in my training programs.
Every training program should include a mix of all three categories. However, the emphasis of a training program should be placed where the greatest gain can be realized against current running and racing goals. For instance, I think that a person who has a "natural asset", like speed, should not spend a lot of time working on it in a training program, as long as bigger gains can be made by emphasizing the other areas. In this case, s/he should work more on strength and/or endurance to round out his/her development.
OTOH, I also think that there is a difference between "natural" and "current" assets and weaknesses. A natural asset might become a current weakness if it is ignored too much in training. For instance, we all have a fixed mix of fast and slow twitch fibers, which determines our "natural" speed. But, maintaining that asset at an optimum level requires some degree of appropriate work in training. So, a person with "inherent natural speed" can find there it has deteriorated and lack of speed has become a hindrance to optimum race performance because of insufficient attention in training.
To use myself as an example.....basically, speed is my limiting "natural weakness"; endurance is my greatest "natural asset"; and strength falls somewhere between these two. However, there have been different times in my first running life when I was in peak running form that each of the three was my "current" weakness and I adjusted my training regimen accordingly. When I began my second running life on 6/1/97, all three were huge weaknesses. I have focused on developing my best asset....endurance (base)....first. Then I shifted emphasis to strength development. Now I'm finally getting around to working on my fundamental weakness, speed, although strength is still a close second. In the future when I am back to a peak, I will emphasize speed and strength work more than endurance on an ongoing basis, as long as I continue to get adequate LSD's and sufficient total mileage to maintain my endurance base.
Basically, I think that specific assets and weaknesses are fluid. It's necessary to evaluate where we are in our training/development at any point in time relative to our inherent asset limitations and decide where we can get the most bang for busting our butts.
Jim2
I prefer to emphasize the area in which I can realize the most gain at the time and under the conditions that currently exist. That can be either an inherent (natural) asset or weakness. It depends on the purpose of the training program and current state of development.
I think there are three basic elements of training....speed, strength and endurance. (Some will argue that there is a fourth....economy. I think economy is an inherent characteristic that is optimized by working on the other three.) Also, there are two variables that determine how fast you run.....stride rate and stride length. And, there are three body "systems" that have to be developed to become the best one can be.....VO2max, AT/LT and cardio-respiratory.
Generally, I relate speed to stride rate and VO2max; strength to stride length and AT/LT; and endurance to the capacity and efficiency of the cardio-respiratory system. That's an over simplification and there are interrelations between all of these, but this "compartmentalization" gives me a framework of reference to use in my training programs.
Every training program should include a mix of all three categories. However, the emphasis of a training program should be placed where the greatest gain can be realized against current running and racing goals. For instance, I think that a person who has a "natural asset", like speed, should not spend a lot of time working on it in a training program, as long as bigger gains can be made by emphasizing the other areas. In this case, s/he should work more on strength and/or endurance to round out his/her development.
OTOH, I also think that there is a difference between "natural" and "current" assets and weaknesses. A natural asset might become a current weakness if it is ignored too much in training. For instance, we all have a fixed mix of fast and slow twitch fibers, which determines our "natural" speed. But, maintaining that asset at an optimum level requires some degree of appropriate work in training. So, a person with "inherent natural speed" can find there it has deteriorated and lack of speed has become a hindrance to optimum race performance because of insufficient attention in training.
To use myself as an example.....basically, speed is my limiting "natural weakness"; endurance is my greatest "natural asset"; and strength falls somewhere between these two. However, there have been different times in my first running life when I was in peak running form that each of the three was my "current" weakness and I adjusted my training regimen accordingly. When I began my second running life on 6/1/97, all three were huge weaknesses. I have focused on developing my best asset....endurance (base)....first. Then I shifted emphasis to strength development. Now I'm finally getting around to working on my fundamental weakness, speed, although strength is still a close second. In the future when I am back to a peak, I will emphasize speed and strength work more than endurance on an ongoing basis, as long as I continue to get adequate LSD's and sufficient total mileage to maintain my endurance base.
Basically, I think that specific assets and weaknesses are fluid. It's necessary to evaluate where we are in our training/development at any point in time relative to our inherent asset limitations and decide where we can get the most bang for busting our butts.
Jim2
Hill Running
Running hills regularly will make you a stronger, hence faster, runner. The trick is to run them so that you don't injure yourself.....which is more often caused by downhill, not uphill, running as many people think.....to cope with the "difficulty" of running uphill and to run both uphill and downhill with optimum running economy. Fortunately, there are techniques to deal with these objectives.
Hill running techniques fall into two categories.....physical and mental.
On the physical side, the key things are a forward lean, stride adjustments, use of your arms, footstrike and maintaining a steady level of perceived effort.
It's important to lean forward, not backward, when running both uphill and downhill....lean into the hill when running uphill and away from it when running downhill. Leaning forward does not mean bending forward at the waist, which is a natural reaction to running uphill. Bending at the waist has two negative consequences which will make your task much tougher. It pushes your hips and buttocks back to compensate for the forward lean of your upper body in order to maintain your center of gravity over your feet. That distorts running form and reduces running economy. It also compresses your lungs slightly and restricts their ability to expand, which reduces your air intake.....just what you don't need when running. And, it doesn't take much of a bend. Experiment with bending forward while running comfortably on level ground and you will be able to detect the effect on lung expansion.
A proper forward lean is done at the ankle while keeping the body "erect" with head, torso, hips, and feet aligned. Thus, when going uphill, your body should not be perpendicular to the surface you are running on, but should remain vertical with your center of gravity still over your leading foot.
When going downhill, the tendency is to "hold back" to control your pace by leaning back at the ankles to remain vertical. That's a mistake. It causes your foot strike to move ahead of your center of gravity and results in a braking action and jambs your feet to the front of your shoes. It also results in a hard heel strike. Run downhill as if you were running on level ground. Stay perpendicular to the surface you are running on, which will require a forward lean relative to the vertical, and let the force of gravity work for you. Don't worry. No matter how steep the hill, your legs will keep up and keep you from falling forward. It's called "falling down the hill", or "throwing yourself down the hill." I call it a free ride. Control downhill speed with the combination of forward lean and stride length.
My points of focus to maintain proper posture over a hill are my hips and chest. I concentrate on pressing them forward into the hill when going uphill and away from the hill when going downhill, which prevents bending at the waist, ensures a forward lean and maintains an erect body.
When running uphill, increase stride rate and shorten your stride slightly, which will keep your center of gravity over or slightly ahead of your lead foot, and lift your knees a little more than usual on the flats. Also, increase your arm swing slightly. Driving the arms a little harder will help to overcome the pull of gravity.
When running downhill, lengthen your stride a little and pay attention to your footstrike. Avoid hard heel strikes, which indicates that you are leaning back and overstriding with your knees too straight or locked and a lot of shock transmitted to your legs, knees, and hips. Try to land midfoot or forefoot with your knees flexed. A gentle heel strike followed by a quick roll onto the forefoot is OK if "forcing" a midfoot landing isn't comfortable. Unlike running uphill, an exaggerated arm swing is counter-productive when running downhill. Gravity provides the power going downhill. The arms are used mostly to maintain balance and rhythm.
The main thing to do to prevent injury and trashing quads when running hills is to minimize the pounding of downhill running by leaning forward and avoiding hard heel strikes.
Maintain a steady level of perceived effort, not pace, over hills. Keep the effort the same as if you were running on level ground. Thus, your pace will be slower when going uphill and faster going downhill than running on flat ground at the same perceived level of effort.
On the mental side, there are a couple of tricks that you can use when running uphill. First, don't run the whole uphill in one piece, run segments of it. Select a spot 20 yards ahead of you and run to it. Then pick another spot and run to it. Keep repeating your "20 yard hills" and you will get to the top easier than tackling a long hill in its entirety, which can be intimidating. When you can see the crest of the hill before you, push over the top and don't let up, because it is about to get easier.
Another mental trick is to imagine a rope going up the hill ahead of you. Picture yourself grasping the rope with your hands and pulling yourself up the hill.
If you master proper techniques of hill running, you should be able to handle them without any significant increase of injury risk. For 6 years, I did most of my training on one and two mile loops in a park that had a very challenging hill. One third of every loop was uphill, one third downhill and one third flat. The constant hill running didn't cause me to incur any injuries, but it sure made me a stronger, faster runner....and a better hill runner. Hill running is currently a missing element from my training, since I now train on a trail in Maryland half the year and a beach in Florida the other half....both are mostly flat.
Hope some of this helps. Good luck with your program!
Jim2
Hill running techniques fall into two categories.....physical and mental.
On the physical side, the key things are a forward lean, stride adjustments, use of your arms, footstrike and maintaining a steady level of perceived effort.
It's important to lean forward, not backward, when running both uphill and downhill....lean into the hill when running uphill and away from it when running downhill. Leaning forward does not mean bending forward at the waist, which is a natural reaction to running uphill. Bending at the waist has two negative consequences which will make your task much tougher. It pushes your hips and buttocks back to compensate for the forward lean of your upper body in order to maintain your center of gravity over your feet. That distorts running form and reduces running economy. It also compresses your lungs slightly and restricts their ability to expand, which reduces your air intake.....just what you don't need when running. And, it doesn't take much of a bend. Experiment with bending forward while running comfortably on level ground and you will be able to detect the effect on lung expansion.
A proper forward lean is done at the ankle while keeping the body "erect" with head, torso, hips, and feet aligned. Thus, when going uphill, your body should not be perpendicular to the surface you are running on, but should remain vertical with your center of gravity still over your leading foot.
When going downhill, the tendency is to "hold back" to control your pace by leaning back at the ankles to remain vertical. That's a mistake. It causes your foot strike to move ahead of your center of gravity and results in a braking action and jambs your feet to the front of your shoes. It also results in a hard heel strike. Run downhill as if you were running on level ground. Stay perpendicular to the surface you are running on, which will require a forward lean relative to the vertical, and let the force of gravity work for you. Don't worry. No matter how steep the hill, your legs will keep up and keep you from falling forward. It's called "falling down the hill", or "throwing yourself down the hill." I call it a free ride. Control downhill speed with the combination of forward lean and stride length.
My points of focus to maintain proper posture over a hill are my hips and chest. I concentrate on pressing them forward into the hill when going uphill and away from the hill when going downhill, which prevents bending at the waist, ensures a forward lean and maintains an erect body.
When running uphill, increase stride rate and shorten your stride slightly, which will keep your center of gravity over or slightly ahead of your lead foot, and lift your knees a little more than usual on the flats. Also, increase your arm swing slightly. Driving the arms a little harder will help to overcome the pull of gravity.
When running downhill, lengthen your stride a little and pay attention to your footstrike. Avoid hard heel strikes, which indicates that you are leaning back and overstriding with your knees too straight or locked and a lot of shock transmitted to your legs, knees, and hips. Try to land midfoot or forefoot with your knees flexed. A gentle heel strike followed by a quick roll onto the forefoot is OK if "forcing" a midfoot landing isn't comfortable. Unlike running uphill, an exaggerated arm swing is counter-productive when running downhill. Gravity provides the power going downhill. The arms are used mostly to maintain balance and rhythm.
The main thing to do to prevent injury and trashing quads when running hills is to minimize the pounding of downhill running by leaning forward and avoiding hard heel strikes.
Maintain a steady level of perceived effort, not pace, over hills. Keep the effort the same as if you were running on level ground. Thus, your pace will be slower when going uphill and faster going downhill than running on flat ground at the same perceived level of effort.
On the mental side, there are a couple of tricks that you can use when running uphill. First, don't run the whole uphill in one piece, run segments of it. Select a spot 20 yards ahead of you and run to it. Then pick another spot and run to it. Keep repeating your "20 yard hills" and you will get to the top easier than tackling a long hill in its entirety, which can be intimidating. When you can see the crest of the hill before you, push over the top and don't let up, because it is about to get easier.
Another mental trick is to imagine a rope going up the hill ahead of you. Picture yourself grasping the rope with your hands and pulling yourself up the hill.
If you master proper techniques of hill running, you should be able to handle them without any significant increase of injury risk. For 6 years, I did most of my training on one and two mile loops in a park that had a very challenging hill. One third of every loop was uphill, one third downhill and one third flat. The constant hill running didn't cause me to incur any injuries, but it sure made me a stronger, faster runner....and a better hill runner. Hill running is currently a missing element from my training, since I now train on a trail in Maryland half the year and a beach in Florida the other half....both are mostly flat.
Hope some of this helps. Good luck with your program!
Jim2
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