Whether your goal is to qualify for the Boston Marathon or finish in your age division in the local charity 5K, there are a variety of effective exercises that can improve running speed. When adding any new exercise to your program, it's important to listen to your body and not attempt to work through pain or injury.
Starting With Base Mileage and Long Runs
Running intervals on the track or hill sprints may seem like the way to develop speed, but jumping into such intense workouts is a recipe for injury. Before adding any specialized speed work to a running plan, spend time developing a solid running base. After running several times a week for several months pain and injury free, it's time to consider more rigorous training. Until then, concentrate on building a solid base, which strengthens muscles, tendons and the cardiovascular system. After beginning specialized speed training, don't neglect these base miles. Plan on at least two easy run days each week and one longer run, which, while slower than other runs, is a great way to strengthen the body inside and out.
Intervals and Hills for Building Physical and Mental Toughness
There are a variety of ways to run intervals. Informal intervals are known as fartleks. After a warm-up, look down the road and find a landmark, such as a telephone pole. Run hard until you reach the pole, then slow to a more comfortable recovery pace. Look down the path, choose another landmark and repeat. Interval trainings have more structure. After warming up, run a short distance at below race pace, complete a recovery jog and repeat it. An example of an interval workout is running quarter-mile repeats, 20 seconds below mile pace, and recovering with one-minute jogs. Aim for eight to 10 repetitions of speed work, whether running intervals or fartleks.
Weight Training
Many runners shy away from weight work because of the fear that they will bulk up. Heavy weight training, which is defined as lifting weights that are heavy enough that only allow six to eight repetitions of an exercise, are proven to increase speed. Concentrate on exercises that strengthen the legs, core and upper back.
Member Comments