run workouts
Tempo Run
Tackling Longer Distance for Longer Runs
We will be meeting at Milford Track@5:30
Warm-up (You will wake up tomorrow with sore butt and legs)
20 meter drills
Perform the following drills 2-3 times after stretching
• High-step walking (lifting knee up to hip level)
• High –step jogging (lifting knee up to hip level)
• Crossovers (jog sideways while crossing right leg over left, then left over right – grape vine)
• Heel Kicks ( while jogging kick heels to buttocks with each step)
• Double leg hops
• Zigzag hops with 2 legs(jumping forward in a zigzag pattern)
• ***Lunges***
The Tempo Run
The plan is to run a tempo workout with 6-8 x8min speed with recovery between each set. Sets will vary according to ability.
Recovery is a slow run pace (if you have to walk during the recovery, you're going too hard).
You've got to put in enough time at the right intensity. You need to get the hydrogen ions in the muscles for a sufficient length of time for the muscles to become adept at using them. Typically, 20 minutes is sufficient, or two to three miles if your goal is general fitness, or a 5-K. Runners tackling longer distances should do longer tempo runs during their peak training weeks: four to six miles for the 10-K, six to eight for the half-marathon, and eight to 10 for 26.2. (“Runner’s World”)
The Right Rhythm
To ensure you're doing tempo workouts at the right pace, use one of these four methods to gauge your intensity.
Recent Race: Add 30 to 40 seconds to your current 5-K pace or 15 to 20 seconds to your 10-K pace
Heart Rate: 85 to 90 percent of your maximum heart rate
Perceived Exertion: An 8 on a 1-to-10 scale (a comfortable effort would be a 5; racing would be close to a 10)
Talk Test: A question like "Pace okay?" should be possible, but conversation won't be.
Ladder Workout
2 mi warm – up
3 mi speed
2 mile w/u
Ladder workout (Pace yourself – strong 80 – 85 %. Too strong beginning will really slow down your second half after the mile. Times should remain consistent or better).
400 for time (once around)
200 recovery (1/2 around)
800 for time (2 times around)
400 recovery
1600 for time (4 times around)
800 recovery
800 for time
400 recovery
4x200 for time
100 recovery between each 200
This works fast twitch muscles and represents a strong race finish. You
should try to come in better on each split time.
The Modified Ladder
The purpose of this type of workout is to increase stamina and ultimately provide you with a good 'kick' at the end of a race.
Warm-up/down at least one mile, two if possible.
Never be afraid or think you're weak to cut any part of this short if anybody doesn't feel well.
And always take water at anytime; I only included it in the middle due to the extended R/R immediately after the 1600.
Warm-up
400m
R/R
400m
R/R
800m
R/R
1600m
R/R (WATER)
800m
R/R
400m
R/R
200m
R/R
200m
Warm-down
Legend:
m=distance in meters around the track of your choice (Milford track is measured in meters), older tracks are English base or 440 yards per lap.
R/R=rest/recovery: equals half of or about the same amount of time it took you to run the prescribed distance.
Tempo Intervals
This workout draws some similarity to the fartlek, however, it is a bit more structured. Tempo intervals are essentially a tempo run broken down into two-four 6-10 minute sections. A good example of this workout for this Tuesday is: 10-15 minute warmup, 8 minutes hard, jog 2 minutes, 8 minutes hard, jog 2 minutes, 8 minutes hard, 8 minutes hard, jog 2 minutes 15 minute cooldown.
Most running training programs include multiple forms of speed work, including tempo runs, intervals, fartleks, hills, and running races. It can be difficult to discern the right pace for each of these workouts, and the optimal frequency in which to conduct them.
Whether you’re training for a 5k or a marathon, your running training program could benefit from the addition of tempo runs. These runs can be a very flexible and effective way to conduct a productive speed workout without having the hassle of going to a track or a measured course.
Because tempo runs usually involve a sustained increased effort over multiple miles, they will have a different training impact than an interval, fartlek, or hill sprint. Intervals usually alternate high-intensity efforts at VO2 Max pace with recovery periods, whereas tempo runs can last anywhere from 2-10 miles. The pace should be somewhere between our easy running pace and our interval pace. If we train at this pace, we can improve our performance and delay the on-set of a lactic acid build-up which has often been associated with our threshold of performance. Tempo runs can vary from a short 3-4 mile run to a longer 5-12 miler. Depending on the length of the run, I usually take at least the first and last miles as the warm-up and cool-down, respectively. The middle miles then become the actual tempo part of the run or pick-up. The pace of this pick-up can be challenging to define. If you run it too fast…you’ll lose your steam, slow down, and get down on yourself (mentally). If you run too slow, you’ll be missing the opportunity to maximize the training benefit of the workout and get faster. So what pace should we sustain for these workouts??
The pace for a tempo run should be in a range that pushes our lactate threshold. This will usually be somewhere from your 5k pace + 30 seconds to your marathon goal pace (MGP). Another means to gauge this is by looking at your heart rate. I find that my heart rate is between 80-85% of my maximum heart rate (MHR) during the tempo portion of the run (MHR = 220 - age). If you wear a heart rate (HR) monitor and have some familiarity with your heart rate during training runs and intervals, try to target the range between your long run and intervals HR levels. The nice thing about tempo runs is their flexibility. It's not hard to covert a normal 5-miler by injecting a 3-mile pick-up (tempo) in the middle. This can be a fun and spontaneous way to transform your routine run into a challenging workout and get your body used to the prolonged discomfort of the faster pace. Sustaining a faster pace for these workouts will increase your confidence and prepare you mentally and physically for race day.
Tempo runs should not replace your daily run, because these workouts can place a fair amount of added stress on your muscles, and you’ll need some easier running days to recover & rebuild. Try adding them mid-week. That way it’s far enough from the weekend workout which is typically either a long-slow-distance day or an interval / hill workout. Speed work is a necessary component to run faster…but so is rest…keep a good balance of both and you’ll progress injury-free to your goal!
Run Hills, Race Fast
You know the part of the race when you feel you’ve hit the wall? Maybe you are on a hill or the flattest section of the course. Your mind is telling your legs and arms to drive, pump or fire like pistons, but your muscles are crying out for mercy. We are demanding them to perform at a rate at which they are not conditioned. Our body can not supply the blood and oxygen that our hip flexors, in particular, are requiring to meet the demands of the coach inside our heads. Well, at least you’ve done your mental homework. But have you neglected working regular hill drills into your routine? Perhaps you do them but don’t know why. Do you vary the type of workouts? How do you approach the hill?
One of the most famous proponents of hill training is Olympic coach Arthur Lydiard. His hill circuit training required the athlete to bound (focus on horizontal motion), or leap (focus on vertical motion) up the hill. Lydiard concentrated a great deal on hill running form to promote efficiency. Driving the knees, for example, is one aspect on which to focus, as well as toeing-off and slapping the heel to the buttocks. When done at a slower pace, a runner can focus more on technique and may actually feel more soreness than he/she expects from drill like repeats. Consider a weight routine in which you are lifting and lowering the weight more slowly: It hurts more! Gravity is our resistance on the hills.
The first cycle of hill workouts in a Lydiard season is geared towards strength. It consists of 6-8 repeats on a 1,000 meter moderate incline. As the season progresses and the focus changes to explosive speed, the repeats increase to 8-10 and the length of the hill shrinks to 275 meters. The stride down the hill is always fast but in control. After reaching the bottom of the hill, Lydiard had his runners run about 250 meters in between 800 and 1600 pace. For Lydiard, who primarily trained track athletes, hill workouts were focused on after the base phase of building mileage. However, incorporating hills throughout the season has proven to be an effective way to improve efficiency (work harder and use less energy) without peaking too early (as sometimes happens with track workouts done too early in the season).
According to Stacy Osborne, an avid runner and podiatrist in the Cincinnati area, many of us ignore the importance of fine tuning our biomechanics – one of the most controllable aspects of our training and keys to improvement. Contrary to popular belief, it is not the leg on the ground that is primarily responsible for generating the power for forward velocity. Rather, it is the non-weight bearing leg (the one in the swing phase), which generates the momentum, by creating a tug on the runner’s center of gravity as it swings forward. The foot on the ground acts as a lever and the runner is thus propelled forward. Those muscles responsible for this “power stroke” are the hip flexors. These are also some of the most important muscles for cyclists, recruited during the pulling up phase.
One of the best ways to strengthen those hip flexors and in turn improve the power of our swing phase is to do hill repeats. As we gain strength, our chances of getting injured are diminished. Not only will we finesse our charges on inclines and finish line kicks on flats, hill repeats also increase our mental confidence. Once you’ve done 15 X 2:00 of a tough hill, one minute of climbing a similar incline in a race will feel easy. It often surprises people that running hills improves speed. Actually, running hills is speed work in disguise. Your effort will increase as you run up a hill, even if you reduce your pace. Moving your body up the hill requires more work than moving it along a flat surface. Hill running is equivalent to throwing in a surge on the flats. So, in a race, the best way to run a hill is to maintain effort and forget about pace while on the hill. Steady effort is the surest route to a faster time. Trying to maintain pace on the hill is like surging and varying the body’s perceived effort, which will only tire you prematurely.
How else can you build tireless, feisty, power strokes using hill workouts? One way to maintain volume is to do hill fartleks (Swedish for speed play). Pick a course with hills and focus on surging up the hills. If you are doing strict hill repeats, try varying the paces. For example, if you are doing four sets of three hills, do the first at 5k pace and the second at 10k pace. Focus on slow and exaggerated form on the third hill. Instead of varying the pace at which you run, you can vary the hill lengths themselves. If you are working in a group, pair up and run them like a relay such that your rest depends on how long as it takes your partner to get up and down the hill. Should you decide to run hills by time (i.e. 90 seconds on 5 hills), mark how far you get each time with a rock or little flag. Try to reach or beat that landmark each repeat. It is also good practice to try to surge over and past the crest of the hill.
How well we run on hills depends on how we approach the hill – the mental factor. There are many of us that like to see hill repeats as an opportunity to practice conquering or attacking the hill. One tactic is to approach the hill as a friend rather than the enemy trying to defeat us. Look at it as an animate object providing a spring board to propel us forward – a friendly boost. Another helpful piece of imagery is to imagine strings attached to your hands and the string ends tied to a point at the top of the hill. As you pump your arms, thrusting your elbows behind you, imagine the strings providing you leverage to pull yourself up more easily. You don’t have to turn your mind off to escape negative, self-defeating talk. Instead, recruit your mind to help you!
As runners, triathletes need to recognize the importance of strengthening our hip flexor muscles. Strong flexors help us maintain a grueling pace, attack a hill, kick with speed on the flats, and protect our bodies from injury. They are an integral piece of training year round that, with variation can make us more efficient runners and cyclists.
Go ahead, be king of the hill! ,
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