A big congrats to Walt for hitting PR of 27:31 this past Saturday!  Thanks to a big fat cramp on the last mile, I did not cross the finish line with her but did pull in a sub-30 minutes run.  Pushing myself too hard on the uphill starts left me with a rush of lactic build-up and only because of our speed training did I manage to make up time on the last stretch to the finish line.

Speed workouts (or interval trainings) improve your running form, condition your body to handle the discomfort that comes with a faster pace, give you a sense of appropriate pace and build up your ability to handle that last kick to the finish in any event that you do.

There are several ways to interval train.  My Team In Training coaches had us use a track to do speed workouts, running laps at a marathon pace, half-marathon pace, 10k pace and 5k pace and it's still how I like to do my workouts.  Generally speaking, marathon pace is your slowest and 5k is your "comfortably hard" pace. 

Here are some ways 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.

Other speed workouts to try are:

Fartlek runs -  Originated in Sweden), this is a free-flowing format in which you run faster for however long (or short) you want to. A popular way to do these is to pick a landmark.  Pick a telephone pole, mailbox, stop sign, or anything up ahead and run to it. You can choose one item (all telephone poles, for example) or multiple landmarks to create varying lengths of speed segments. On each segment, gradually pick up the pace until you're running fast but not all out. For the last 20 steps, hold the pace, but focus on relaxing your body and allowing momentum to take over. Walk or jog for half the distance of your repeat, then spot your next landmark and take off again. Continue for a total of 10 to 15 minutes, before running an easy five to 10 minutes to cool down.

Yasso 800s -  Take your marathon goal time in hours/minutes and convert this to minutes/seconds. For example, if your marathon goal is 3 hours and 10 minutes then convert that to 3 minutes and 10 seconds. Try to run 800 meters (approximately 1/2 mile) in your converted time (3:10 in this example). Recover after each 800 by jogging or walking for the same amount of time (again, 3:10 in this example). Start with three or four repetitions in the first week. Continue with Yasso 800 workouts once a week and try to add one more repetition each week until you reach ten repetitions. The first few should feel pretty easy, but you'll notice that they'll start to get more difficult as you continue to add repeats.

Treadmill Tempo Runs - If using a treadmill is an easier way to measure your speed workouts, try running a 3/3 combination.  After your warm-up, run 3 minutes at an easy pace and then switch it up to 3 minutes at about 20 seconds faster than your 5k pace.  Try to do at least 5 intervals at your fast pace. 

Another great benefit of interval training?  By alternating periods of intensity, you increase your calorie burn!

Happy Running!