ACorn's Blog

Nice workout - great speed!

Nice, efficient run. Are you training for a specific race at the moment? Looks like you ran those quarters faster than your 5K pace...

I'm not just general 5k training. Trying to work on speed. Any suggestions?

Sounds like we were channeling similar workouts. Nice speed on those quarters.

Given that you have more speed than me, I'm not in a position to give you advice on speedwork...with one caveat. When you are ready to focus on longer distance races--halfs and fulls--I would drop the 400s and incorporate 800m - 2K intervals at or just below 5K pace. This will NOT maximize gains in the area of speed, but longer intervals should provide more benefits with respect to your VO2max, and your overall ability to hold a fast pace on tired legs. You don't want to go much faster than 5K pace (or just below) because you'll want to minimize the amount of time it takes to recover for more important tempo, race pace, and long runs during the week.

Now, you'll need to know your current 5K pace, so find a flat course before you ramp up half or full marathon training, and use it as a self-assessment of sorts.

Based on your blog, it's clear you already incorporate 1600m repeats into your training, so knocking out longer intervals at 5K pace will feel comfortable--like you're holding back. That's a good thing.

Of course, you can always do striders on easy days or recovery days, regardless of your target race or pace, to work on turnover.

Thanks Wesley for the response. It is appreciated.

Adam - just a few thoughts off the top of my head...

Totally agree w/ Wesley that longer reps reap the huge benefits... but that being said, I think there is always room in training for 200s, 300s, and 400s. I've been doing that kind of stuff consistently throughout this entire marathon buildup. 200s @ 1500m/3K pace have been a standard for me over the last 6-7 months. I think of it as neuromuscular training as much as anything else. Running shorter reps fast and relaxed will help you even in longer distances. They improve your form and thus efficiency, in my opinion. At altitude you just need to give yourself a little extra recovery. They can easily be a supplemental workout that doesn't tax you too much, but improving your top end speed will make you faster throughout the whole spectrum as you move up in distances.

Thanks Jake! I am lucky to have extremely capable and knowledgeable runners like you and Wesley providing your insight.

I am going to start doing some 200s at the track to work on my top end speed. Your pyramid workout looks like a good one too, I'll probably borrow that and incorporate it every couple of weeks too.

Thanks again.

Pyramids are nice b/c you ease into the longer reps, and then are nice and warmed up by the time you start stepping them back down.

200s are my preference b/c they just seem easy to recover from. Its almost like a "bonus" workout that you can mix in.

And I think the main thing is just to keep the big picture in mind... no need to be going all-out on intervals throughout the winter unless you are planning on racing indoors! Stay healthy, stay consistent... your times will really drop.

Nice workout!

Good idea to cut the recovery rather than increase the speed too!