How new runners can add speed and ramp up confidence

As a newer runner, adding speedwork can be intimidating. It shouldn’t be–speedwork is an essential addition to your weekly mileage, and adding a little oomph to an occasional workout will boost your confidence and have you ready to try other new-to-you style training techniques in the future. You can try these speed sessions on road, trails, track or treadmill.

Before you start incorporating short speed sessions into your training, make sure you have been running for at least six months and are injury-free. Here are two simple workouts to get your legs used to moving quickly. With time and added strength, increase repeats or lengthen intervals.

Short speedy intervals

Don’t let this workout scare you away–if it seems like too much, simply shorten the intervals so that they seem manageable. 30 seconds fast with a one-minute recovery is fine. If you feel like you need to walk during your recovery, it’s perfectly OK to do so. Don’t worry about your pace during intervals, simply go by effort. You’ll probably be pleasantly surprised at how well you do, and how soon you can increase your repeats.

The workout:

Warm up with 10 minutes’ easy running

Five to eight repeats of one minute hard, followed by two minutes’ easy running or walking to recover

Cool down with five to 10 minutes’ easy running

Strides

Strides can be tacked on to the end of any easy run and are a fun, efficient way to begin adding speed. If you’ve never tried strides before, don’t worry: it’s hard to go wrong.

Start your strides by going easy, focusing on a short, quick stride, and then gradually increase your speed by lengthening your stride. Focus on staying relaxed and running smoothly. It should feel like a controlled faster pace, not a sprint.

The workout:

Easy run (approx. 30 minutes)

Four to five strides of 15 to 30 seconds each, 45 seconds rest in between

Recovery goes hand-in-hand with speedwork for all runners, from beginners to seasoned veterans. In these beginner speed workouts, the recovery intervals are longer in duration than the hard intervals. As you build strength, cut down recovery time to make the workouts more challenging. Take a very easy recovery running or rest day following any speedwork.

posted Thursday July 27th
by Keeley Milne