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Three stages of speed work for beginners, use these three stages as a framework to help you get faster

Speed can be intimidating for many new runners to implement into training. If your goal is to get quicker, the purpose of speedwork is to help you feel more relaxed and comfortable while running at a faster pace. If you’re new to running or have simply never done a speed session before, you can use these three stages as a tool for training.

You’ll find the inclusion of speedwork will complement your easy mileage, and you’ll see the results first hand. 

Stage one – Making strides

If you’ve never done any kind of max speed training (or if it’s been a while), it’s important to start small. Stage 1 exercises are a good introduction, setting the stage for more explosive work. Begin by doing strides for 80 to 100m four times with walk-back recovery. Adding these to your training one day a week will make a huge difference. Eventually, these strides should be done after every recovery run.

Stage two – Hills and intervals

After doing two to three weeks of stage one workouts, you can start to add intervals or short hill sprints in stage two. Interval work, such as two minutes on, one minute off, helps you operate outside of your comfort zone. Interval work should be done once or twice a week mixed in with a few easy runs.

Stage three – Add intensity

Once you have gradually built up and conquered a few weeks of stage one and stage two workouts, you can start to incorporate higher-intensity intervals, for example, 10 reps of 400m with short jog recovery. Limiting these exercises to once or twice a week maintains the appropriate intensity without risking injury or causing too much training fatigue.