Speed Work
All runners, even those with no desire to win races, can benefit from speed work. It improves your heart and lung performance and gives you a chance to spice up a boring running route. However, speed work can only be introduced when you have already mastered long slow distance running because increased speed adds to increased risk of injury if your body is not well accustomed to running. There are two main ways to integrate speed work:
Intervals
Interval running is often done on a track but you can use any circular route, just going round the block or even running up and down a stretch of quiet road where the outward journey counts as one interval and the return another. Note that if you run out and back, the path must be flat. Simply run your specified distance at a very fast pace and then take a rest before repeating the sequence. The length of the speed run must be short enough to complete in a few minutes, while the rest period, usually jogging at a slow pace, is long enough that the runner's heart rate comes down significantly. Through running intervals, your body adjusts to higher levels of lactic acid (they cause cramps) and to having an oxygen debt.
Fartlek
Fartlek is like intervals but done spontaneously during a normal run – you just decide when to speed up, according to how you feel. During a normal long slow run, pick an object in the near distance, say a tree about a hundred yards away and sprint to it. As soon as you reach it, slow down to slightly slower than your regular pace – after a couple of minutes you increase to your regular pace and then, when your breathing has recovered and you’re ready to challenge yourself again, you pick another target, say a car parked on the side of the road, and run as fast as you can until you reach it. Because you’re listening to your own body this is a very intuitive way of building speed into your run.
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