Week 3 | Day 18
Some people say that hill work is speed work in disguise, and that’s true to some extent. It takes strength, good technique, and an efficient stride to do well on hills, and those skills translate well to the track. However, the converse of that is not true. Speed work is not hill work in disguise.
Speed work is actually running efficiency in disguise.
We’ve mentioned before that going fast is a function of two things: cadence and stride length. With the right biomechanics, those things can be accomplished without any sort of attention to form efficiency. But most of us are not Forrest Gump-like (Gumpian?) runners, so we must pay attention to form in order to make gains in speed.
Maybe I should restate what I said earlier: The process of learning to run fast is running efficiency in disguise.
This process starts as conscious choices: strong knee and arm drive, forward lean, high cadence, and a strong vertical posture. These are all critical components of running fast. So is learning to run hard enough to be uncomfortable and letting your heart and respiration rates get higher than usual. Joint range of motion and muscular strength play a part, too. Finally, there’s the mental aspect of running fast – you have to be OK with all the discomfort you know is coming.
Your body is smart. The more work you require it to do, the more it learns how to most efficiently accomplish that goal. But all these components are a lot of stuff to try to keep in your head at the same time. So don’t. Pick one or two components to work with at a time, and just run hard.
With enough practice, your body will figure it out. Over time, you start to develop the skills to run fast, and your body will use those skills to run efficiently at any pace or distance.
For today’s workout, go to a local track or find a flat or minimally hilly location where you can run anywhere from 400 meters to 800 meters without having to stop for traffic.
Beginner: 5 minutes
Intermediate: 10 minutes
Advanced: 15 minutes
Beginner: Alternate Run 40 seconds, Walk 20 seconds
Intermediate & Advanced: Run
All Levels: Run RPE Level 3/10
20 Boot-Strapper Squats
20 Inch Worms
Beginner: 20 minutes
Intermediate: 25 minutes
Advanced: 35 minutes
Distance
Beginner: 400 meters
Intermediate: 600 meters
Advanced: 800 meters
All Levels
Run: Run hard for Distance
Recover: 60 – 90 seconds. Walk or jog, but keep moving
Repeat: 5 more times
All Levels
Run: RPE 8/10
Recover: RPE 1/10
Beginner: 5 minutes
Intermediate & Advanced: 10 minutes
Beginner: Alternate Run 40 seconds, Walk 20 seconds
Intermediate & Advanced: Run easy
Beginner: RPE Level 2/10
Intermediate & Advanced: RPE Level 3/10
Show your calves some love, even if you’re not a rancher
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