I’m attempting to turn myself into a runner the remainder of this year. In an IM buildup I would never go to the track to do track workouts. Tempo runs, yes. It seems like there should be a mpw point where they are beneficial. I’ve told others who have asked about track work that unless you’re above 40mpw, you’d be better off just getting in more mileage than running track. Is there any sort of guide here?
The risk of injury goes up the more speedwork you do, if you feel like you have a good running base and can handle track work, there isnt really a reason not to do it ( if you want to). Im a convert to tempo though, I have talked with some good marathoners <2:30 guys out of boulder and they are all about the tempo/threshold work.
I’ve had a calf issue for the past year so my track days are over for a while. I’ve found that running once a week @ tempo speed and supplementing track workouts with either hard 100 swimming sets or spin class has kept my speed on par of when I was doing the true track workouts. The added benefit is my legs feel fresher.
If you are gonna hit the oval, I used to like to start track workouts with longer stuff, like 6x800 after awhile you will get used to it and can work on more explosive speed workouts. The biggest thing about track work and im sure you know this is to do a proper warmup, I rarely hit the lanes these days, but when i do, I try to first hit up the CC course for a good 20-30 mins before doing any speeedy stuff.
The risk of injury goes up the more speedwork you do, if you feel like you have a good running base and can handle track work, there isnt really a reason not to do it ( if you want to). Im a convert to tempo though, I have talked with some good marathoners <2:30 guys out of boulder and they are all about the tempo/threshold work.
Doing intervals or speedwork doesn’t necessarily lead to injury. You don’t have to do the intervals at an all out intensity. Use common sense and vary the intensity of the intervals based on how you feel. Don’t overdo it and you’ll be OK.
The legendary Emil Zatopek did most of his training with intervals on the track:
http://www.greatrun.org/runners_services/training/features/emil-zatopek.asp
i happen to think that track workouts are great training for IM and marathons. as some one said, don’t confuse ‘track’ and ‘interval’ with ‘intensity’. as most people do!!
where i live the roads are lousy for running, very lousy. plus running 12-15 miles at easy pace is hard on me.
one of my favorite track sessions is to get there real early and do a 2 to 3 hr work out where i run 4 laps in the outside lane (that way i don’t know how far it is so i’m not thinking of timing my ‘mile’), that takes 9-10 min. then i run the stadium stairs for about 10 min. i time it so every 20 min i am starting on the track again. i have a half frozen jug of gatorade right there so i can take a gulp every 10 min (just like IM ?). key is to run the last ‘mile’ just as fast as the first.
another day i’l do a 2 hr workout where i do warm up drills for half hour then i’ll run the straights at a quick pace and jog slow on the curves. trick is to go just fast enough on the straights so you can do it for 1.5hrs.
aside from those you can do all kinds of tempo and 4 on/2 off stuff. you can have drink stuff there and everything. so it really is a good alternative for a long work out.
also good to help you learn to pace yourself.
good luck
It depends on what you’re doing at the track - vVo2 intervals, repetition running, threshold, etc… and where you are in your running development/season.
If you’re just wanting to turn yourself into a runner, then I would suggest running as far as you can, as fast as you can every day, but easy enough to do it 7 days/week for the rest of the year.
You can do speedwork anywere…
I run on the track every week, but there are a couple rules of thumb I follow.
- Speed volume/distance only makes up an absolute maximum of 1/4 of the my volume/distance for the week.
- I stretch more than I usually do
- I warm up and cool down
- I use the McMillan calculator to determine my proper pace.
I cut 4.5 minutes off my Oly distance 10k since including speedwork.
You don’t need a track to do speedwork either. I sometimes run ladders (10 sec easy 10 sec hard 20 sec easy 20 sec hard 30 sec easy 30 sec hard) on my regular running route.