The Need for Speedwork in Distance Running

Hi, Friends & Fellow Runners:

To understand why speedwork – consisting of short, intense runs measured in meters -- should become an integral part of a training program for a race as long as a  marathon, you have to wrap your mind around an almost counter-intuitive thought.  Sure, they will help you run faster in your goal race, but that’s arguably not their primary purpose.  Perhaps more importantly, interval workouts will also serve to increase your VO2 max and improve your running economy,

With regard to the first of these benefits, U.S. coach Joe Rubio has written: “Short, high quality intervals significantly improve the heart’s ability to move energy-sustaining oxygen via the blood stream throughout the body, resulting in greater potential for improvement, and that’s the main reason you should do them, regardless of your target race distance.” 

And Greg McMillan, another American coach, highlighted the second key benefit of speedwork when he wrote that it helps you master the smooth, fluid motion of front-of-the-pack runners as they seemingly glide over a road’s surface. “As a result,” he said, “intervals effectively improve your running economy (the amount of oxygen consumed at a given pace), and improved running economy is very important in an endurance race.”  He then explained further:  “Think of it as getting better gas mileage – you can go longer before running out of gas.” 

In essence, then, speedwork provides physical gains that converge from two different directions.  It both increases the amount of oxygen that your body can absorb and at the same time reduces your body’s need for that oxygen.  The result is a win-win situation across the board.

Still another purpose of speed intervals is to duplicate your actual race experience by making you feel the same level of discomfort that you will feel in the final stages of the marathon or half-marathon that you plan to run.  The rationale behind this seemingly masochistic effort to court pain has to do with teaching your brain that you can run anaerobically for extended periods without putting yourself in harm’s way – and that you can recruit your fast-twitch muscle fibres in doing do.  In this latter sense, intervals parallel the work that long distance runs do in recruiting your slow-twitch muscle fibres. 

Like all aspects of training, however, speed intervals must be done right if they’re to have maximum impact.  To begin with, you must run each interval much faster than whatever your projected pace may be in your goal race – about 60 to 90 seconds per kilometer faster, in fact.  And under no circumstances (short of injury) should you slow down until you’ve completed the interval and are into a recovery phase.  Then you can simply jog easily or even walk in order to be able to take on the next interval at the same pace as the one before.

It’s essential that you maintain proper form and accelerate leg turnover, rather than over-stride, during the workout.  And, finally, use the intervals to practice techniques of concentration that will prove invaluable in the later stages of your goal race (repeating a favourite mantra, figuratively tying yourself to a runner in front of you, focusing on reaching a landmark up ahead, cadence counting your steps, etc.).

That’s all for now, people.  Stay well and keep moving.

Coach Stephen