Training Program Coaches' Favorite Workouts By Susan Paul, MS, TSF Training Program Director
Runners are always looking for ways to run faster; yet runners are also notorious for not liking change. This poses a bit of a dilemma for many runners. If you have reached the point in your training where you are ready to mix it up a bit, or if you are searching for some different workouts that will help you improve your speed, here are a few of the favorite workouts from some of our Track Shack Foundation Coaches.
For the 5k distance to the Half- Marathon distance, Coach Nathan says you can use this workout: Run 2 and 1's -meaning run 2 minutes on at 2 mile race pace then jog 1 minute easy. Run this workout for 30 minutes. For the 5k to 10k distance, Coach Nathan recommends this workout:
4-5 x 1000 at your 2 mile race pace with 1:45 rest in between each interval
Coach Dave Dickinson, Five and Dime
Coach Dave likes The Staircase: run a 400, 800, 1200 and 1600 (1 mile) with a 400 in between each interval for recovery. Advanced runners can go up The Staircase and down The Staircase. Coach Dave says his group thinks this is the most effective workout they do.
Another favorite workout is a pace run inside an easy run. For speed work, without having to use the monotony of the track, run 10-20 x 50’s inside an easy run using the tree shaded road. Great for hot workouts because you have some shade!
Coach Wayne likes to use “The Reversal Run” with his 5k and 10k runner. He likes to use this workout at the end of the session to challenge his runners. Coach Wayne sets a time, usually between 12 and 20 minutes. All runners start running at the same time and on same course for the selected time of 12, 15 or 20 minutes. At the end of the selected time frame, all the runners turn around and race back to the start. This gets the faster runners, who will run further, to push themselves to try to pass as many of the other runners as possible; and the slower runners, who don’t go as far, push themselves not to get caught from behind. Runners are instructed to run the first part- to the turn around time- at Tempo pace; then the second part of the run is a race to the finish.
Coach Susan recommends this workout for the marathon and half-marathon distance runner because it’s a nice alternative to the usual mile repeats:
3-4 sets x 1200 at 10k pace, 400 at 5k pace- Run a 1200 at 10k pace, jog easy for 30 seconds, then go right into a 400 at 5k pace. Then you can jog an easy 200 for recovery or walk for 2 minutes. Then repeat the sequence.
For more information on these workouts contact Susan Paul, Training Program Director at SusiWellness@aol.com or read more about our Track Shack Foundation Training Programs designed for all fitness levels.
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