If you have found yourself addicted to distance running and are in marathon training mode, then you need to add a speed workout to your program. Speed training can improve your marathon time by improving coordination and enabling the heart to take on a heavier workload.
Instructions
1. Choose a period to incorporate speed training into your program. If you are training for a specific marathon, start a month of speed training 6 to 8 weeks before the run date. If you run more than one marathon a year, put two one month sessions of speed training into your program.
2. Make one day an interval day. Do your warm-up and then run your regular pace for 5 minutes. To do an interval, run hard for 15 seconds to one minute and then return to your regular pace to recover. The interval should be intense. The shorter the interval, the more you should put out. Do four to ten intervals.
3. Make one day a tempo workout. Do your warm-up and then run at your regular pace for 5 minutes. Then run a little faster than you normally do, so that you feel the extra work. This is not flat out speed, you should never become breathless, but you will breathe harder than you do on your daily runs. Try going for 20 to 30 minutes.
4. Crosstrain. Take a day off from running and do something else. Go for a bike ride or go rollerblading. Crosstraining can address muscles you didn't know you had and give your running muscles a break. This can improve your coordination, which, in turn, will improve your running speed.
5. Know the course. If at all possible, do a training run or two on the actual course of the marathon. If you know when the hills are coming, it is easier to pace yourself. If you can't train on it, see if the marathon's website has a course profile. This will show you the grade of the hills and how many to expect.
6. Know your digestive system. A run time can be destroyed by a bodily function that can't wait. Plan for it. Eat with time to digest, even if it means getting up a bit earlier. Avoid foods you are unfamiliar with for a few days before the run.
7. Eat a good pre-run meal. This should be a carb loading meal the day before the run to fully load the liver with glycogen. Pasta is a great choice.
Tags: improve your, regular pace, speed training, your program, your regular