Speed Workout Training Tip
Tim Jackson drafting off the leader for North Stafford Track Team.
By Tim Jackson
In cross country there is this idea that you can only do one hard
workout in a row, with one recovery day in between. This may be true in
cross country, but in track (particularly middle distance), if you
follow that rule you will always get beat by those who don't. There are
two types of speed training. Pure speed, which is mainly helped by
distances from the 100 to the 400, and endurance speed, which is helped
by distances from the 400 to the mile.
Because of the two types of speed training, you can work on both
the top-end speed by doing the short repeats and a more constant speed
throughout the race with the longer intervals. While you are still
tired on day two of the program by the hard workout the day before, you
can push through it without having to worry about possibly injuring
yourself or being able to race well on the weekend. A sample workout
set is on day 1 do 12 X 200m at 800 goal pace plus 1 second and on day
2 do 4 X 600 at 1000 race pace plus 3 seconds. The added benefit of the
second hard day is that you learn how to push hard when you're tired.
Last Updated: March 7, 2007
