Summer of Speed

Well it’s official, summer is here. The blistering heat, the taking 15 minutes to stop sweating after you get out of the shower after a run and the soaked running sneakers make starting your marathon build quite miserable. The good news is that you have PLENTY of time to start your build and (unless you are doing Berlin) you probably don’t need to be hammering out the mileage yet. Take this time to focus on SPEED.

Speed workouts leading up to a marathon build will allow you to get solid workouts in with planned rest/walk breaks instead of overheating during easy runs and seeing your heart rate spike. These workouts don’t need to be more frequent than 1x per week (although two is encouraged depending on how many days per week you run) in order to improve your speed, your running form and muscle strength. 

Speed workouts depend on what you are training for. I highly encourage signing up for local 5ks or 1 mile races in order to work on that all out effort prior to a marathon build which will consist of longer efforts at relatively easier paces. If you start your marathon based workouts too soon, you will likely sustain an overuse injury or just simply get burnt out (both by the sun and the boringness of marathon workouts). 

Sample Workouts:

For 1 Mile:

• 1-2 Mile WU

• Dynamic Drills, Stretches, 4 x 100m strides

• 3 x (800m, 400m, 200m) progressing from 3k-faster than 1 mile pace with short rest

• 1-2 mile CD

For the 5K:

• 1-2 Mile WU

• Dynamic Drills, Stretches, 4 x 100m strides

• 5 x 1000m w/ 2 min rest & 4 x 200m w/ 1 min rest

• 1-2 mile CD