Question:
I'm a recreational runner and have
plans to do the RnR 1/2 marathon
in AZ in
January and participate in track
and field starting next year. I
am a healthy 31 year old male. I've
been lifting fairly consistently
for the last few years and right
now I'm doing full body 3 times
perweek.
Now for my questions. I'm planning
to put a training schedule together
for the 1/2 beginning next week
and will base it on one of the programs
on runnersworld.com. What would
be the best way to incorporate speed
work into the training schedule?
Answer:
I've done repeated 200m runs over
a 1/4 marathon stretch, with walking
recoveries between runs; initially
8, then 16 then the most recent
being 23, with some of the 200's
combined into 400's in that one.
It's done two things:
(1) it completely
takes the edge off of uphill stretches
and
(2) it works
wonders removing the slowdown in
the last stretch of the 400.
My most recent
400m PR (55.5) is, in fact, with
a negative split (28+27.5, originally
I was intending on timing an 800,
but switched up after seeing the
first split). I hadn't even broken
60 until 18 months ago and the previous
PR was between 56 and 57 from 12
months before.
Distance is distance, no matter
how you get it in, walking or running.
Anything done over a 13 mile stretch
will habituate you to 13 miles.
