Master's Speed Workout Ideas

i'd like to know this too.

Make that three interested parties.

At 53 I am at least as interested in avoiding injury as I am getting some speed back, so I would be particularly interested in low risk ways to develop speed.

Look up some of Pete Magill's stuff on drills, speed, and hill training.

I take sort of a speedwork light approach. Rather than the standard 10 X 400 or 16 X 200 that we used to do, I'll do just a mile or so a week at about mile pace and maybe one other day add some 80-150 mi pick ups at mile pace or a little faster.

Start out easy/something you can handle and then build from there. Over a couple months progress from 5-6 X 100 m, to 8-12X 100 m, to 5X 300, to 4 X 400 or various combinations of reps from about 150 m to 800 m. I sometimes do 2 to 2.5K of faster running (mile pace or faster) but only rarely, like once or twice a year.

30-30s.

48yo here. Serious still, but slowing as Father Time takes his toll. No intervals - honestly, there is too much strain on the hamstring from sitting in a cubicle 9-10 hours per day.

Once every 2 weeks I go for a 40 minute run - 10 min w/u then 20 min of 30-30s, with the last minute being a full minute of speed. Speed is a laughable term at this age. Let's put it this way - the 30s hard are done at a pace approximately 10-15 sec per mile faster than 5K race pace. Or basically what I can go out in for the first mile of a 5K. The other week - I do a tempo run instead.

Many good threads for masters runners on lr.c, but this is the workout which works for me. the principles of running remain the same, we need to adapt to our capabilities at our increasing decrepitude.

Oh and my Dad still runs at age 75 - but much much much slower. While we think we are old now and struggle to recover - you have no idea what is to come.

Mackwamba

AK-55 wrote:

Look up some of Pete Magill's stuff on drills, speed, and hill training.

Thanks! I have read some good stuff from him before in RT before. I will have do dig into his stuff!

The way to get there is to race more 5k's.

Simply delicate 3-4 months to racing a 5k every other week. Now and then do them in back to back weeks.

Speed work is problematic as you age but if you must do it, stick to the longer reps. 1000's, 1200's and 1600's. No more than 3 miles worth.

Do them at date pace.

I don't know what your 5k time is but lets just say you're at 21:45 or a seven pace. Then run your reps at that pace. As your 5k's get faster then you can run your reps faster.

Don't run intervals the same week as you race.

I've been on a slow comeback from an injury. I decided to forgo the long slow build up and instead decided to do some shorter faster stuff. (btw I'm 45 yrs old, so Im no young speedster any more)

I started following the 5k plan in "Run Faster" by Brad Hudson. I highly recommend it. He does a very good job of moving you from one phase to another at a good pace and there is enough variety in the daily runs to keep you from getting bored.

After college I never liked track workouts that much. I did a lot of intervals on the trails. I am about your age and had lost a lot of my speed. I worked out of town for 6 years and there were not good running trails. But, I ran the steep ramps at the University stadium. It is maybe 100 meters but very steep. I ran them very hard twice a week. That helped like you would not believe increasing my speed.

RustyRunnerAintGotNoSpeed wrote:

49 year old runner here who hasn't done much speed work in years-- mainly just tempo runs and strides. I am ok at 10k-1/2 marathon (not great) but my 5k times stink to high heavnens. Wanting to incorparate some speed sessions to help but afraid I am going to kill myself if I try to do sessions like back in high school.

Any advice? Workout ideas?

P.S. Haven't done any strength training with weights or hills -- would it be more beneficial to focus on muscle strength than worry about leg speed at this stage?

P.S.S. Would getting faster at 1mile to 5k help me in my primary events of 1/2 marathon to marathon?

btw I'd recommend that do a good 4 weeks with hill reps before getting into any "formal" speed sessions.

I like the workout Hadd suggested in his base training plan- on the track, run 200m at 5k pace, followed by 200m 15 sec slower than the 1st (eg 45sec/60sec). Run it continuously, with no rest breaks. When I started this workout earlier this year I was coming off a long injury rehab, and after 8 laps I started to feel pretty tight and wrapped it up. Some weeks later, I can do 16 laps, and my 45 sec segments have come down to 42. Hadd recommends doing 25 laps, but I've never actually done that many. For me, this is a good way to get a little turnover into the week without a lot of soreness or injury risk.

Try transitioning back into speedwork with some fartlek sessions. That way you're not so caught up with the concept of time over a certain distance.

Start with something like a 15 minute warm up and then 10 X 2 minutes with 2 minute recovery jogs between each. Don't focus on pace or distance covered, instead focus on consistent effort and good running form.