You have neither trained as a bird nor a fish”. So it might be some of the reasons as to why. You may be more slow twitch but you also seem to enjoy sprint based workouts. I think you should try to do a few upphill races. They are more like slow twitch sprints (depending on distance). If you are living somewhere with snow I would advice you to try xc-skiing as well
FinnJ wrote:
You have neither trained as a bird nor a fish”. So it might be some of the reasons as to why. You may be more slow twitch but you also seem to enjoy sprint based workouts. I think you should try to do a few upphill races. They are more like slow twitch sprints (depending on distance). If you are living somewhere with snow I would advice you to try xc-skiing as well
Uhh what? Running long distances uphill is literally nothing like sprinting lol wtf.
Shaneen, the sprint workouts you posted in your training schedule are proper workouts I'm just uncertain about the rest of the days where you do distance work/weights and the relation they would have to your speed workouts (whether they would hinder them, etc.)
I have read this thread right through and I still have no idea which event Shaneen is training for. I have no idea how anyone thinks they can advise her without having a clue what her goals are.
Shaneen, could you please explain WHY you want to run 100m faster? do you want to actually race 100m, or do you just want to improve the top-end speed for middle distance racing? and, second question, what is your main event and your current pr at that event?
cheers.
Hi. I am interested in decreasing my sprint speed times to improve my middle distance times. Right now I am doing 10k base training with pure speed just for fun before runs 1-2x a week, I do these sessions on a track occasionally with a few other runners and we try to push our speed each rep.
My PRs
55m FAT on a track measured with rope: 8.28
100m FAT on a racing track: 15.5
400m FAT on a racing track: 71.3
Mile Road Race: 5:28
5k: 18:48
10k: 39:06
I have a 4 races around the country booked over the next 7 months, all 5ks and 10ks so I won’t be doing any formal/focused sprint training until then. For now, I am more interested in converting my speed into middle distance but eventually after my final race in late October, I am going to be focusing on speed building and sprinting over the winter months. I think I have the capability to go sub 5 within the next couple of years but this will only happen if I spend some real time focusing on getting my speed up.
as a kind of ballpark figure to work with while considering speed for middle distance, I do the following:
1. FAT time over 100m, call this A
2. (2 x A) + 3 = 200m time, call this B
3. (2 x B) + 3 = 400m time (or 4A + 9, same thing)
from the times you have given in your post we see that (15.5 x 2 + 3 = 34), and then (34 x 2 + 3 = 71) which is, pretty much, your 400m time.
also, your mile time of 5:28 is what I would expect off a 71s 400m, your 18:48 5km is also good, but your 10km drops off a little bit (as a rough guide, 10km time = 2 x 5km time plus 1 minute). this tells us that your speed endurance is okay but your endurance could use a boost.
this tells us that your training so far has not induced any weird imbalance in your ability and you exhibit the profile of someone who can definitely benefit from this type of training.
as I am sure you know, training works by inducing adaptations, and those adaptations happen during recovery. as has already been mentioned, speed training depends to a much greater extent than middle distance training on you resting properly both during and after sessions to allow those adaptations to occur. when viewed from this perspective, doing these sessions twice a week is probably not helping.
there are also other things that you can be doing to help improve the effects of the speed work. gym work is really necessary to develop both the muscles required for sprinting and also the structural muscles to help your posture, which in turn helps your running form which helps you run faster. if you are serious about running faster you will need to get in the gym.
if you have not done any gym work before I would suggest you start with some simple circuits. choose a set of around eight exercises, press ups, sit ups, squat thrusts, leg raises and so forth. start by doing 1 circuit of a small number of reps of each exercise and over several weeks increase the number of reps until you can do say 1 set of 10 reps. then cut that in half and do 2 sets of 6 reps and work on building up to 2 sets of 10 reps. at that point you can introduce some light weight exercises (by "light" I mean 25% bodyweight or less), military press, good morning, curls of various kinds and so forth. then do the circuits once a week and the weights once a week for three months at which point you will be ready to start learning squats and cleans.
introduce these at very low weights and concentrate on learning the technique first. as a middle distance runner you do not need to either squat or clean more than 50% your own bodyweight within the first six months and you can make distinct improvement without ever going above that level. remember always that your goal is to run faster, not to lift more. I have attached below a link to a book full of exercises suitable for middle distance runners to give you some ideas. there are other books available but this is the one I use.
meanwhile down at the track...
in your short sprints session use each rep to think about running your fastest during a particular phase of the sprint. the options can include:
1. accelerate smoothly over the first 20m, then hold that speed for 10m, then cruise home
2. accelerate as fast as possible over the first 10m, hold for 10m, then cruise home
3. accelerate smoothly over the first 20m, cruise for 10m, then kick hard for home
the point is that you simply cannot run your fastest over the whole distance, so you need to learn to control your speed. always during this type of work make your recoveries a long, slow, walk back.
your plan to do this after your track racing season is over sounds fine, and that means that you can precede the sprint work with 3 - 4 weeks of hill sprints. you want an uphill slope rather than a steep hill, run around 6 - 8 reps at around your best 400m speed for 150m with walk back recoveries, with a 2 mile warm up and 3 - 4 miles to cool down. you should also at this time be doing some fartlek work mixed in with your easy mileage.
my only concern at this point is that running 10km road races is not the optimum way to improve your mile time, so if your main goal is to go sub-5 for the mile there are probably better things to be doing, but running is a hobby and you must do what you enjoy or it ceases to be rewarding.
good luck, and keep us informed of your progress. if you have any further questions please feel free to ask.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Strength-Conditioning-Bible-Train-Athlete/dp/147290897X
cheers.
It is OK to focus on endurance for now and seems you are on track. So, no comment there.
But, to practice speed in winter month would be tough, unless you have a indoor track you can use. It is best to do speed training between March and October (maybe till November depends on which part of the country you live).
I am a 400/800 guy in college and now running distance (16'33" 5K, sub 3 marathoner), so I know both world pretty well. As a 50 yr old guy, I can still sprint 100M in close to 12" flat. The key to train for both is: train on endurance in winter month and focus on pure speed in summer month with some light jogging on recovery days at very, very slow pace.