Speedwork - an introduction to speed running

To make myself feel better about being lazy and unfit, I'm posting this eager-beaver (short) running article for anyone like mels, Canuck, Carm, UpQuark, Shaggy, Katrina and Showem (!) for whom shaving those minutes off is a life-and-death issue.

(Burp)

Speedwork

Do you know if being a member of MRRC entitles you to usage of any tracks?

If you're looking for a good hill, the Olympic park is a good place.

Hi, I have decided to enter a half marathon it has been a while since i have done any running but am confident i can get back into it. My question is what do you guys do to improve your times, what techniques do you use to get your bodies to adjust to the faster tempo...No retorts from you Jimbo, Keydeck, Tif, and the TT'er formally known as 3 Lions

thanks for your help.

at the risk of stating the bleedin' obvious, training a bit may be a good start

message brought to you by BTR on behalf of Jimbo, Keydeck, Tif, and the TT'er formally known as 3 Lions

You could improve both your speed and your stamina by upping your adrenalin and running over here to Munich. Wonder how we could get you to do that? I have an idea. I could tell you a story about this really hot chick I met once at a Comedy Club night

Anyway, here's a previous discussion with some info about improving speed and stamina. Wade through the chaff and you might find something useful.

Oh I heard that the hot chick was Judders' mom. Smokin' I think was the word. I hope that was just a rumour and your not really teasing him Sir, as that would be wrong, obviously.

that was a school boy error, should have used the search engine

am on my way to Munich...now time me

even jml is on the case now lucky my mom doesn't read TT.

As above, do speedwork, but make sure you've built reasonable stamina up first. You'll improve for a while just doing normal steady running. When you find you've hit a bit of a rut, start doing a little fartlek, Finnish for "speed play". It means just running faster for a while and then slowing down, recovering and then doing it again. You just fast or slow and as many times as you feel like. It's not regulated hence its name. You could also try interval training which involves doing a set distance, and then resting until you've got your breath back and the doing it again. A good basic distance to start with is 400m. Run 400m (never full-out), about 75% effort and then wait for your breath to get back. Repeat it until your last 400m is way slower than the previous. For half-marathon, you can do intervals of up to a 1km I would say. You can bring the rest periods down as you get fitter, split the intervals up into sets of say 4x400m, rest a bit longer and then do another set. And then do them straight when you're fitter. You could also do pyramids i.e. 100, 200, 400, 800 and then back down again. It's fucking hard work, but it brings about the results. Make sure you warm up properly and that your level of fitness is already reasonable because it's an easy way of over-training. I would suggest about 1-2 sessions a week at your level. If you want more info, go to the library or book store and get yourself a book on running. Good luck!

Unfortunately I've buggered my knee so no running for me until recovered (at least 4 months if not more).
However, I'm delighted to be named in the same sentence as the phrase "eager-beaver", if that hasn't made my morning I don't know what will!