Short Runs

Track workouts are my favorite days... particularly when we get to run 400's... which I know is weird for someone training for a marathon... but when you look up normal in the dictionary, my picture won't be there. I do sometimes wonder though if my time wouldn't be better spent doing longer tempo or pace runs. Being that I hate these workouts (but know that I see the greatest improvements when I do them correctly), I decided to look it up. 

Turns out, the addition of speed workouts separates elite athletes from those just trying to survive a marathon. After all, running faster makes your race pace seem easier, in addition to improving arm drive, speed, and stamina. And and and... one of the greatest marathon coaches ever has his athletes run 200's, 400's, 800's... like normal track workout stuff! Because the focus of many marathon programs is distance, strength (tempo + hills), and more distance... speed is often the limiting factor between a "good" marathon and a "great" marathon. In fact, speed is traditionally reserved to the last phase of training. The "new" method, however, places speed in the middle of base and tempo/strength training. And, actually, the "new" method follows more "traditional" training programs for every distance EXCEPT the marathon - build a good base, get stronger, and then focus on "race-specific" training. In the case of shorter races (5K's/10K's), this means speed work... but in the case of marathons, this means more LT runs. The last article presents more theory, advice, and example workouts... it's a pretty good read.