10 juli 2007 kl 13:13
Redigerad 31 december 2005 kl 00:00
Äh, det funkade inte med länken. Här är artikeln:
SPEED THRILLS
What better way to usher in spring than by adding some giddyup to your stride? All it takes is one simple (but fast) workout per week.
By Doug Rennie
It was by accident that I did my first true speedwork--when I was well into middle age. I arrived at the track too late to hook up with my usual Tuesday 10-K-through-marathon training group (a.k.a. The Distance Guys). But our club´s milers (a.k.a. The Fast Guys) were just getting started--12 x 300-meters fast, with 100-meter jog recoveries between repeats.
Gulp.
These repeats were way shorter than the 800-meter or mile repeats that had been my Tuesday norm for years. Way, way faster, too. And included way, way, way less breath-catching time.
I hung on, but barely. I lurched along, my arms and legs on separate agendas, like some marionette with a drunk pulling the strings. And I could do no more than two reps in a row without sitting one out, chest heaving, sucking in air through my ears. I think I ended up doing only seven. Maybe it was six.
Eventually, though, after a few weeks of this, I managed to do the full set nonstop, albeit at the back of the pack. At which point it happened: My PRs, all of them--times that had been hung up in a holding pattern for several years--dropped. A minute-plus off my 10-K best, nearly three minutes off my half-marathon, and eventually a full five minutes (to the second) off the full 26.2.
This could happen to you, too. Here´s why:
According to Harvard researcher Peter Weyand, Ph.D., short-but-fast workouts help maintain the function of your spinal cord´s "motor nerve" cells, the ones that control fast running. Without high-quality speedwork, these cells deteriorate as you get older, slowing you down. And researchers at the Institute for Olympic Sports in Finland recently found that for average runners, "there is much to be gained from running sprint intervals of 50 meters to 200 meters once a week."
What´s that? Worried this will get you injured? You think it´s only a matter of time until you hear a loud, odious "Boiiinnnng!"--the sound of a snapped hamstring rolling up like a window blind? Not true. "In fact," writes training expert Owen Anderson, Ph.D., editor of Running Research News, "the best predictors of injury are high mileage, a previous history of injury, and a failure to include enough rest in your training." Not speed training.
Which brings us to our program of very speedy (but doable) workouts. Do only one session per week, which will dramatically increase leg turnover, and increase your speed in all race distances. Just be careful, says Ft. Collins-based coach Jon Sinclair. "The important thing is progression," he says. "If you start with a workout that is moderately challenging then gradually add intensity, you´ll be fine."
If you´re new to speedwork, start with "A 3-Pointer for Newbies," below. If you´re an old hand, skip to the four other workout options beginning with "Tried and True," and pick the ones you like best (but try them all initially).