Challenging Interval Track Workout to Increase Speed

Welcome to latest edition of workout Wednesday when each week I share a running or strength training for runners workout. This week we are heading out to the track for a challenging but fun interval track workout! Let's go!

INTERVAL TRACK WORKOUT

A track is like a highway, the left lane is the fast lane. If you are not running fast, yield to the faster runners and move over to the outside lanes. A standard track is 400 meters or a 1/4 mile from the inside lane. Four times around the track in that lane is one mile. This workout will challenge you through 2.25 miles including a warm up and cool down.

I recommend this dynamic warm up before beginning any running workout. 

Use the rate of perceived exertion chart to determine your effort level as you complete the workout. The intensity goes up as the distance of the interval goes down. The shorter the distance, the harder you are working. Recover with a brisk walk or jog for the same distance as the work interval.

400 meters around the track one time with a light jog to get warmed up
400 meters around the track one time with a hard effort, but not so hard you can't maintain it
400 meters around the track one time with a light jog or brisk walk to recover
200 meters halfway around the track at an extremely hard effort
200 meters halfway around the track with a light jog or brisk walk to recover

That's one mile. Congratulations. 

100 meters 1/4 of the track at an all-out effort on the straights
100 meters 1/4 of the track at a walk to recover on the bends
100 meters 1/4 of the track at an all-out effort on the straights
100 meters 1/4 of the track at a walk to recover on the bends

200 meters halfway around the track at an extremely hard effort
200 meters halfway around the track with a light jog or brisk walk to recover
400 meters around the track one time with a hard effort.
400 meters around the track one time with a light jog or brisk walk to recover

Two miles. Done and done. 

Go ahead and take a victory recovery lap. You're done!

Hard workouts like this one should be followed by a day or two of recovery days or easy runs. Never attempt interval workouts on back to back days. Remember that you get stronger and faster during recovery, not during the workout. For maximum results, always allow your body time to recover and rebuild from tough workouts. Most athletes will benefit from just one or two hard effort workouts per week. 

Give it a whirl around the track and let me know how it goes!

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Questions? I'd love to help!

Coach Lea

Try Aerobic Power Intervals to Improve Your V02MAX

Welcome to the latest edition of workout Wednesday when each week I share a new running or runner-specific strength training workout! Are you new here? Sign up to receive all the running, strength training and nutrition tips right in your email box each week. 

This week I am sharing an effective workout to train your cardiovascular system. I know you already have a big heart, but this workout will train to give you a bigger heart so you can pump more blood and become a more efficient runner. 

WHAT IS V02MAX? 

V02MAX is the size of your aerobic engine, it's the maximum rate in which your muscles can consume oxygen and the best indicator of your aerobic fitness. You can train to improve your V02MAX with aerobic power intervals. 

THE WORKOUT

V02max aerobic power intervals - Pin for later!

This is an intermediate level workout. You should be fairly comfortable with running before attempting this workout. You should have built up a solid running base by running on a regular basis for at least four to six weeks.

WARM UP

Always warm up before a workout. Here is a dynamic warmup to try before your next run. I also recommend this five minute hip strength workout, then jog for 5-10 minutes before you begin the workout. 

3-5 MINUTES MAX HEART-RATE

The first interval is 3-5 minutes at max or near max heart-rate. The pace should be feel hard, a 9 effort on a scale from 1-10. While it should feel hard, it shouldn't be so hard that you can't maintain the pace for 3-5 minutes. If you know your 5K pace from a recent race, run this interval about 15 seconds faster than your 5K pace. You should be able to maintain a consistent pace throughout the interval. It's tough. Hang in there.

3 MINUTES RECOVERY

Recover with a brisk walk or jog to prevent heart-rate from dropping too much.

REPEAT

There is no set numbers or repetitions. You should repeat until you are fatigued. To start you may just do the work interval two times. 

RECOVERY

This is the most important part of the workout. Always allow adequate time for your body to recover from hard workouts. Do not attempt to do this workout on back-to-back days. Take a rest day, an easy run day or an active recovery day on the day following this workout. Our body adapts (gets stronger and faster) during rest, not during the workout. You will not see the full benefit of hard workouts without adequate rest periods. Got it? Good. 

Give it a whirl and let me know how it goes. 

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Coach Lea

THE STOPLIGHT RUNNING WORKOUT

Welcome to the latest edition of Workout Wednesday when each week I share a new running or strength for runners workout! Want to receive workouts like these right in your email every week?  

This week I want to remind you that running is supposed to be fun. Yes, fun! Most of us aren't elite athletes that run for the prize money when we win marathons. We run because either on the surface or somewhere deep down inside we really enjoy it.

Remember when we were kids and we would race our friends to the end of the street or chase our screaming little brothers around the block? (My brother could bench press me these days.) Somehow in our adulthood, we forgot how to have fun. Sometimes we even try to make the fun activities too serious. We can't take a walk in nature without tracking our steps on Fitbit, go for a run without analyzing our paces and heart rate or even run a race without putting crazy pressure on ourselves to perform well. I am as guilty as any. 

Sometimes running is just supposed to be fun. That's why I love this stoplight workout. We can mix up the paces and have fun with it without putting too much pressure on ourselves. It reminds me of those childhood games we used to play in the old neighborhood under the street lights, when our parents had to yell for us to come home in the days long before cell phones.

Now, I wish I could be there with you while you do this workout so I could yell out "GREEN LIGHT!", "YELLOW LIGHT!", "RED LIGHT!", "GO!" but you'll just have to use a trusty timer and your imagination, like back in the old days. (I just had a birthday and I am really starting to sound like an old lady with all this good 'ol days talk.)

This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on a link in this post and make a purchase, I make a small percentage of the sale with no additional cost to you. No one is getting rich here, it just helps with the running (pun intended) of this blog. Thanks, as always, for your support.

THE STOPLIGHT RUNNING WORKOUT

This workout can be done on a treadmill or on the street or track with an interval timer or simple stop watch. I use this interval timer from Gymboss with my runners and at my bootcamps.

Download a printable PDF of the Stop Light Running Workout

RUN BY EFFORT: THE RPE CHART

This workout is based on the RPE chart, which is ideal for a workout you find on the internet. RPE stands for Rate of Perceived Exertion and is based on your own effort, not assigned paces. Why? Because it can be dangerous and irresponsible to follow arbitrary paces on the internet. If you try to follow a pace that is beyond your fitness level you could injure yourself. If you follow a pace that is too easy, you won't get the maximum benefit of the workout. If you work according to your own fitness levels and progress only when you're ready, you will improve your running skills while reducing chance of injury. (Coach rant over.)

You can learn more about the RPE chart here

Your RPE can be determined by the talk test.

RPE:1 No effort. You are probably sitting.
RPE:2-3 Light effort. Breathing is extremely easy. You may be walking at this effort.
RPE: 4-6 Moderate effort. You are working a little harder, maybe a jog or an easy run, but you can carry on a full conversation at this pace without gasping for air between words or sentences.
RPE: 7-8 Hard effort. You can speak a sentence or two at a time before having to taking a gasp of breath.
RPE: 9 Extremely hard effort. You can get out a word or two but breathing is labored and talking is challenging.
RPE: 10 Maximum effort. You are completely out of breath and unable to talk. You would only be able to hold this pace for a very short time.

RED LIGHT | YELLOW LIGHT | GREEN LIGHT EFFORT

RED LIGHT | HARD EFFORT | RPE 7-9
YELLOW LIGHT | MODERATE EFFORT | RPE 4-6
GREEN LIGHT | EASY EFFORT | RPE 3

THE SUNDAY DRIVER

After a proper running warm up, like the one shown in this blog post, get ready for your workout with four minutes of a brisk walk or light jog. This should be an extremely easy effort. 

REV UP YOUR ENGINE

Let's start getting our body ready for faster paces. Run for 30 seconds at a hard effort and then recover for 90 seconds at a moderate or easy effort until your breath is recovered. Repeat a total of four times

THE SPEED DEMON

Now we are getting into the fun. Start off with one minute of easy effort, followed by three minutes at a moderate steady pace. You should be working but not so hard that you can't maintain it for three minutes. Recover for two minutes at an easy pace before picking it back up at a hard pace for two minutes. The most important point here is that you find a pace that you can maintain for two minutes. If you go out too hard, you'll never make it two minutes. Your pace should be steady, yet hard for the two minute interval. You have one minute to recover before one last hard interval of one minute. This is your last one, give it all you got for the last minute. 

COOL OFF

Walk or jog for three minutes to bring your heart rate down to normal before finishing up workout. It is generally a good idea for most runners to finish up with some stretching.

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Coach Lea

Need for Speed Track Workout

Hello there. Thanks for joining us for the latest edition of Workout Wednesday, when each week I share a new running or runner-specific strength training workout. This weekend hubby and I hit the local school track so I thought I would share my 'need for speed' track workout. 

Long intervals are great for distance runners looking to increase their running pace. The track makes it easy to measure distance without any fancy GPS. 

STANDARD 400 METER TRACK

A 400 meter track equals 1/4 of a mile. The straights are 100 meters each and the bends are 100 meters each.

Track workout

This workout is based on the RPE (rate of perceived exertion) chart. You can learn more about RPE in this blog post. The beauty of the RPE is that I don't need to assign specific paces for your speed and recovery intervals. That would be impossible for a blog post that reaches millions (ha. OK. hundreds) of runners of different abilities and experience levels. The workout paces are based on how you feel and the talk test. 

THE TALK TEST | RPE CHART

Your RPE can be determined by the talk test.

RPE:1 No effort. You are probably sitting.
RPE:2-3 Light effort. Breathing is extremely easy. You may be walking at a leisurely pace.
RPE: 4-6 Moderate effort. You are working a little harder, maybe a jog, but you can carry on a full conversation at this pace without gasping for air between words or sentences. 
RPE: 7-8 Hard effort. You can speak a sentence or two at a time before having to taking a gasp of breath.
RPE: 9 Extremely hard effort. You can get out a word or two but breathing is labored and talking is challenging.
RPE: 10 Maximum effort. You are completely out of breath and unable to talk. You would only be able to hold this pace for a very short time.

THE WORKOUT

Download a printable PDF of this 'Need for Speed' track workout

• Warm up and run one easy paced lap around the track = 400 meters.
• RPE 7-8 (see above) Run one lap around the track at a hard effort = 400 meters
• RPE 4-6 Recover by jogging or walking one lap = 400 meters 
• RPE 7-8 Run two laps (1/2 mile) around the track at a hard effort = 800 meters. It is important to pace yourself here. Don't go out so hard that you can't make it around the track two times at a sustained pace
• RPE 4-6 Recover by jogging or walking for one lap
• RPE 7-8 Run two laps around the track at a hard effort = 800 meters
• RPE 4-6 Recover by jogging or walking for one lap
• RPE 9 This is your final push. Run hard for one lap = 400 meters
• RPE 2-3 Walk your final lap

RECOVERY

A speed interval workout like this one can put additional stress on your body. It is extremely important to take rest and recovery days in between hard workouts. Never try to do hard interval-style workouts back-to-back without rest. Remember it is during rest that you get stronger and faster, not during the workout. Without the rest, you will not see improvements at the same rate.

A workout like this is effective performed just once or twice a week. Well-conditioned athletes may be able to handle three times. Pushing past your abilities only will cause injury and can side-line you from advancing at all. Be patient. Increase intensity slowly over time. Be safe, friends. 

Let's do it! I'm here to help.

Any questions? I'd love to help.

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Coach Lea