Track Workouts:  the workout I LOVE to HATE!  I hate track workouts because they are hard, but I love how my body feels when I’m finished and I love how much faster I’ve become since including track workouts in my training.

When I was a senior in high school and completing one of my last ever track practices I remember telling myself “I will never walk on a track again”  Well, here I am.  I only wish I had the mindset I have now (at age 33) at age 18.  A body at 18 and a mind of a 33yr old would make a pretty damn good runner, I think.

So, why track workouts?  Many reasons.  If you want to improve your running speed, form and strength the track is the place to do it.  At the track you can focus on form and getting better at holding a faster pace over a longer period of time.

For me personally, I can feel that I’m a lot stronger, both mentally and physically, after running track workouts. I can run harder for a longer period of time and I didn’t build that strength by adding lots of miles on the road. I also have a much better feel for pace and know when my body is feeling a good or bad discomfort and can hang in there or adjust accordingly.

Other benefits include:

-The most obvious benefit of track running is that you should notice some gains in speed. It won’t be overnight but over time, your legs will move and turnover a little faster, and you’ll be more physiologically efficient. And for people with schedule demands: if you are more efficient, you can get more done in the same amount of time…or the same amount done in less time!

-Track workouts also teach your lungs to process more oxygen more efficiently. So not only will you be faster, but you’ll be able to run harder for longer. You’ll sometimes be uncomfortable while running on the track. By experiencing some discomforts in training, and forcing your body to learn to adapt, you’ll be better prepared to handle it during a race. Track workouts will force you to appropriately pace yourself. When you are racing, or even doing long runs by yourself, you need to be realistic in your pace and not start too aggressively. On training runs, on the track, and while racing, you don’t want to feel so exhausted at the end that another step is hard…or still be full of energy.

-track workouts are a great way to burn fat. Your metabolism stays higher for longer, so you keep burning fat long after you are finished running

-Track workouts are just one component in creating a well-rounded running program. Even if a runner does not care about getting faster, you can become more efficient and complete a terrific workout in less time.

-A track workout gives you a chance to think about and work on your form as well as pushing yourself to your upper limits. Even just one speed work-out a week can help you increase your pace and running efficiency.

Examples of Track Workouts: (for half marathon and marathon distance training).  Beginners should run just a fraction of these workouts and build the number as you get stronger.

1) Ladder: 400, 800, 1200, 1200, 800, 400 with recovery of 90 – 120 seconds.

2) Repeat 800′s: anywhere from 6-10 800′s with 2-3 minutes recovery. (beginners start with 3 repeats)

3) Repeat 400′s: anywhere from 10 – 12 400′s with 60 – 120 seconds recovery. (beginner start with four or five 400 repeats)

4) Repeat 200′s: anywhere from 10-12 200′s with 30-60 seconds recovery. (Beginners start with 4)

Today I met my friend who is a high school track coach and she put me through a workout.  Here is what she had me do (we were working on my upper body form and mechanics)

warm-up: 1-mile jog

5×50′s (each 50 gets gradually faster)

6×100 (each 100 gets gradually faster with the last two fast!)

4×200

1×400

This was not easy and I do feel like I got a good grasp on how to change my arm mechanics to help me run better/faster.  Like I said earlier, track workouts are not always FUN, but they are necessary if you want to improve and get faster.  Good Luck!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 6th, 2010 at 1:43 am and is filed under Run Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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