How to execute Speedwork

If you train to go slow, you will race slow.  No matter what the distance.  If you train hard and go fast, you are more likely to go fast at a race.

A coach may use speed to manage your speed work, but at the end of the day fast for you is what will put you in the correct zone for speed work.  This is typically Z4 or higher.  One person's fast is a 10 min mile.  Another is a 5 min mile.  But both are probably in Z4+.  If you get caught up in another's pace and try to hit it, you will blow up.  The fastest athletes do what they are supposed to do, not what they want to do.

There are a lot of reasons to do speed work and I will deal with that in another article.  This article is about HOW to do speed work.

Obviously speed work means going hard.  Hard means it hurts.  You breathe hard.  You challenge your limits.  But there is more detail to well executed work.  Endurance sports are all about pacing.  And speed work is a great place to practice this.  Yes, you need to be in Z4, but not from the first second.

Like all of your work, it is good to ease into the speed of your work.  Know that your HR will drift up to the right zone shortly.  DO NOT accelerate hard to get up to speed in a few feet.  Accelerate in a managed, smooth fashion.  Don't jump to max speed too quickly.  Speed up, settle in, then add a bit more speed to refine hitting the target zone for the workout.  Typically, you should be fastest at the end of an interval, not the start.  Be under control and manage pace to something you can hold for the entire interval.

The idea is to teach control even when working hard.  This does not mean sit up.  But be smooth.  Get to speed under control.  Get to a speed you can hold and be in zone.  Don't sprint at a pace you can't hold.  And don't bury yourself in the first 30 seconds so the average speed of the interval is lower than what it could be.

Train smart.  Train fast.  And get faster.