The returning runner…
Act 21 – Track “speed” work and other tortures…
I nervously awaited the start of the 100-yard dash. It was spring of 1975 and a match race to determine who had the least fast-twitch muscles on the elite Patrick Henry High School track team. I was pitted against another slow-poke – Alan Bernath. A small crowd gathered, curious to see who the victor would be. It was close out of the blocks, but Alan rapidly gained some semblance of speed while my spindly toothpick legs seemed to go as fast as humanly possible for me while moving incredibly slowly. I was the winner – not an ounce of fast-twitch muscle in me. I was never going to be a sprinter fer sure.
However, track speed work did play an important role in my training. I’m a firm believer that you have to push hard in order to improve. In addition to the normal, fairly minimal, speedwork that the milers and two-milers on the team did, I had a track workout formula that I liked to do on occasion. I found that whatever I could do in terms of quarter-mile repeats in training matched what I could do without stopping on race day. The rules were simple – wear a fairly light-weight training shoe (but not race shoe) and do a 110 yard jog in between each repeat. Here’s a couple of examples:
· 4x440 yd repeats with 110 yd jog in between at 66 second pace meant on race day I could get pretty close to 4x66 seconds or a 4:24 mile.
· 8x440 yd repeats with 110 yd jog in between at 70 second pace meant on race day I could get close to 8x70 seconds or a 9:20 2-mile.
And, I did manage to gain a little bit of speed and did manage to outkick arch rival Crawford’s Tim Varley my senior year. However, I’m finding that speed work may not be as helpful for older runners and for those running longer distances. I now struggle to get close to my race pace using the workout formula that worked when I was 17. A recent example was preparing for 800 meter (880 yard) race distances. After struggling to approach my mile pace with 440 repeats, I thought I would “lay it out there” and running some all out 220s surely I could get close to my 800-meter pace. I couldn’t do it. Maybe I’m a wuss. In frustration I temporarily gave up on the track work. Heck, it was winter, I’d mostly be doing 5ks and such, and big indoor races weren’t happening until late March. I focused on hitting hill repeats hard – doing all out trail hill reps on a 250-yard stretch that averages around 10% once per week (12-17 reps each time).
At the recent Holiday Invitational on Reno’s brand-new indoor track, I thought I would try the 800 meters as a prep for the 1500/mile. My speed on the track workouts had been so poor that I didn’t worry about going out too fast. I didn’t figure I could go fast enough in the first half to cause a bad fade in the last 400. But, in a way, I was pleasantly surprised. I was able to go out much too fast in the first 400 and did fade pretty badly in the last half. The hill repeats seemed to have done more for my speed than the track workout and were much easier on my joints and tendons. So, my summary is this:
- If you are over 45 and your focus is 10ks and longer, track work probably isn’t of much benefit.
- Hill repeats may serve as a “surrogate” for track work and may be easier on the body for older/post-injury athletes.
- Track work may help you to get a sense for pace – if you can do it in a non-race situation.
Photo: December 29, 2024 Reno Holiday Invitational, Mark overtaking fellow Renoite Arturo Oti