I have seen a lot of different forums and it seems like in all of them when dealing with a fairly new or inexperienced runner people always say that you should absolutely not do speedwork.
Last year (i was only 14) i know that when we added speedwork that is reallyw hen all of our..even the newer runners..times got waaay better.
I just don't understand why doing speedwork early on is bad as long as you don't overdo it. :wiggle:
Last year (i was only 14) i know that when we added speedwork that is reallyw hen all of our..even the newer runners..times got waaay better.
I just don't understand why doing speedwork early on is bad as long as you don't overdo it. :wiggle:
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It's not that it's necessarily bad, but typically it puts you at greater risk with less results. In my humble opinion, the easiest way to get faster is to run more miles. This is especially true with beginners. A big thing about speedwork is how stressful it is on the legs. Often beginners will not have enough strength in their legs to handle a speed workout, and it greatly increases the chance of injury.
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You need a base of basic mileage underneath you before you start speedwork.
This becomes more important the older a person is.
Junior high and high school kids can get away with it. But the older you get, the less flexible your body becomes and the more you need to have conditioned your body to handle running fast intervals and paces. Also, you'll see that many of the people who get into running are older, yet don't come from an athletic background. Others are even out of shape when they start. So if an out of shape old dude with no running background decides to hit the track 2 weeks into a training program, he is likely to get an injury.
Also, once people first get into running - simply running more miles each week and adding distance to basic training runs will yield improvements in time. You don't need the track until your weight, mileage, and training intensity has kind of settled down.
People beat this to death on the forums because they don't want newbies to get injured.
This becomes more important the older a person is.
Junior high and high school kids can get away with it. But the older you get, the less flexible your body becomes and the more you need to have conditioned your body to handle running fast intervals and paces. Also, you'll see that many of the people who get into running are older, yet don't come from an athletic background. Others are even out of shape when they start. So if an out of shape old dude with no running background decides to hit the track 2 weeks into a training program, he is likely to get an injury.
Also, once people first get into running - simply running more miles each week and adding distance to basic training runs will yield improvements in time. You don't need the track until your weight, mileage, and training intensity has kind of settled down.
People beat this to death on the forums because they don't want newbies to get injured.
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If you really want to get the maximum benefits off the fast stuff without the high risk of injury, it's important to build up a solid base of steady, easy running first before proceeding.
Think of it as a pyramid or a house...your base is the foundation of the house and is generally the largest portion of your training program. The speedwork and later your races compose the house you actually see and live in. Without a solid foundation, your house will not have a stable structure to rest on and will eventually collapse. Also the larger and stronger the foundation, the bigger the house/pyramid you can build up on. Same thing goes with running...the bigger the base, the more benefit you will get off the quality sessions and the higher the peak, the faster you will get. If you skimp on the base, chances will be that sooner or later you will either burn out prematurely or get injured or both.
However, building endurance takes time....its important to be patient with your buildup especially at your young age when you are still growing.
Think of it as a pyramid or a house...your base is the foundation of the house and is generally the largest portion of your training program. The speedwork and later your races compose the house you actually see and live in. Without a solid foundation, your house will not have a stable structure to rest on and will eventually collapse. Also the larger and stronger the foundation, the bigger the house/pyramid you can build up on. Same thing goes with running...the bigger the base, the more benefit you will get off the quality sessions and the higher the peak, the faster you will get. If you skimp on the base, chances will be that sooner or later you will either burn out prematurely or get injured or both.
However, building endurance takes time....its important to be patient with your buildup especially at your young age when you are still growing.
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Great replies Mech, X, and Tim.
Take careful note xsPrINT, you almost answered your own question. I've just read Training and Reflections forum. 16th. April.
"Didn't run today because of a sore ankle and achilles tendon"
Certainly speedwork will improve a persons running but it is not for everyone, I would take in to consideration a persons age, weight, previous injuries, experience, (other sports) running history, how long, how far,etc. and just what standard they are trying to achieve.
A 'speed work' session that may be right for you, (age 14) would not necessarily be right for a 50 year old getting back into running.
Good luck with your injuries, get right on top of them before comming back.
So many young people come to these forums to post a few times, never to be heard from again. Hasten slowly xsPrINT, nothing beats slow progression, I want to read about your training and races when your about 17 and the real hard work begins.
Take careful note xsPrINT, you almost answered your own question. I've just read Training and Reflections forum. 16th. April.
"Didn't run today because of a sore ankle and achilles tendon"
Certainly speedwork will improve a persons running but it is not for everyone, I would take in to consideration a persons age, weight, previous injuries, experience, (other sports) running history, how long, how far,etc. and just what standard they are trying to achieve.
A 'speed work' session that may be right for you, (age 14) would not necessarily be right for a 50 year old getting back into running.
Good luck with your injuries, get right on top of them before comming back.
So many young people come to these forums to post a few times, never to be heard from again. Hasten slowly xsPrINT, nothing beats slow progression, I want to read about your training and races when your about 17 and the real hard work begins.
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can't say anything that hasn't been said except i agree. basework to get the body used to this, then high impact. I go thru this principle every year myself and i've been at it for several years myself.
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I agree with the pyramid theory. I'm 16 and have been running for a few years. For the first 3 years of runnig CC and track, I had a really good coach who believed in the same thing. Then I moved and got a new coach. We haven't done nearly as much base distance work. Its been all track work all season. I try talking to him about building a strong base, but he always come up with sayings like longs slow runs makes long slow runners. that kind of thing. anyway I just ran across this forum and am happy to see there are people out there who support me. Thanks
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