How Runners Can Safely Introduce Speedwork Into Training

Speedwork is an effective ways to improve your running performance, but it needs to be incorporated into training appropriately in order to avoid injury or other issues. Many runners get excited about running faster and jump into intense interval workouts before their bodies are prepared, often leading to excessive fatigue, plateaus, or injury.

When introduced gradually with adequate recovery, faster running can make you a strong runner in many ways. Let’s talk about what speedwork actually includes, when you’re ready to add it to your training, and how to safely progress your workouts.

Why Speedwork Matters for Distance Runners

Speedwork is an effective way to become a stronger, faster, and more resilient runner if done correctly. It can help improve running economy and efficiency. It can also be fun! Yes, speed workouts are usually hard but they are also a good way to change things up throughout the week.

What are Types of Speed Workouts?

I think of speed workouts as anything that involves running faster than an easy to moderate pace. This includes intervals, fast repeats, tempo runs, and fartlek workouts. Strides can also be a type of speed workout, but they don’t usually have the same level of demand as the other workouts.

Make Sure You Have a Strong Base First

Before adding in speed workouts its important that you have been running consistently and have a strong base. The mileage you need varies from one runner to the next, but make sure you are running at least 3 days a week. This would mean if you do 1 speed workout you would have 2 runs at an easy pace.

If you have just been injured give yourself time to get back to easy runs before adding in speedwork. Running too hard too soon can set you back again.

It’s common for runners who are starting out to want to run faster and faster each week once they are seeing progress. Try to be patient and balance your speed workouts with easy runs.

Start with Strides Before Structured Workouts

Strides are a great way to ease into speed workouts. You can do them 1-2 times a week at the end of an easy run.

Strides are short accelerations where you gradually get faster over the course of about 20-30 seconds. They cover short distances (50-100 meters) and you should build up to about 80-90% of your maximum speed while also focusing on maintaining good running form.

To start doing strides, ease into a fast pace for the first 5-10 seconds until you reach your goal speed. Try to stay relaxed and focus on good form. Slow down over the last 5 seconds before stopping to take a full recovery. Wait about 90 seconds to 2 minutes before starting your next one.

Introduce Only One Speed Session Per Week

When you start doing speed workouts, aim for one workout per week, with the rest of your runs being easy. You may notice that as you start adding in speed workouts that you need to slow down more on your easy runs, and that’s ok!

Try not to do your speed workout right after a strength session or on a day before or after a long run. This may mean a speed workout on Tuesday and a long run on Saturday, with easy runs on the other days.

Most runners don’t need 2 speed workouts a week. I find that one true speed workout plus a day of strides works well, with some weeks having a long run workout added in. Take your time adding in more speed throughout the week and make sure you are recovering properly.

Prioritize Recovery Between Speed Sessions

Following a speed workout make sure you have a rest day or an easy run planned. Some runners do a strength workout following a speed session to keep hard days hard and easy days easy. Be mindful that you will really need to focus on recovery if you do this.

Other ways to recover after a speed workout are by focusing on good nutrition and sleep habits. Also, if you notice any excessive fatigue, signs of injury, or general signals of burnout it’s a good idea to back off of speed workouts for a bit.

Common Speedwork Mistakes That Lead to Injury

Some runners do their speed workouts too hard, which means they will not be as effective because you won’t be able to recover from them well. Make sure you stick to your plan and appropriate paces.

Another common mistake is skipping a warm up. You can start with easy running, drills, strides, and/or dynamic stretches to help you prepare for your workout.

Also be mindful of your mileage progression as you are adding in speedwork. If you are building your mileage quickly it’s best to focus on one thing at a time (mileage and then adding in speed).

Finally, don’t ignore recovery! This is a key piece to getting the most out of speed workouts and running faster.

Example Progression for Adding Speedwork Safely

I like to start runners off with a few weeks of strides before adding in more speed workouts. This varies, but I’ll give anywhere from 2-6 weeks of strides depending on the runner.

From there, we usually move into fartlek workouts. These are fairly unstructured, but may be based on time or effort (for example, 10 x 1 minute hard around 5k-10k effort with 2 minutes of easy running after each).

Fartleks can be used in many different ways and at many different points in the training cycle. If a runner is training for a race then once they are comfortable with fartleks we will move to more structured workouts. These could included intervals at specific paces or tempo runs.

During a training cycle we will focus on race specific workouts depending on the distance of the race.

How to Know Your Speedwork is Effective

There’s more to speedwork than just hitting your paces in workouts. Are you feeling stronger? Recovering well? Hitting your race goals? I always says it’s better to run less or slower speed workouts in favor of a strong and fast race. You don’t want to race your workouts. Save that really hard running for when it matters most.

How do you use speed workouts in your training?

You may also like:
How to Structure Marathon and Half Marathon Training for Long-Term Progress Why Tempo Runs Matter and How to Add Them to Your Training
How to Use the Treadmill to Improve Race Performance
How Long Distance Runners Can Train For a Strong 5k

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