Relearning speed

My reintroduction to speed development

 In my recent comeback to high level training, I set out to do something special. Make a comeback to running PRs, no matter what. I started at a flabby 217 with my 6’1 frame, running 4x6 min tempos at 6:49 with 168 heart rate. I knew I had an aerobic engine buried under there, I just had to pull it out. But there was one thing I had neglected, speed.

In college our motto was moderate-hard, nothing easy. Lifting was dangerous because if you didn’t hit your 6:50s pace the next day, you would be chastised. A runner couldn’t do truly heavy lifts and fit into the program unless they were given some grace, something I didn’t feel. Speedwork was also only given to runners who could “handle it.” There was a major lack of belief in me, coming out of HS with a proficiency in speedwork and lifting. As a junior my L5 disc had extruded and I was left slightly paralyzed, living on the floor, and abandoned by my coach.

I made my first comeback last year, getting down to 199 ish and running a double threshold block transitioning into speed development. A hamstring tweak and a poorly timed lift left me hurt, rebuilding aimlessly for months. Truth be told, my last ditch effort to “run in college” had failed and I was left with very little motivation.

This December I decided it would be different. I only had so much time left as a masters student and knew I had to use my time wisely. This will serve as part one of my comeback journey, the threshold work has become my bread and butter, but the speed development is what actually made me into an athlete again.

Foundations

After previous tweaks, trying to get back into speed I made sure I was careful this time. I began with “monday hills” of 4-6x100m up a 4% grade. These were done at 22 seconds in the first few times, eventually down to 18 seconds. I learned how to float up these hills again, fire my glutes, swing my arms. I began to strengthen my hamstrings and work on my “pop” going up the hill. The eccentric loading of the hill allowed me to move faster with less injury risk. I would often cut the hills a rep or two early just to preserve consistency in training. The next step was weightlifting. I got a traditional gym membership to Fitness 19 and began lifting before I went into double threshold. I was extremely sore after the first lift, but my body adapted. The lifts were originally after my second threshold session on Tuesday and Thursday, but after viewing a Pat Henner podcast I began trying the day after. I found I had more explosiveness in my lifts. I could do fewer reps with higher weights and really work on power. I even managed to do a quarter squat at 155 pounds, my first time ever doing a squat over 95 pounds (even if it is easier) since my back ripped.

Findings

My speed began to return slowly, I soon turned Monday hills into speed development. Once again, inspired by Pat Henner’s recent podcast on The Running Effect. 3x40-80-120m at mile, 800, 400m effort. Converting 40m to 400m pace is as simple as moving the decimal point over (6.0s are 60 sec pace) which made it really useful. My early speed dev sessions were solo and with something left in the tank, as I feared injury.

Speed dev 3/9:

(7.2, 13.8, 21.0) (6.7, 13.6, 20.4) (6.1, 12.9, 19.1)

Speed dev 3/16:

(7.2, 14.1, 21.4) (6.9, 13.4, 20.0) (Cut 400m set, calf tight)

Speed dev 3/31:

(7.4, 13.5, 20.5) (6.1, 12.0, 17.8) (5.4, 11.0, 16.8)

As you can see, my nervous system began to trust that I could sprint, and the heavy lifting I did (figuratively and literally) began to carry me farther. I could trust that my body could fly again. I did that last workout with my younger brother on a beautiful sunny day, he is ranked 14th nationally for middle school indoor 400m, so he currently smokes me in the speed department. This also worked as a good comparison. When we would finish a rep he could deaccelerate within a few steps, but I would keep flying through the finish. The 40m rep at 400m I finished at the 80m mark, the 80m mark I finished at 125m, and the 120m I put the brakes on coming around and finished at 130m. I am not sure if it is a profile difference, that he is keeping speed while I am still accelerating into the finish, or if it is just me being too scared to stop at once and pull something. In all honesty, it is probably a bit of both, but it is not a bad place to be.

Putting it together

I have done two speed workout days in this block. I have been introducing speed in short doses after an AM threshold, with the first one being 7x800 at 3:04 off 45 seconds rest. I came back for 3x3x200 off 90 sec and 3 min rest at “mile-mile-800m” was the first. A mental introduction to running speed into the wind. It began to get hard, and my stomach began to churn with lunch on the last few, but I managed controlled splits of (35.6, 35.0, 32.7) (35.3, 34.7, 32.8) (35.5, 35.2, 34.1) running into the wind on the last rep I croaked but I knew it was coming back. The next week I did 12x400 @84.1 and came back for 4x300 off 2, 3, 4 min rest. I had cut the 400s from 16 to 12 as I felt pretty bad and knew I needed ot leave something for the speed. I began to loosen up the second half of the workout and knew my second workout could be special. Lacing up the spikes on a mildly windy day (typical spring) I got ready to test myself. I started out faster in 50.1, expecting more of a 52. I followed it up with a little more push on the second 100m, resulting in a 48.7. I began to ask “why don’t I just move up to the roads?” but still managed a 47.7, pushing a little more around the curve. Finally, I blasted the first 100 and held on, 22 seconds at 150, smacked by a good headwind last 50m as my legs buckled, I ran through the line for 46.8. A little slower than my goal of sub 45, but a great workout. I had not run faster than 48 seconds in a 300 last spring. At a heavier weight, I managed to run my fastest speed reps, off a double workout, while weighing in over 210 pounds. A combination of great endurance work and a careful speed rebuild totally changed my makeup as a runner. I have begun to tap into old speed and think there is a lot more to give. I feel invigorated and ready to run fast this year, properly fueled and properly trained.