360 Degree Training Change

For the past decade, my run workouts were focused on how long I could run.  Speed was an afterthought.  Yesterday, that changed.  My run workout yesterday, while it did include a half mile warm up jog, was essentially four 50m sprints.  What a difference!  Ironically, as I look up the impact of such workouts, I'm finding that there are distinct metabolic and physiological benefits to short, hard running workouts.  Of course, my goal is to run my fastest 5K in years.  You can't run 5K fast if you can't run a fast mile or 400m, and so on and so forth down the line.

My workout yesterday started with a warm up.  My warm up consisted of 20 push ups, 20 air squats, 20 hip raises, 20 lunges and a wall sit.  I then went ahead and jogged a half a mile and followed that with some short bounds, high knees and butt kicks.  My first two 50m sprints weren't truly sprints, as I wanted to warm up into this new approach.  They were just fast flying 50's.  My first one was done at ~6:30/mile pace, close to how I started my 10K last weekend.  A few minutes of walking and I did my next one at ~6:00/mile pace.  A few more minutes of walking and it was time to do my main set, which was only going to be two sprints.

For these sprints, I start out with about 20m of gradually getting up to speed and then fly into the 50m as fast as I can go, not thinking about my form, but also trying not to be too crazy or violent with my running form.  Think smooth, but fast and hard.  Bingo!  My first 50m effort was done in just under 10", and my garmin says that my pace was 4:54/mile.  Sounds about right.  I'm not sure I've been at this speed for any distance in quite some time.  I then took 6 minutes to recovery, just walking comfortably, before doing my second sprint.  This one was slightly faster, and the pace shown was 4:51/mile.  Of note, as I hit my last stride, I did feel a little tightness in my right "glute," which may in fact, have been my right hamstring insertion.  This is a spot that I triggered a couple of years ago when I tried to do something similar.

I had already decided to only do two full out sprints, so I was done.  If I'd meant to do more, I would have been done.  I must pay close attention to my body so as not to injure myself in this new process. Fortunately, as the day went on, the tightness in the right side of my butt gradually dissipated.  I'll be good to do this again next week.  Coming up before that will be short, fast, 100m hill repeats.  Hills sprints are another great way to build speed and strength.

My run volume for a week of this type of training will generally not exceed 10 miles of running.  In fact, it may be much less, depending on what I choose to do in a week and whether I do much in the way of running for a warm up.  This is going to be an interesting new journey!