A few weeks ago I received the best possible news; my pelvic stress fracture is almost 100% healed! Since my injury in February 2012 I have had 6 MRI’s and this is the news I have been waiting to hear. I have been running 3 times a week since this past spring, but I’ve been waiting to start any real training. I now feel completely comfortable training for my upcoming races and adding speed work back in.
Of course, the first thing I did after I heard from my doctor was sign up for a race. I will be running the Madison Half Marathon on November 10. I have 12 weeks to train for the race and I’m really excited to start doing speed workouts again. The plan is to run 4 times a week: 1 interval workout, 1 easy run, 1 tempo run and 1 long run a week.
I really enjoy intervals because they offer a lot of variety and flexibility and you can do them on a track, the road or the treadmill. I’m planning on mixing it up with longer intervals (anywhere from 800 meters to 1-2 miles) and shorter intervals (200, 400 or 600 meter repeats). The recovery time between each interval will be slow and allow my heart rate to return to normal.
My second favorite speed workout is the tempo run. Typically tempo runs are run at 30 to 45 seconds slower than your 5k pace. I aim to be around 80 to 90 percent of my maximum heart race. The purpose of the tempo run is to be able to sustain a hard pace for a long period of time without slowing down.
For my long runs I will be using two different types of long runs: the long, steady run and the fast finish long run. For the long, steady run I will run easy the entire run and speed will not be important. For the fast finish long run I will start at my normal run pace and then run my goal half marathon pace for the last 30 to 60 minutes of the run.
I don’t have a specific goal time in mind and I’m not going to put too much pressure on myself. I’m going to train smart and enjoy the journey.
Do you incorporate speed workouts into your training? What is your favorite speed workout?
Yay! Good luck with your training. I bet the Madison Half is a fun race!
Thanks, Pete! I’m also looking forward to running the Chicago Half with you. 🙂
Exciting news, friend! Can’t wait to hear about your training and hopefully see you at some fun runs soon.
Yes! I’d love to run with you soon. I hope to see you at the South Loop location next week!
SO glad to hear you are nearly finished recovering!! What a relief! I have speed work in my current plan, I don’t like interval runs shorter than 1 mile. I like the strength work outs better, run repeats about 10-15 seconds faster than Marathon Pace.
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Thanks, Declan! Sounds like you have a good plan. Do you typically run mile repeats?
I don’t. My plan only had two days of mile repeats at 5k speed. There are now more repeats at just a tad faster than marathon pace once a week, but they aren’t meant to be speed intervals.
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