Aerobic Base & Speedwork (Read 869 times)

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Fanatic #3965

posted: 6/25/2006 at 6:20 PM

Hey, question for those of you more in the know than I. I see references to aerobic base and when to start doing speedwork and my "Competitive Runner's Handbook" (Glover, Florence-Glover) discusses it, too. What I am wondering is what you all have found to be the best point to start incorporating speedwork and what sorts of things you find to be the most effective and/or easiest to start with. I am currently up to about 15 miles/week and plan to increase my weekly workout times by around 10% each week (I generally concentrate more on adding time than distance--easier for my Math-addled brain to wrap itself around). This coming week I will be running 180 total minutes (divided between 4 sessions, including at least one longer run). I have done a few shorter "tempo" runs over the past few weeks--basically running harder than my usual "easy" pace, but not quite as fast as the race I ran yesterday. Should I be trying to make one of my 4 weekly runs into a speed workout? Thanks for any advice you guys and gals can share with me. I really want my goal for my upcoming races to be more than just cross the finish line alive--I want to kick some butt (heh, and hopefully drop 10-15#s in the process)! Big grin

Kirsten

'07: 1324.5 | '08: 1561 | '09: 1810.9 run ~ 208.7 bike | '10: 1,000.3 run ~ 3513.5 bike | '11: 710.3 run ~ 4157.9 bike '12: 659.9 run ~ 3365.6 bike (100% benched by ortho last 4.5 weeks while in long-arm cast)

'13 Goals:

• DON'T BREAK ANYTHING!!!

• get within 5#s of 130#s (and stay there, gotdammit!)

• 1st olympic distance duathlon

• 1st Iceman Cometh mtn bike race

• Half Fanatic

• punch Type 1 in the junk

Wingz

posted: 6/26/2006 at 7:06 PM

I think you'll find a lot of different answers out there depending on who you talk to. Generally speaking you want to have a "good," "solid" base under you before adding speedwork in order to prevent injuries. LOL! Just don't ask me what "good" and "solid" are! I often hear a 6 month time frame thrown around, but I don't think there's a set answer for you. Probably depends on who you are, where you're coming from, and how prone you are to overuse injuries... Hopefully someone out there can put up a couple links to info on this. It seems to be a common question. BTW, I happen to LIKE the goal of "crossing the finish line alive." MUCH better than the alternative... Tongue

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