Speed Training for Ultras
You’re
training
for
an
ultra, 50 or 100 miles. Are you doing speed training? You may wonder
why you
should. After all, you’ll be running pretty slow, even walking. How can
speed
training help?
Speed
training
can
improve:
·
Cardiovascular
efficiency;
·
Muscle
strength;
·
Stride
efficiency.
Cardio:
The bigger the size of your engine - volume of blood your heart pumps
with each
stroke - the more oxygen and fuel you can deliver to your body more
easily.
This is true at any effort level. A stronger heart will allow you to go
faster
and use less energy at a lower, ultra effort level.
Strength:
Faster running engages muscle fibers you don’t normally use when
running
slower, and builds general muscle strength. That’s important for two
reasons.
First, when running an ultra, your muscles preferentially start by
using the
efficient slow twitch fibers. As they become fatigued, you will begin
to use
the less efficient oxidative, and then non-oxidative fast twitch
muscles. When
you run that long, you are going to need a lot more of your muscle
fibers than
in shorter races. Make them stronger now, and they will be strong for
you when
you need them in an ultra.
Second,
a
big
factor in how
fast you run is the percentage of muscle fibers you engage with each
stride. At
slow speeds, a small percentage of your fibers are working. Go faster,
and more
of your fibers have to engage. Train more to work, and you will have a
stronger
stride (i.e., faster pace) even at lower effort levels.
Efficiency:
The less time your foot is on the ground, the more efficient your
stride is. The
longer your foot is on the ground, the more energy/inertia you lose,
and the
more energy it takes to generate forward momentum. You need just enough
to let
your muscles coil like a spring and then spring back, returning as much
energy
as possible to your motion. Far too many ultra runners, spend far too
much
time, using nothing but a slow, ultra-shuffle in training. At the 2004
Leadville 100 Run, I was able to witness Matt Carpenter running up the
back
side of
Getting
started
If
you
haven’t
been doing
any fast running, then first start with some drills.
Striders:
Striders are short sprints where you step as quickly as you can. It's
about
stride speed, not absolute speed; i.e., don’t try to run fast, try to
step
fast. Think of it like running on hot coals; pick your foot off the
ground as
quickly as you can after it lands. Make your stride rate quicker than
is
comfortable.
Build
your
speed
for the
first half, then carry it through to the end. Jog easy for about the
same
distance, or about twice the time in between; close to a full recovery.
On the
track, sprint the straights and jog the curves. Off track, do ~20-30
sec hard,
40-60 sec easy. You shouldn’t be struggling to maintain your speed or
breathing
during this.
DON'T
REACH!
Keep
your
stride short and make sure your foot lands under your body, not in
front of it.
It might help to keep your stride short by doing striders on a slight
grade,
but it shouldn’t be a hard run. It should be easy on the muscles.
Always
do
striders
(and all
speed training or racing) after a good warm-up, such as towards the
middle or
end of an easy, short-medium length run. Striders are also great to do
before
intervals (or a race), after your warm-up and drills, and just before
you run
hard.
Starting
out,
you
may want
to start with just 6 striders/workout, 2x/week.
You
can
increase
them to 10-12 or more over time. Striders should be
continued
throughout your training, including during tapering.
Hill Sprints: Hill sprints are short, hard sprints,
up steep hills. They are
designed to build strength, engage fast twitch muscles, and promote
stride
efficiency. Hills increase the workload on the muscles, while reducing
the
stress on joints, bones and connective tissues.
Use
a
powerful
stride, driving
your knees up and forward, parallel to the slope, keeping your stride
quick and
short. Drive your arms back hard, like you’re elbowing someone in the
gut
behind you, to help drive your knees.
Start
with
6-10 sec sprints. You need them
that short to really focus the work on the
non-oxidative fast twitch muscle fibers. Keeping them short also allows
you to
stride at a very fast rate. Take a full recovery (~1 minute) between
sprints.
This is not about breathing hard.
These
are
generally
done
early in the season, after a few weeks of easy, base building. Start
with 6
sprints/workout, 2x/week. If you’re well
into your
training already, and aren’t sore, you can move to the
linger
hill sprints after a couple of weeks. Otherwise, and especially if
you’ve never
done any speed training, continue doing these for 4-6 weeks, or longer
if they
make you sore.
Use
the
steepest,
run-able
hill, perhaps 10%+. By run-able, I mean not so steep that you aren’t
able to
run, and not rocky that you have to alter your strides; the smoother
the better
(how it feels is more important than the precise grade). The hill
should be
steeper with the shortest sprints, and slightly less so as you go
longer. If
you don’t live near hills, be creative by using things like parking
garage ramps,
overpasses, stairs, or a treadmill.
Then
progress
to
20-40 sec sprints. These slightly
longer sprints add more strength, and promote a faster stride over
longer
distances.
Use
a
slightly
less steep
hill, perhaps 6%-8%. Run a little less hard than the 6-10 sec sprints.
Focus as
much on leg turnover and form as on power. Run hard until your legs
start to
tighten up and your stride starts to slow – this usually happens around
20-30
sec - then just a few more strides (3-5). Your last few strides should
take a
lot of focus to maintain your form and rate, but you shouldn’t feel
dead at the
end. If your stride breaks down, you’ve gone too far.
As
you
transition
form the
shorter sprints, first substitute one of these per week, then both.
Over time,
you should be able to maintain your stride longer and extend the
sprints to 40+
sec.
For
cardio
strength,
I
prefer VO2Max intervals (zone 5 for
those playing the hr game). VO2Max intervals are typically 3-5 min hard
(more
fit runners can extend this to 6 min, less fit can go as short as 2
min), at a
15-20min race effort, with ~50% recovery time. Stressing the heart and
lungs, as
well as the oxygen delivery system (down to the smallest blood vessels
reaching
the muscles) at higher effort levels gives the greatest returns to
increasing
stroke volume. 3-5 min gives you enough time at the level without over
stressing; relatively short recovery allows you to repeat the stress,
and get
the effort level into the target zone quickly.
I’m
not
a
big fan of tempo
runs, or lactate threshold (zone 4, LT) training for ultras. While LT
training
does stress the heart/lungs, the main focus of LT training (as opposed
to other speed
training)
is that it works on lactate tolerance. Lactate
is a
fuel source as well as a byproduct, and your ability to process lactate
is important at high effort levels. Since you shouldn’t be anywhere
close to that level in an ultra, LT training isn’t necessary for ultras
(except,
perhaps,
for elite runners at 50km distance). It’s not that it’s bad, but the
higher,
shorter VO2Max efforts promote greater capacity improvements.
Speed
training
is
not
without risks. Running fast puts greater strain on the muscles, and can
lead to
pulls and strains. So, follow these guidelines:
- Start with striders and hill sprints to
condition your legs to speed before doing VO2Max intervals. If you
haven’t done any fast running, you may need a 1-2 months of
conditioning.
- Warm-up well. Muscles need to be warm
literally, loose, and the blood vessels expanded before they can handle
demands of high intensity running. Warming up means starting with a
slow jog, and gradually increasing the pace, allowing the blood vessels
to expand, blood to flow through the muscles, and the fibers to warm
up. The colder it is, the earlier in the morning it is, or the longer
you’ve been sitting, the more warm-up you
will need. I usually warm-up for at least 10 minutes in the summer, and
as much as 15-20 min when it’s cold. I start from as slow as I can go
jogging, and gradually increase to my long run pace/effort. Then I do
some striders, to get my legs moving fast and expand my lungs and blood
vessels. Then, I hold back a little on the first interval.
- Keep your stride short and quick. Don’t
reach with your legs. Speed really comes from leg turnover, not from
reaching. It may take thinking about shortening your stride – I think
of running on hot coals – but as you stride and go faster, your stride
length will actually increase, and your legs will still strike under
your body.
- If you feel any sudden pains or twinges
in your muscles or joints, immediately slow down or stop. That may mean
that you’re over-extending your stride, that you didn’t warm up enough
for the conditions, that your muscles are tired and over-stressed from
too much training and/or not enough rest, or that you’re muscles aren’t
ready for intervals quite yet. Back off, and try again another day.
If
all
you
do is long,
slow, plodding, ultra miles, then all you learn to run is a long, slow,
plodding pace & stride. Add some speed to your training and watch
your
power, efficiency, and speed increase.