Safe Speedwork

Doing speedwork, such as Interval Training produces important benefits. However, the risk of injury from speedwork is high, so caution is required. The main problem I see, especially with people new to speedwork, is going far too fast. A runner with a usual pace of 11:00 min/mile who starts doing speedwork with quarter mile intervals at 6:00 min/mile is likely to get hurt. The key to starting speedwork is to ease into it gently. Do gentle increases in pace, building up to Fartlek, then structured intervals. See Practical Interval Training for details of the progression.

Always remember Golden Rule of Training - The primary goal of training is to stay injury free so you can continue training

See Also

• Golden Rule of Training
• Supercompensation and Why exercise does not make you fit
• Introduction to Workout Types
• Introduction to Interval Training
• Recovery Runs and Toxic Miles
• Fartlek
• Walking Breaks