I’m relatively new to speedwork. I only started doing tempo runs at the start of the year during prep for Manchester Marathon, and that was pretty much as far as I’d got. So that makes around 5 years of running without ever so much as trying an interval session, or even venturing out for a tentative fartlek. To be completely honest, I didn’t understand and frankly wanted to try to ignore it.
But recently I’ve actually started taking to the dreadmill for interval training, and I have to say I’m noticing the difference already. I try to fit sessions in nearer the start of the week (Tuesdays), just so I can get them over and done with. And once they’re finished, I feel a little bit like superwoman. And so, here are the top reasons I love speedwork (even when I hate it).
- There are so many variations: fartlek, intervals and threshold. You can switch it up and never get bored.
- Kicking up a gear for the first time always feels kinda awesome
- And then it gradually starts to suck
- But the pain is part of the process
- Building up a sweat and really pushing yourself to the max
- Feeling like you might puke at the end
- Realising you did the thing you were procrastinating over all day
- You get to reward yourself with a suitable combination of carbs and yumminess
- That sweet sweet ache in your legs that shows you you’ve done a good day’s work
- Feeling like superwoman once you’re done
What kind of speedwork do you prefer?
How seriously do you procrastinate before you do a hard session?
Lots of love,
Pippa xxx
Pip in Motion 
I know exactly how you feel. Speed work can be a pain, in every sense.
However, you;be gotta do it!
For me, I love/hate doing stairs, pyramid sessions and hill sprints. Yup, I MUST be MAD.
Keep digging deep.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha weirdly speedwork is my favourite session of the week. I mean I absolutely DREAD it, but once it’s done it feels so awesome!
LikeLike
I always run in the morning so there’s no procrastination for me! I haven’t actually started my speed work yet this training cycle – that’s next week, but I tend to enjoy it. I played lacrosse before I was a runner so I really enjoy pushing myself for short intervals. Plus, I always remind myself I only have to go a short distance!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Exactly! What speedwork do you usually do? Mine is horrifically unstructured, but it’s better than nothing!
LikeLike
It depends on the training cycle/goal race. Always some runs at goal race pace the few weeks before the race. For this training cycle my speed work is simply 800 repeats starting at 2 and adding one each week until I hit 10.
LikeLiked by 1 person
‘Kicking up a gear for the first time always feels kinda awesome… And then it gradually starts to suck’ SO true! I always feel amazing for the first 10 second of a speed interval before I start thinking, ‘when will this end?!’ Definitely feel like superwoman at the end though 🙂
LikeLike
Yes! It’s that initial stage of getting over the procrastination, and then being like ‘damn, i’m fast!’ and then obviously it becomes awful…
LikeLiked by 1 person