Speed Development for Running, Biking and Swimming

A fellow MFP member recommended I write about speed development. I was pretty excited at this suggestion, as it's something I am currently working on right now for myself. As a note, even though speed work is used in speed development, speed development is not speed work. With that, enjoy!

What is Speed Development

Generically speaking, speed development is improving your max speed that you can go in a given sport; I'll focus mostly on running and cycling, but it can probably apply to many other sports, but I don't do them, so I am only able to speak to what I know.

I was originally a sprinter, so speed development was what I ate, slept and lived. When you are sprinting 100 meters or heading down the runway for the long jump, you need to some serious speed. You need your fast-twitch muscles going at full blast. And there are tons of workouts, both cardiovascular and strength, to build this. However, my focus here, as with most of articles, is on endurance sports. The concept is still the same, but the execution is a bit different.

Slow-Twitch and Fast-Twitch Muscle Fibers

Everyone has at least some slow- and fast-twitch muscle fibers. Some people are genetically lucky and have large amounts of one or the others; hence Usain Bolt and his outrageous fast-twitch fibers. For the rest of us, there is typically more of a balance, with each person leaning more on one side or another.

Slow-twitch muscle fibers contract slowly but allow you to sustain an activity for a longer period of time. Conversely, fast-twitch muscle fibers contract quickly allowing for powerful bursts of speed, but fatigue quickly. This is why you won't be running that marathon at the same speed you just ran down the basketball court on a break-away. If you are, then you probably aren't reading this and are winning lots of marathons.

As an endurance athlete, you rely heavily on your slow-twitch muscle fibers. There are many instances where you need to use your fast-twitch though, and most endurance athletes focus too much on their slow-twitch. As a quick note, there are technically two types of fast-twitch, but I am just going to focus generically on fast-twitch.

The Key in "Fast"

So, with all of that said, the goal is to force an endurance athlete to engage the fast-twitch fibers more often and for longer duration. The generic running plan will have mostly easy and long runs, with hopefully some tempo and interval work included. However, these plans still don't really force you to use those fast-twitch fibers. Most training is designed to make sure you can handle the load for the duration of your event, so the plans focus on slow-twitch fibers.

But if you want be faster, you need those fast-twitch built up. There are many ways to do this, but cardiovascular training is where we focus. There are strength routines to help build your muscles so you can sustain the load and have that extra "umph" of power.

But why is speed work not speed development? Well, quite simply, speed work is running a certain pace for a set period of time. Yes, it can force you to improve your overall time, which does mean you are going to get faster. But that isn't speed development, that is just improving your overall time.

Speed development is all about being able to engage your fast-twitch fibers when you need them. It's also about having your body functions coordinating at all levels; metabolic, cardiovascular, mechanics, etc. This coordination conditions your body to be more efficient at higher levels of energy expenditure, which translates into great speed gains because you can now engage and sustain longer.

How to Build - Start with Your Core

If you are coming off injury or typically just run. bike or swim just for the sake of doing so, then you may be lacking the muscles you need to do the workouts for this. For example, tossing in hill work on your run or ride is huge, but you need strong glutes, lower back, hamstrings and quadriceps. Basically your high impact support muscles, or core, needs to be well built. If it's not, you are easily prone to injury and you MUST build them up FIRST!

As I have mentioned before, a simple way to build core that I use is NTC (Nike Training Club app) workouts. However, you can do whatever you prefer to build up your core. But once you have a good base, you are ready to start developing your speed.

Intermittent Intervals in Longer Workouts

One of the easiest methods to implement is adding burst intervals into your activities. For example, for a 2-hour bike ride, you might have a segment in the first 30-minutes where you do some very fast intervals of going at a certain power level, cadence or heart rate for short bursts, say 5 x 1-minute with some short rest between each interval. Then at 1 hour 45 minutes so that again. For an hour run or ride, you might do this once at the early part or latter part of your activity. I personally steer clear of pace-based anything, as I believe it restricts your potential, both physically and mentally. This is my opinion however, and many coaches, plans and books out there will focus on a pace.

However, you MUST switch this up. Don't always do your intervals at the beginning or just at the end. Yes, it's nice to build that kick in your run to cross that finish line looking like an Olympic sprinter, but we are working on building your speed, not just finishing strong.

The Hills Pay the Bills

Do you love running on that flat path with the pretty nature? Me too, but that isn't going to develop my speed. Just doing hill workouts isn't going to either, although it's going to make me one strong runner. Adding hills (up and down) into a longer duration workout is key. For example, you might do an hour run, where the "flats" you keep a consistent and relaxed speed, keep a consistent but fast pace downhill (I emphasize CONSISTENT because it really forces good muscle control and form), and then do gradual increase in speed for the uphill. As a note, I am not recommending doing super long hills in this scenario. Also, if you are in a hilly area with very steep grades, then you will need to adjust accordingly.

Other Information

I could write about this forever, and in a lot more detail. However, I like getting people interested in concepts. If you are looking for more specific workouts, Runner's World is always a good place to get some workout ideas, as is just going to a search engine and searching for Speed Development.

There aren't many new books I like, but some decent one I have used in the past are as follows:

• Developing Speed (Sport Performance Series)
• Developing the Core (Sport Performance Series)
• Runner's World The Cutting-Edge Runner: How to Use the Latest Science and Technology to Run Longer, Stronger, and Faster
• Explosive Running: Using the Science of Kinesiology to Improve Your Performance - Mostly have this book here because it has great dynamic warm-ups
• Runner's World The Runner's Body: How the Latest Exercise Science Can Help You Run Stronger, Longer, and Faster

Cycling Plan: Week 2 - Complete

Started off the week motivated and ready to workout. Had an incredibly busy Monday and Tuesday at work, so I didn't have time during the day to workout; at night I just had no motivation or energy. I finally got myself going mid-week and sadly my doubles sessions was too much on my muscles and I was hurting bad for the rest of the week. It was a good eye-opener on how my strength declines so quickly when I lose consistency.

Swimming
I didn't get any swim sessions in this week.

Cycling
I got in one trainer ride for cadence. Since I had to use a stationary, I changed up my goal to keep at a higher-than-usual RPM. This was due to the fact that resistance and effort are so different than when on a regular bike. Overall I felt good, but man are those the most uncomfortable seats ever!

Running
I was only able to get in my interval run this week. However, my interval runs have been quite different than expected. My overall speed is much lower than I want, but I have not been able to run on a track or flat grade at all. Therefore, my interval runs have been with decent hills. I am really liking this type of speed work a lot. I still plan on using a track in the near future, but for now this is really helping my leg muscles.

Strength
I was able to get in two strength sessions. My first session, leg day, was a bit more intense than I expected. I felt tired after, but the following day I could barely walk. This was of course exacerbated by the fact that I did my ride the same night. I'll be hunting for a better workout plan.

Nutrition
I did awful again with nutrition. I may have lost some weight, but I am sure I gained it all back from how poorly I ate all week. I finally went out and bought everything I need to get back in my healthy routine. Now I just need to stay focused and motivated, and then everything will fall into place.

Final Thoughts
Overall another rough week with poor consistency in workouts and nutrition. However, I'll keep adjusting so I can succeed and progress.

Building Plan: Week 9 Complete

Another solid week of workouts. I had some extra muscle soreness during the week, so I had to take 2 rest days, but aside from that, I did really well with my workouts. I also did much better with nutrition and logging my meals. I am really pleased with my continued progress.

Swimming

I still have not been able to find time yet to get more swims into my schedule. As my body gets used to my actual planned training schedule demands and my cat gets healthier, I will be able to schedule more time to swim. I was able to get in one swim in this week, although it was short and intended to both push myself after already being exhausted from my run, as well as act as a shake-out to aid in recovery. And it served its purpose perfectly! As I am writing this, I feel amazing. And that was just after a tiny 4 x 100 yd swim. Although, that swim felt like a nightmare though. I was struggling to rotate my arms and kick my legs. I had wanted to get in at least 800-1200 yds, but I had to stop because I felt like I was going to pass out.

Cycling

I got in no cycling this week. It fell on the 2 days I needed to take as rest days. This is fine, however, as my reason for cycling right now is to just cycle and lightly work on cadence.

Running

I got in all three runs! I am so pumped about this. I am also psyched that I did fairly well. I was a bit disappointed that my cadence was so much lower than I really wanted it to be, but that is why my plan is designed to extend an extra week or so if needed. I am expecting my cadence to get closer to my range during Week 10. One thing I am noticing though is that the increased speed and duration are starting to see some strain on my knees. However, it only occurs when I drag my leg back in my kick-back for my stride. This shows a breakdown in my form and thankfully is easy to immediately correct. Once my cadence training is over, I will be starting to adjust the treadmill to incline of 0.5, and then to 1 to more closely mimic the resistance of self-propelling myself forward when running outside on a flat course or track. This might actually be a good article to explain in more detail later.

Strength

I got in 2 out of 3 sessions in this week. I had to skip my 3rd because I had used that as a rest day. My first session of the week was highly focused on legs. And man did that wreck me. I literally could not do a single thing on Tuesday, as my legs were shot. Not going to lie, it was a glorious feeling. I am so excited my legs are slowly getting stronger and I love pushing myself to the max. My second session was mostly hip and back stretches mixed with core strength. I also did a fitness test for my program. It was supposed to take 5 minutes, and it took me 15 and I was having trouble breathing. These fit tests are brutal. I was supposed to end with another leg focus routine, but I was too exhausted from my Friday run. I am going to repeat this program, as it is working really well. I am hoping one more 4 week session of this body weight program and I will be able to start moving to weighted routines.

Nutrition

I logged my meals every day! I didn't really meet my goals much, but I didn't really care about this. I am a stress eater and with the constant trips to the vet hospital every day, I am not going to remove my outlet right now. Once my cat is well, I will be working on changing my stress outlet to something more productive and beneficial.

Sleep

I am adding this section because it's so important. However, my sleep is awful. I have pretty much been passing out from mental exhaustion and my sleep quality is horrible. I don't expect this to change until my cat is better.

Final Thoughts

I going to be shooting for 3/3 for both strength and running for Week 10. Also going to be making sure to keep up with my food logging. Hope everyone is doing well with their goals!

Building Plan: Week 7 Complete

What a week! Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, are enjoying Hanukkah, or just enjoying some time off from work. I had one of my most successful workout weeks in a while, and I am hoping to keep this momentum. I had great running sessions, although my strength sessions were lacking again. I also did much better with cross training.

Strength Training

I only got in 1 of 3 full sessions. I did my usual daily stretches, but that doesn't make up for the 2 days missed. I will be making a bigger effort to make sure I am getting these strength days, as I feel this week was successful because of strength from last week.

Running

I hit all 3 runs this week! I continued my cadence week 5/6 plan. I'll make a post later showing the training progression plan. However, I will note now, and when I post, that this plan was specifically to help correct a running form issue I developed over the last few years due to my injuries and is not a plan I'll be building on. I will be building on my mileage, but this program was focused on my stride and foot strike.

Sunday I was able to get outside and run at a local track. It was an extremely tough run though because I have not run outside in a long time, so my SPM was much lower than I wanted. I was excited to learn the only open-to-public track in my county is the one somewhat near me. I'll be going here a lot more, as there is no substitute for outside running. Don't get me wrong, I have been making incredible strides with the treadmill, and it has been really good to get me going, but I need to wind, extreme temperature changes, and soon, hills.

Cycling

I was got in a cadence ride on my trainer. These rides are still destroying me. I am not too concerned though, as I have no been focusing on cycling or my cycling cadence much. However, I am not going to just hop on the bike to ride and burn calories, so I chose cadence. I am still hoping that once I get my running and strength consistent, I'll be able to bump up to at least 2 cadence sessions a week.

Swimming

I only did a short swim after one of my runs. It was 10 minutes and I was focused on form, especially arm rotation. I did this for two reasons. The first is that I usually recover exponentially quicker when i swim after my runs. Secondly, I wanted to push my shoulders, as they were already tired from my run. I think I did pretty well, and my goal is to always get in a swim after at least one of my runs, if not more.

Final Thoughts

Overall this is one of the best weeks I have had in a while. I plan on continuing this momentum. I'll definitely be adding another week of my Cadence Week 5/6 to my schedule. Although I don't have any running races or triathlons planned for 2017 yet, my dad wants to do the City to Shore ride again, but with the Century distance (100 miles or 160 km). So I'll be training for that.

Building Plan: Week 4 Complete

What a week! Had to be at the hospital a bunch for my cat, so I missed some workouts. However, I got most of my other planned workouts in. I even got myself back in the pool! My eating suffered a lot though.

Strength
I only got in 1 full strength session. I got a partial session in as well, but it was more stretching than anything, as I was completely wrecked from my Thursday cadence run. It was my first real attempt at my Week 3/4 cadence plan. I definitely went too fast on the treadmill. But I'll get into this shortly. Anyway, my strength session was a monster! I had a faster-than-usual warm-up run, so I started my strength session at a fairly elevated heart rate. This session was also continuous sets-focused, so my heart rate stayed rather elevated, with points where I was hitting close to max HR. I had to lay down and foam roll for a good 10 minutes after. Sadly, this was my only real strength workout, which I am extremely disappointed about, as my main focus is improving my strength. This will not happen again!

Running
So, my first attempt at the Cadence Week 3/4 plan was the day after my above strength session. My legs were not fully recovered from that session, but I did the run anyway. I set a whole bunch of PR's, but almost passed out after my run from pushing myself to the absolute max. Happily though, I am pushing myself to my limits, but not going over. I need to keep being vigilant of my form, as I will easily get injured at this level of training. I did my second run over the weekend, on Sunday instead of Saturday. Although I was exhausted, it went much better than my prior run. I was able to maintain a higher belt speed for all 3 intervals while maintaining close to my goal cadence. However, my HR is still way too high and my average cadence is not at 180 yet. Therefore, I will be continuing my Week 3/4 cadence running into Week 5. I could technically move to Week 4/5, but I am not trying to build as quickly as possible...I am trying to make major gains that will stick.

Cycling
I had a nice leg-loosening session the day after my first run. It was pure awfulness, but I felt so much better later that day and especially the following day. I am making it my mission that I never miss some sort of shake-out workout after an intense workout day because this will promote faster healing and recovery. Sadly, I did not get in my long trainer ride.

Swimming
I finally got in the pool. I did this after my 2nd run session, which was Sunday. I swam 800 yards...which felt like 10 miles and I thought I was in the pool for a couple hours. I did 100 WU, 3 x 200, then 100 CD. I needed a full 60 seconds rest between each set. I honestly can't remember the last time I swam and it felt that tough for swimming so little. But guess what? I felt amazing when I got home and today I feel almost 100%. I cannot emphasize how much proper cross training is helping me.

Final Thoughts
I am going to keep trying to be more consistent with my workout volume. I altered my plan a little to be more realistic with my schedule. I am hoping I will be able to succeed more now. I don't think I need another 3 run sessions of the Week 3/4 Cadence plan, but I am going to get them done for good measure. As a note, I am down to a 6:08 mile now!!!!! With my walks between intervals, I am also at a 22:07 5k as well. However, I am not really counting this 5k pace until I can do a 5k with no stops.

My eating is still amazingly awful and I have not only regained all of my lost weight, but I am up a couple pounds again. I am not too worried about it though, as this is still not my major focus yet. Hope everyone is working hard with their goals!

Improving Your Running Speed

What is the best way to become a faster runner? Well, run faster of course. From a very generic standpoint, it actually is that simple. If all you did was keep trying to improve your time for a specific distance, you will start getting faster. However, there is usually a plateau point or a point that the gains are so minimal, they don't really seem to exist. Therefore, you will need to put a little more into this effort.

Intervals

Interval training basically handles it all. I will touch on some other stuff later, but it plays such a small role it's not even worth mentioning before I explain intervals. To start, you will want to incorporate 2 interval runs into your weekly running routine. You can decide when to do this, but I recommend not the day before or after your long run.

The purpose of intervals is to run shorter distances at a faster pace. For example, if you only run 5k races, then your interval sessions will probably only total a couple miles. So, you may run a bunch of 200m sprints, with 50m recovery walks or jogs in between each sprint. If your current 5k race pace is 10 min/mile, then you will probably try and shoot for your 200m time to be in line with maybe an 8:30- 9 min pace. You can of course go as fast as your body will let you without getting hurt, but I am trying to be conservative here. So, this 9 min pace turns out to be about a 1 min 8 second 200m sprint (200m is 1/8 of a lap at a track, 400m is a lap or a quarter of a mile).

On your other interval day you may want to do a mix of 200, 400, and 800m sprints, with maybe 50, 100, and 400m recovery walks or jogs. Then, after doing this consistently for a while, you will start noticing your mile time drop significantly. The change doesn't happen over night, but most people start seeing noticeable changes in speed within 4-6 weeks after incorporating the intervals into their current schedule.

You still need to do your pace runs and long runs, so you will have to fit the intervals into that mix.

Weight

Weight is an awkward variable that doesn't really play a lot in your speed unless you are already getting into the professional level or you are starting from scratch and are overweight. If you are conditioned to run a certain pace at your current weight, and shave off a significant amount of weight, you should naturally become faster, because you have less weight you are carrying. For example, a 300lb person running a 12 min mile could potentially see their mile time drop to 10 min if they dropped to the low to mid 200's. However, this assumes all other things stay constant; which is almost never the case.

Slow vs. Fast Twitch Muscles

Let's face it, some people were designed to be short distance runners, and others long distance runners. Speed for these 2 types of runners depend on different things; fast twitch and slow twitch. The goods news is that the body is usually pretty balanced on slow and fast twitch muscles. This means most people are capable of sprinting a short distance at a pretty fast pace for a short period of time; and likewise, can run a much longer distance at a much slower pace for a much longer duration. Slow twitch muscles are more geared toward endurance, as they fire slower, thus allowing better use of oxygen consumption. The key here is your fast twitch fibers.

There are two types of fast twitch, Type IIa and Type IIb. The key to improving speed revolves mainly around the Type IIa, which combines the use of aerobic and anaerobic metabolism. You can pretty much call this a sort of hybrid twitch fiber, as it's basically a mix of slow and fast twitch.

Performing intervals for a cumulatively longer distance allows you to improve the efficiency of these fibers. Therefore, as you improve, they are more efficient at fuel consumption, thus allowing you to run at a faster pace for a longer distance.

Summary

There is a lot more to running fast. But this hopefully wets your whistle and gets you interested. There is a lot of science and many more details behind each thing I mentioned above, so feel free to learn more. Have fun, run safe, and speed things up!