If you missed the previous posts, you can find part 1 here and part 2 here
In attempting any activity the body tries to do it as efficiently as possible. When we pick up a pencil off the table, our fingers know how tightly to hold it, our arm and shoulder knows how much effort is required to lift it. If we drop that pencil and it rolls under the sofa, the body knows it needs to use a different level of effort to move the heavy sofa out of the way. If we go to the gym and try to pick up a 20kg weight it adjusts again. Much of this is learned through prior experience, our eyes know the size and shape of an object and make a best estimate of what it needs to do. We can get caught out trying to lift a small box or can that turns out to be filled with dense material but we quickly adjust to be able to complete the task.
It’s the same with exercise. Walking doesn’t take as much effort as jogging which itself is easier than running. When you sprint it’s an all-out effort and yet, if you try to sprint up a hill the body tries to work even harder.
Although we think of running as needing strong legs – it’s more than that. We also need strong hips and glutes; it’s about the core muscles and to a lesser extent the upper body shoulders and arms. Again, depending on how fast you’re trying to run, the more muscle your body recruits to get the job done.
At a slow walk your arms just swing back and forth; in an all-out sprint you will drive your arms backwards and forwards as well as use them for balance and stability. You only need to look at the difference between sprinters and marathon runners to see how different their physiques are.
This is the primary reason why you should be working on your speed – it recruits more muscle. If your top-end pace can’t get you below six minutes per mile – you are never going to run any distance quicker than this. However if your top-end speed is four minute mile, you can do all the things you could when your top-end speed was six minute mile and everything in between. What’s not to like?!
For many of those runners who are stuck jogging around at ten minute miles. Imagine what training to be able to run at six minute mile pace … or quicker gives them. Suddenly where eight minute miles felt difficult, it begins to feel easier because it’s no longer top of the range.
Yet remember what I said about the body being efficient? If you never train at high paces to get faster then gradually your body forgets the speed ability it has. This is often why older distance runners are slow – they stopped training their speed and focused on extended efforts. Inevitably there is some loss of speed due to ageing, but nowhere near as much as many runners believe.
It’s not just the skeletal muscles which benefit from training speed, it also works the heart and lungs and usually very hard if you put in a big effort and don’t give yourself easy recoveries. While it is unpleasant to be gasping for air – barely able to jog between efforts – in time it prompts your heart and lungs to adapt.
Your heart grows larger to pump more oxygenated blood to the muscles and potentially your lung capacity increases. The lungs become stronger and therefore more forceful when expelling carbon dioxide and breathing in air.
This training is going to make your running feel easier. Stronger legs, lower heart-rate, easier breathing.
If you decide to start training for speed, ease into it and, of course, if you have any health concerns – check with a health professional before pulling out all the stops and giving speed training a try.
If you’re unsure of how to start, I can help you with my 3-month speed training programme. Just go to the Contact page and message me to get more details.
Big Red Running 