PUBLISHED 01/12/2007
Add power drills
Work on increasing your running power with a sequence of explosive drills. Try the following after completing an easy run. Jog 50 meters between each of the four drills.
Bound for 50 meters To bound properly, run with the longest strides you can take, like a triple jumper's first two steps.
Run with "high" knees for 50 meters, lifting your knees as high as you can.
Skip for 50 meters, trying to get as high off the ground as possible.
Sprint for 100 meters, but keep your body relaxed.
Intensify your long runs
If your long run has become little more than a long, slow slog, make it more challenging by ratcheting up the intensity.
Run the same distance or duration on a hilly off-road course.
Start at your normal pace, but increase it slightly every 10 to 20 minutes. Run the last 10 minutes at about half-marathon race pace.
Throw several five-minute surges at half-marathon race pace into a 60- to 90-minute run.
Run one hour at a pace 30 seconds per mile faster than your normal long-run pace.
Climb ladders
Ladder workouts--speed sessions that vary the length of the work intervals in incremental steps--are a great way to get a mix of several high-intensity running paces in a single session. Go to the track, warm up with 10 minutes of easy running, and try one of these ladders. Run each interval slightly faster than the preceding one, and jog 400 meters between each interval.
Starter ladder: 1600 meters, 1200, 800, 400.
Advanced ladder: 1600 meters, 1200, 1000, 800, 600, 400, 200
