We talk about you can add different speeds into your run and in particular how to vary your running with Sparkles.
What are Sparkles
These are ten second bursts of running. Your body has ten seconds of stored energy ready to go. You don’t need oxygen to Sparkle and there are no by products from using this energy system. Providing you are warmed up, you can run your fastest pace in ten seconds.
How much recovery do you need after a Sparkle?
You can Sparkle again quite soon. This is because most of the energy is returned yo your muscles in 45 seconds. After two Sparkles you will need to wait a full three minutes. This is the time it takes to fully recover. You can find out more about how to Sparkle here.
Sparkling for Beginners
As a beginner it’s best to wait six weeks for your muscles and tendons to strengthen up before you add Sparkles. Then be cautious with your speed. Run fast but relaxed and stay away from sprinting to avoid injuries. Make sure you have done a good fifteen minutes of Chatty running before you Sparkle and take the full three minutes recovery between each Sparkle.
Structured Sparkling for Experienced Runners
This is including Sparkles in pairs with 45 minutes walk back recovery in between and a good three minutes Chatty running in between each pair. You can count one thousand, two thousand, etc until you get to ten or you can use stopwatch. Again, include a thorough warm up first which might include a couple of minutes of ‘breathy’ running.
Hill Sparkles
You can do your Sparkles on a hill in exactly the same way. You won’t get out of breath doing this but you may find you take a quick intake of breath at the end. As long as you keep to ten seconds you are using the correct energy system. Deciding to push on for longer will tip your body into it’s emergency anaerobic energy system. Don’t go there!
Chatty Sparklek
This is Colin’s new term for adding ‘speedplay’ into a Chatty run. It is like a Fartlek but limiting the efforts to ten second Sparkles. Do a Chatty run and once you have warmed up for 15 minutes or so put in a Sparkle whenever you feel like. Have a short walk afterwards and set off Chatty again. Sparkle again whenever you feel like it remembering the rule that you need 45 seconds between them and at least three minutes between each pair. You can Sparkle uphill, downhill and on the flat. You are playing with ten seconds bursts as and when you feel like it.
Why not have a go at a Chatty Sparklek? Let us know how it goes by joining our Facebook community here.