We explain when to add faster harder running sessions to your training.
The three energy pathways
Why don’t you need to run fast to improve? The answer to this question is linked to how your body produces energy.
Sparkly energy
When you Sparkle for ten seconds you are using stored energy in your muscles. You can access this energy pathway quickly, run as fast as you can for the ten seconds and it doesn’t make you out of breath.
The Chatty energy pathway
Chatty running accesses the energy pathway that uses oxygen. It’s easy and enjoyable and you don’t get out of breath. You can use this energy pathway for extended periods of time and is the one that will increase your fitness the most.
The emergency system pathway – ‘huffy puffy’ running!
When you run faster and get out of breath you are using the third energy pathway. This is the body’s emergency system and it doesn’t use oxygen. It does however create acidity in the body and it will make you run slower if you do it all the time. This is because the acidity that makes your legs go heavy and stimulates the harder breathing in the body is counterproductive to the adaptions you are trying to make in the body. You are also more likely to get injured or ill if you run faster all the time because of the stress your body is under with this type of training.
So when can you add faster harder running
Once you have done the Chatty running conditioning or base phase of your training and you have done a few weeks of hill training, then you can add a few weeks of harder faster running. If you are still improving by Chatty Sparkly running keep going with this approach rather than adding faster sessions. It is only beneficial if you have stopped improving. This third energy pathway is very limited and you can train it in a very short amount of time.
Why are harder faster running sessions not the key to continued improvement?
Chatty Sparkly running does everything you need. Harder faster running sessions are just the icing on the cake to take you to a race PB if you have stopped improving by Chatty Sparkly running. It doesn’t contribute much to increasing your fitness contrary to what most people think. Four weeks of faster sessions, two sessions a week, will train the system to its maximum. It’s tempting to believe that the improvement will continue after the four weeks but it won’t. It is a brave person who knows when to stop their faster sessions.
Next time we will give you some typical sessions for faster harder running.