4 Interval Sessions to Get Faster

The Benefits of Running Speed Workouts

However you do it, speed workouts are important because they help improve your form and efficiency at all paces.

“Fast workouts help recruit and develop fast-twitch muscle fibers, build muscle, elevate heart rate, and increase calorie burn,” Corkum says.

Those speedier workouts also hold the ticket to you getting more fit if you hit a plateau. “Flirting with faster paces during interval training and other speed workouts will get you to faster results over time and help you break through,” Honerkamp says.

Because speed workouts also make you uncomfortable, it trains you to change your breath, stride, and effort.

“Steady-state runs help with aerobic strength, whereas speedwork is more anaerobic,” Honerkamp says. “Speed training helps your body get better at supplying oxygen to your muscles in a more efficient way,” which will make a runner improve at any distance.

4 Running Speed Workouts

Add speed workouts to your schedule just one to two days a week. Give yourself a day to recover before your next run.

Beginner Speed Workouts

1. Striders

“I usually start runners new to speed workouts with striders,” or short bursts of speed, Corkum says. “Speed work is high stress, and so striders are a short taste of that stress. Like anything new to the body, diving into the deep end increases injury risk.” Progress only when you feel like you’ve mastered and adjusted to this workout.

1. Warm up with some dynamic drills.
2. Run 45 minutes at an easy pace that feels like a 4 or 5 out of 10 on your personal scale of perceived exertion.
3. Finish with 4-6 x 20-second strides on a track, flat road, field at max effort, with 30- to 45-second recovery jogs between each.

2. 400-Meter Repeats

“I use 400 repeats to ease a runner into intervals,” Honerkamp says. If you don’t know your 5K or 10K paces, go off effort and build up once you become comfortable.

1. Start with an easy 1- to 2-mile warmup or jog for 10-15 minutes.
2. Perform 5-10 minutes of dynamic drills.
3. Run 8 x 400 meters (about 1/4 mile) with 2 minutes rest in between each interval.
4. Finish with a 1- to 2-mile cooldown run.

Intermediate & Advanced Speed Workouts

3. Varying Intervals

“This workout is pretty intense, and those short recoveries should not be underestimated,” Corkum says. “The workout ends with faster paces than the bulk of the workout, teaching the runner to find that next gear while tired.”

1. Start with a 1-mile warmup, jogging easy.
2. Run 8 x 600 meters (1.5 laps of a track) at 5K goal pace, with 200-meter recovery jogs between each interval.
3. Run 4 x 200 meters at 1-mile pace (or slightly faster than 5K pace), with 200-meter recovery jogs between each interval.
4. Finish with a 1-mile cooldown

4. Consistent Intervals

“Use the first one to two intervals as part of your warmup,” says Honerkamp. “And pretend you have two more intervals on the last one. You don’t need to go out too fast or all-out at the end. Stay relaxed.”

1. Start with a 1- to 2-mile warmup.
2. Do 5-10 minutes of dynamic drills.
3. Run 5 x 1,000 meters (2.5 laps of a track) at 5K pace, with 2:30 rest between each interval.
4. Finish with a 1- to 2-mile cool down.

Ashley Mateo is a writer, editor, and UESCA- and RRCA-certified running coach who has contributed to Runner’s World, Bicycling, Women’s Health, Health, Shape, Self, and more. She’ll go anywhere in the world once—even if it’s just for a good story. Also into: good pizza, good beer, and good photos.