Friday, January 25, 2008

Long Slow Distance (LSD)

Yesterday we spoke of the need to vary your training up to increase your speed. To get to the speed you want to achieve, you will need to get some long slow distance runs or walks under your belt in order to build a solid base which will ensure that you will be able to maintain the speed that you will gain from that particular type of training.

So what does the slow distance do for you? As mentioned, once you get to the speed training and have attained a good speed level, you will be able to hold onto that speed throughout the season. If you do not get your long work in, and then work on your speed, you will get the speed but it will not last as long as you would hope.

Here is an example of how to balance distance and speed into your training.

Week 1 – 100% LSD – 0% speed
Week 2 – 100% LSD – 0% speed
Week 3 – 90 % LSD – 10 % speed
Week 4 – 90% LSD - 10 % speed
Week 5 – 85% LSD – 15% speed
Week 6 – 80% LSD – 20% speed
Week 7 – 70% LSD – 30% speed
Week 8 – 60 % LSD – 40% speed
Week 9 – 100 % LSD – 0% speed
Week 10 – 50% LSD – 50% speed
Week 11 – 30 % LSD – 70% speed
Week 12 – 100% LSD – 0 % speed
Week 13 – Race

Play around with some long distance and speed combinations until you find something that you feel comfortable with. Remember you have to be able to recover from your hard speed efforts.

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