HOT TOPIC 9/9/2013
This week’s quick discussion comes from an email I got this morning. It wanted clarification on a speed work recovery scenario. In my book, Hansons Marathon Method, I wrote that speed work was done with recoveries of 50-100% of the TIME spent during the faster repeat. However, with 400 meters, the recovery was 400 meters. So, time wise it will obviously take longer to jog a 400 than to run one at 5k or 10k pace. Why is that recovery so long? Well, a number of reasons. 1) the practicality of it. Many of the people who show up to our group runs have never done speedwork before. Also, it’s usually hot as heck when we start our summer speed work, along with the fact that the 400’s are usually the first workout of the speed cycle. The point is, we don’t want to make the first workout of the summer, or ever, for some people, a bloodbath! Plus, it just makes it easier for flow of traffic with 50-100 people. At the end of the day, remember that the book is a guide and a showcase of how we work with our locals. As stated last week, the program is designed to accompany a wide range of folks and doesn’t have to be the end all be all for individuality.
