The Last 10: Three Strength Goals for Runners
Feel like you’re not really getting much out of your couple-of-miles-a-few-times-a-week running regimen anymore? Pick one of these speed-increasing goals, which will get you stronger, faster, and leaner than you’ve ever been.
1. Decrease Your Pace on a Quarter-Mile Sprint By 20 Seconds
The quarter-mile sprint is a standard training metric among track and field athletes—it’s also a terrific goal to set for a winter running program when it’s too cold out for long runs, especially because you can do a lot of the sprints on a treadmill.
Week One
Workout One: Run 4 quarter-mile sprints at 75% of your maximum effort, resting 2 minutes between each sprint.
Workout Two: Run 5 eighth-mile sprints at 85% of your maximum effort, resting 5 minutes between each sprint.
Workout Three: Run 2 three-quarter-miles at 55% of your maximum effort, resting 6 minutes between the runs. Then do strength training, selecting leg and core ercises—squats, lunges, etc—from the Jump" part of the strength-training program. (Follow a similar progression of repetitions week to week.)
Week Two
Workout One: Run 6 quarter-mile sprints at 75% of your maximum effort, resting 2 minutes between each sprint.
Workout Two: Run 8 50m dashes as fast as you can, resting 5 minutes between each sprint.
Workout three: Run 3 three-quarter-miles at 60% of your maximum effort, resting 6 minutes between the runs. Then do strength training as in week one.
Week Three
Workout One: Run 4 600m sprints at 75% of your maximum effort, resting 2 minutes between each sprint.
Workout Two: Run 3 one-eighth mile runs at 85% of your max effort, resting 6 minutes between each.
Workout Three: Run two miles at 60% of your max effort resting until you’ve fully caught your breath between each. Then do strength training as in week one.
Week Four
Workout One: Run 5 600m sprints at 75% of your maximum effort, resting 2 minutes between each sprint.
Workout Two: Run 6 100m dashes as fast as you can, resting 5 minutes between each sprint.
Workout Three: Go for a three-mile fartlek run, in which you warm-up for a mile, then do a mile of alternating between 45 seconds of near-sprinting and 45 seconds of recovery running, then do a mile-long cool down. Then do strength training as in week one.
Weeks Five-Eight
Repeat the process of weeks 1-4, increasing your effort (pace) on each of the runs and changing the strength-training regimen to the leg and core ercises from weeks 5-8 in the "Jump" program.
2. Complete Ten Quarter-Mile Hill Sprints Without Requiring More than Two Minutes’ Rest Between Each
Depending on where you live, hills may or may not be a regular part of your running routine. But if they’re not, including some hill training into your workouts is a fantastic way to increase muscular strength in your legs and improve your overall fitness.
Begin by finding a hill long enough (ideally a quarter-mile, though slightly shorter is also all right) that you’re nearly out of breath at the top of it. It should be so steep that it’s difficult to run up at all. Run one sprint up the hill and then, using a stopwatch and your pulse or a heart-rate monitor, record the amount of time it takes for your heart rate to fall to 120 beats per minute. Your ultimate goal will be able to run the hill ten times, with it taking no longer than 2 minutes between each sprint for your heart-rate to return to this 120bpm threshold.
Then, when beginning the program, all you need do is begin incorporating one hill workout and one strength-training workout into your weekly routine. Select your leg and core ercises from the "Jump" workout.
For the Hills
In week one, run 4 hills at 50% of your maximum effort and record your heart-rate recovery. Keep running those same 4 sprints each week until your heart rate recovers to 120bpm in less than 2 minutes after each sprint. Then, increase your effort to 60% and repeat.
Once you’ve reached the 85%-90% of max effort threshold with your heart rate recovering successfully after each run, begin increasing the number of sprints the following week by two. So, for example, the week after 4 sprints at 85% effort hits the heart-rate recovery target, do six sprints. Keep doing six sprints each week until you’re also able to hit the heart-rate recovery target, then go to eight sprints. Your ultimate goal is ten.
3. Decrease Your Mile Time By One Minute
Speeding up your mile pace pays off in lots of ways: First of all, the hard work of getting faster will increase your strength, cardiovascular efficiency, and speed up your metabolism. It’ll also make you a more efficient runner so that, even after you’ve finished the program, you’ll be getting more out of every workout by covering more ground in the same amount of time. Start by hitting the treadmill at the gym and figuring out the fastest speed you can sustain for a quarter-mile. Consider this your "top speed." The sprints in weeks one-three should be run at 15 seconds slower than that pace.
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Week One
Workout one: Start with 3-way isometric planks (Front, back, each side. Hold each for :30) Then run 4 quarter-mile sprints, resting between each until you’ve caught your breath (If you own a heart-rate monitor, a better measure is allowing your heart rate to recover to 120).
Workout two: Start with 3-way isometric planks (Front, back, each side. Hold each for :30) Warm up for a mile at an easy pace, run a mile at a minute slower than 4x your sprint pace, then cool down a mile.
Workout three: Easy 3-4 mile run, then do strength training, selecting leg and core ercises—squats, lunges, etc—from the "Jump" part of the strength training program. Follow a similar progression of repetitions week to week)
Week Two
Workout One: Start with 3-way isometric planks (Front, back, each side. Hold each for :30) Then run 6 quarter-mile sprints, resting between each until you’ve caught your breath (If you own a heart-rate monitor, a better measure is allowing your heart rate to recover to 120).
Workout Two: Start with 3-way isometric planks (Front, back, each side. Hold each for :30) Warm up for a mile at an easy pace, run a mile at a minute slower than 4x your sprint pace, then cool down a mile. Workout Three: Easy 3-4 mile run, then do strength training.
Week Three
Workout One: Start with 3-way isometric planks (Front, back, each side. Hold each for :30) Then run 8 quarter-mile sprints, resting between each until you’ve caught your breath (If you own a heart-rate monitor, a better measure is allowing your heart rate to recover to 120).
Workout Two: Start with 3-way isometric planks (Front, back, each side. Hold each for :30) Warm up for a mile at an easy pace, run a mile at a minute slower than 4x your sprint pace, then cool down a mile.
Workout Three: Easy 3-4 mile run, then do strength training.
Week Four
Workout One: Start with 3-way isometric planks (Front, back, each side. Hold each for :30) Then run 4 quarter-mile sprints, this time at your original "top speed" pace, resting between each until you’ve caught your breath (If you own a heart-rate monitor, a better measure is allowing your heart rate to recover to 120).
Workout Two: Start with 3-way isometric planks (Front, back, each side. Hold each for :30) Warm up for a mile at an easy pace, run a mile at a minute slower than 4x your "top speed" sprint pace, then cool down a mile.
Workout Three: Easy 3-4 mile run, then do strength training.
Week Five
Workout One: Start with 3-way isometric planks (Front, back, each side. Hold each for :30) Then run 6 "top speed" quarter-mile sprints, resting between each until you’ve caught your breath (If you own a heart-rate monitor, a better measure is allowing your heart rate to recover to 120).
Workout Two: Start with 3-way isometric planks (Front, back, each side. Hold each for :30) Warm up for a mile at an easy pace, run a mile at a minute slower than 4x your "top speed" sprint pace, then cool down a mile.
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Workout Three: Easy 3-4 mile run, then do strength training.
Week Six
Workout One: Start with 3-way isometric planks (Front, back, each side. Hold each for :30) Then run 8 "top speed" quarter-mile sprints, resting between each until you’ve caught your breath (If you own a heart-rate monitor, a better measure is allowing your heart rate to recover to 120).
Workout Two: Start with 3-way isometric planks (Front, back, each side. Hold each for :30) Warm up for a mile at an easy pace, run a mile at a minute slower than 4x your "top speed" sprint pace, then cool down a mile.
Workout Three: Easy 3-4 mile run, then do strength training.
Week Seven
Workout One: Start with 3-way isometric planks (Front, back, each side. Hold each for :30) Then run 4 quarter-mile sprints at a pace 5 seconds faster than your "top speed" resting between each until you’ve caught your breath (If you own a heart-rate monitor, a better measure is allowing your heart rate to recover to 120).
Workout Two: Start with 3-way isometric planks (Front, back, each side. Hold each for :30) Warm up for a mile at an easy pace, run a mile at a minute slower than 4x your new sprint pace, then cool down a mile.
Workout Three: Easy 3-4 mile run, then do strength training.
Week Eight
Workout One: Start with 3-way isometric planks (Front, back, each side. Hold each for :30) Then run 4 quarter-mile sprints at a pace 15 seconds faster than your "top speed" resting between each until you’ve caught your breath (If you own a heart-rate monitor, a better measure is allowing your heart rate to recover to 120).
Workout Two: Start with 3-way isometric planks (Front, back, each side. Hold each for :30) Warm up for a mile at an easy pace, run a mile at a minute slower than 4x your new sprint pace, then cool down a mile.
Workout Three: Easy 3-4 mile run, then do strength training.
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