After all the 10Ks, half marathons and marathon training I’ve done over the past year or so, speed is something that has been an elusive thing. I ran my first 5K on Thanksgiving this past year and am hoping to get another under my belt as soon as humanly possible. When it comes to the thought of running as fast as possible (then faster) for 3.1 miles, I’m completely stumped. Just 3.1 miles? But *really* fast?

Color me baffled. A friend of mine who is a speed demon and soon-to-be Boston Qualifier, Kerrie, shared one of her favorite track workouts with me to prep for 5K races. I figured it would be helpful to share in case anyone in my situation (distance runner newly training for speed) wanted to check it out.

THE WORKOUT
This is a compound set, or pyramid, of 3 miles and should help get a feel for a shorter run as well as give some confidence going into shorter distances. Make sure you use the Garmin and turn off the autolap feature. If you aren’t familiar with a track 400 meters = 1 lap on the inside lane. Have fun!

2 x 400/800/2400/800/400 Meter Compound Sets

*Run 400 meters at mile pace, 800 meters at 5K pace, 2400 at goal marathon pace (GMP – can use 1/2 marathon pace).

Begin increasing pace again with 800 meters at 5K pace, + 400 at mile pace. Take no recovery between the components of the set. Recover between each compound set with 3 minutes of passive rest.

That’s it!

Skimming the directions, my eyes hit the 2400 part of the set and my legs twitched a little. I’ll try to do this once every few weeks if anything to at least get the soul hurting exercise. As it stands right now, I’m nowhere near fast but have recently beat my fastest mile time by :48 seconds. I can only imagine if I make myself do this once a week… now there’s a thought!