"Training With Expert Runners" is a good section to read. The beauty of the book as a whole is that you can dip into it wherever you like without necessarily having to start at the beginning and work through to the end.
Some sections are a little on the "heavy" side though!

__________________
GONE RUNNING

speedwork sessions as 75% of you runs is excessive... at the very least i'd replace a fartlek/interval session with a run at the regular pace as you currently have no runs at a normal pace...

Hi Revenged,

I've heard many people say that you should only do 1-2 speedwork session a week. But I haven't heard any good reasons why. I would have thought that if you want to train for a certain type of run, 5K for example, the training should be as close to what you will experience in the race.

I've heard the argument that you're likely to pick up injuries, (although I haven't yet - touch wood!), but are there any other reasons to limit speedwork? Also, what do regular runs actually achieve? I understand that Long runs will increase certain structures in the muscles and help improve running economy. But Regular runs just seem to be about higher mileage. Do they actually do anything useful? Maybe the answers in the 'lore of running' somewhere.....

The problem with speedwork is that it's so tiring; I find that the day after a speedwork session I physically cannot match the pace of the speedwork, and even if I do a regular run it's hard to be particularly fast. 4 sessions of 5k speedwork would, for me, mean getting slower and slower as the week progresses, even if I did no other running and had 3 rest days.

I guess it's possible to have all your runs with some kind of specialty and no "regular" ones; I don't see why not, although I enjoy standard runs myself.

variety is the spice of life... !

i think that running at different paces is more fun and is better in the long run...

e.g.
fartlek/intervals - faster than race pace
tempo - slightly slower than race pace
regular run - normal pace
long run - suistained slow pace

if you really want to concentrate on speedwork then this is fine...

i think fartlek and intervals (structured fartleks) are essentially the same thing so i don't see the point in doing both every week, which is why i suggested doing a regular run instead... i've just started doing intervals and i think these are the best and hardest runs by far so i'd ditch fartleks instead of intervals if i had a choice...

if you really want to concentrate on your pace worth going to an athletics tract and doing sprinting and intervals with other people... i have never been on an athletics tract before but it might be a good idea if you want to run faster... a bit of competition makes you run faster and i can never seem to get anywhere near my race pace on the short tempo runs running solo...

p.s. i don't read books or follow training scedules - this is just my views...

Thanks for the advice Revenged and Katten, I can kind of see the reason why you might want to do some regular runs. I've seen that you shouldn't really do two consecutive hard days in a row. So I'll adjust my training according and look to incorporate some regular runs.

I actually used an athletic track last week for 4x 800m. It was really good and racing other people definately helped loads. So definately agree with your comments.

Why not?

Perceived wisdom.

__________________
L2B...or bust

Coz you'd be knackered!

of course you can run two hard sessions in a row, but making a habit of it when your body hasn't adapted enough to withstand the extra stresses and strains placed on your body is likely to cause injury. It's not so much of a problem when your body is used to it!

__________________
www.richardsimkiss.co.uk

Well said, RS.

__________________
GONE RUNNING