All Runners Should Want To Be More Efficient
Whether you’re a beginner, competitive, or marathon runner short speedwork, or Reps, as Coach Daniels coins in his book Daniels’ Running Formula, should be a part of everyone’s routine. The purpose of Rep work is to train the body to become a more efficient runner. By running at faster speeds you can actually reduce injuries by improving your mechanics. Eventually this type of running makes your easy runs feel a lot more comfortable and allows you to increase your everyday training paces. It’s also a fun way to break up a monotonous routine of steady runs!
Speedwork Is Not Risky
There’s a common misconception in the running community that speedwork is for more advanced runners and puts you at higher risk of injury. Actually, by running at your Rep pace you’re more efficient or running with better mechanics than when doing a longer run at easy pace. In fact, doing long runs at a pace where you’re less economical in later stages of the run could put you at greater risk of injury as you’re out pounding the pavement with bad mechanics. In fact, we’d certainly wager that far more runners get hurt as a result of doing long runs with bad mechanics versus doing speedwork.
Train To Become More Efficient
Our sample Rep workout typically run earlier in your training if you’re gearing up for a longer race:
- 2mi warm-up
- 8 x 200m at [Rep pace]* w/200m easy recovery jog btw each
- 2mi cool-down
*Find your Rep pace by entering a recent race result (or estimate) into Jack’s calculator. Then, click the Training tab.
The key when doing a Rep workout, as Jack describes in the video above, is making sure you’re recovering properly between each Rep. In order to run at high speeds with proper form you need full recovery. If you decide to try and make the workout harder by speeding up or shortening the recovery then you’re just changing the purpose of the workout. You have to make sure on each Rep that you’re hitting your paces with good form.
If you’re starting a new training cycle or want to mixup your routine add in a Rep workout for a few weeks and see how you feel.