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Sprinting
Right. That's it. I'm bored of chugging along at 150bpm or whatever, I just want to see how fast I can go.
How do you train to be a sprinter?
How do you train to be a sprinter?
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Comments
Will
Then tell your running club what you plan to do and experiment with different distances to find the one that suits you best.
Stop the long slow runs and get stuck into some weight training. You'll need brute force and a high lactate threshold rather than the ability to burn fat slowly for 1,000 miles.
Let us know how you get on! Even if you decide it's not the career for you, chances are a bit of sprint-pace training will help your distance running no end.
Cheers, V-rap.
Last year I did a series of sessions on Candence work (lead by a girl who use to play netball for NZ, apparently they do it all the time as part of their training) and it helped my sprinting no end. Basically it breaks your running style back down to the basics and then gradually builds it back up again. I found an article which hopefully explains it better than I do at the following address:
http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0046.htm
However, RW if you are reading it would be a great article for you to do as I suspect that many runners out there have never heard of it or the benefits of it!
I hope that this helps!
ANNA
Last year I did a series of sessions on Candence work (lead by a girl who use to play netball for NZ, apparently they do it all the time as part of their training) and it helped my sprinting no end. Basically it breaks your running style back down to the basics and then gradually builds it back up again. I found an article which hopefully explains it better than I do at the following address:
http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0046.htm
However, RW if you are reading it would be a great article for you to do as I suspect that many runners out there have never heard of it or the benefits of it!
I hope that this helps!
Spans
Is it out-and-out sprinting you're looking to do? - the reference to "150 bpm" made me wonder if you were actually looking for a shorter, faster distance to run that'll take you close to your max HR.
If so, why not try 800m? I'm certainly no natural sprinter, but a few years ago I trained to an 800m schedule for about 2-3 weeks in order to have a go at this distance. Surprisingly, according to one of those "comparability tables", the time I got from my one attempt still outranks my best ever 5 mile effort (and comes close to my 10K PB).
It'll certainly make you a faster runner. You've got the endurance base from your current training, and that'll help you to put in the number of 200m, 300m, 400m reps you'll need to acquire the necessary speed. Although upper body strength would be an asset, you don't need to be built like Linford to be able to run this sort of distance.
Just a thought!
Muscle fibres - I've never been able to work out which I have. No-one I know can out-sprint me, yet I'm a useful distance runner. Maybe I'm 50/50?
Mike - Ah, maybe I should have made myself a bit clearer. I'd like to train for the 100m and 200m, rather than develop a sprint finish or a higher overall pace, but don't know where to start.
Presumably an athletics club would be the best place, but it's the old turning up/being rubbish/feeling like a lemon thing which puts me off actually going.
I'm sure you wouldn't be made to feel like a lemon if you did turn up at an athletics club - but if you are worried, can you not find a track you can use, just to get an indication of how fast you are over 100 or 200? A quick trawl round the results pages of some of the local athletics clubs' web sites should then give you some indication of how competitive your times are.
Am trying to figure out ways of measuring out 100 and 200m on a road!