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Improve your running performance with speedwork
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Broadly speaking, there are generally two types of runners. The first are those that indulge in a daily run at a leisurely pace with a goal of weight control or as part of a program to reduce high blood pressure. The second type gets a bit more obsessed with the sport; they get into the whole lifestyle and join a running club, buy more expensive, technical shoes, and are competitive at weekend races. This second type of athlete is the one this article focuses on, and how to improve race performance and lowering PRs (Personal Records).
All components of competitive running training are important. Among these are hillwork training, long runs, tempo runs, and today's topic: speedwork. Without adding in speedwork, or interval training, you'll notice at some point that your spectacular race times aren't getting any faster. To lower your times you'll have to do some form of this training. Basically, it's simple. You just have to run out of your comfort zone for either controlled distances or time spans. Does it hurt? It does if you do it right, but the pay off makes it all worthwhile.
The physiology of speed
Let's look at the physiological mechanics of speed to better understand what speedwork does to make you faster. The muscles are fairly complex, but for our purposes, note that they are composed of two different types of fibers. The first are slow-twitch, which are more geared towards endurance, and the second are fast-twitch muscle fibers, which are responsible for speed. These names are self-explanatory.
When we run intervals out of our comfort zone, followed by recovery intervals, we activate our fast twitch muscle fibers. Note that we cannot increase the ratio of fast ones to slow ones. That's all part of genetic makeup. All we can do about this is either praise or curse our parents and do our best with what we've got.
Running intervals on the track
This is a great way to get faster if you have a local high school or community college with a track open to the public after hours. It's preferable to run with a group for both the support factor and for accurate pacing. Pacing is critical. You should aim to run at a pace that's out of your comfort zone but that you can maintain for the entire interval. This is why you should wear and use a sports watch with a stopwatch feature. It will take several sessions to establish a baseline, but then you'll find yourself steadily improving.
Needless to say, different distances are run at different paces; the shorter, the faster. Intervals are measured in meters or yards (most tracks are 400 meters). When training for 5K or 10K races, common workouts are repeats of combinations of 50 meters, 100 meters, 150 meters, and 400 meters. For the half-marathon or when training for the marathon, 1600 meters (1 mile) repeats are beneficial.
Your recovery between intervals should be jogged until your heart rate comes down. This is usually half of the interval distance 
for shorter distances and 400 meters for mile repeats.
Getting fast with fartlek
Fartlek is a Swedish term that means “speed play”. It's a great alternative to track intervals if you don't have a track available or you just find it too tedious. This is a more relaxed and fun way to train and can be done anywhere you regularly run. After a mile or so of warming up, you simply pick a landmark in the distance, say a tree or sign post, and sprint to it. (Please don't pick an object moving away from you!) Next, slow to a jog for recovery and repeat. This is fun to do with a partner, taking turns picking landmarks.
Whichever form of speedwork you choose, just get out there and do it one day per week. You'll be surprised at how fast you'll find yourself hammering race competitors that used to pass you up on that final sprint to the finish line.
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