One Workout

1K Intervals to Keep Your Speed up Through the Winter

This workout focuses on the tempo r u n . The idea behi nd tempo running is to get your body accustomed to barely clearing lactate, a by-product of energy metabolism that is known to correlate with increasing fatigue and slowing down. Bonus: add strides at the end of the workout to add a little speed training into the mix. During winter, though, it can be hard to find surfaces outdoors wit h decent t ract ion and optimal weather conditions in which to run at faster speeds. Find an indoor track instead to take advantage of the warmth and spend an extra 10 minutes working on your foot speed.

Why you should do it

If the weather forces you inside, this workout is a good introduction to the track. The intervals are long enough that you can get good mileage in, but short enough that you (hopefully) don’t feel like a hamster on a wheel.

How to do it

Do a 10–15 minute easy warmup run, then drills if that’s part of your routine. Start the workout, aiming to keep your splits as consistent as possible – you want to finish feeling strong. After each repeat, do a slow jog that’s roughly one lap of the track and go right into your next rep. If the pace is too difficult, adjust your time goals or take a 1:30 rest instead of the suggested active recovery. If the pace is too easy, you can increase your speed up to a 10k pace.

After the 1k intervals, take a few minutes and get some water. Then, begin the strides by running a little faster than your easy run pace and gradually progress t he intensit y to approximately 80 per cent of your a ll-out effort . Gradually decelerate toward the end of the stride to prevent injuries from stopping abruptly. Cool down for 10 –15 minutes.

Madeleine Kelly is a track runner and the current 800m national champion. She competes for the University of Toronto Track Club and is an editor at runningmagazine. ca