Asking distance runners to do anything besides running is like pulling teeth. If it doesn't involve breathing hard, they generally don't want any part of it. "What's the use" is the general sentiment. Weights, plyos, drills, stretching, etc are usually met with "coach this is stupid, why are we doing this when we should be running". Unfortunately, even though they provide a valuable service, this is general outlook on strides as well.

Stride Workouts Will Make You Run More Efficiently

An issue for all distance runners and their coaches to deal with is the transition from easy summer/off season mileage to faster paced reps. Although some programs rarely let their athletes stray too far from faster paced running, a larger percentage allow their athletes to log easy miles over the summer months until organized workouts begin. The same generally goes for the months between cross country and track.

For collegiate and post-collegiate athletes that tend to do faster reps in the form of fartleks or lactate threshold runs in the summer, there is the issue of maintaining the speed that was developed the previous track season. 400m, 800m, 1500m pace running is not innate and staying away from it too long makes the transition back into fast running very difficult indeed. Strides and accelerations are an easy and effective way for all levels of athletes to stay in touch with their "gears" while easing the transition back into sustained faster paced running.

Maybe an example is in order here. This past cross country season I had the privilege of coaching a number of masters runners (40 years of age and up) that were preparing for the club national championships in Long Beach. All are very competitive athletes but like athletes everywhere, family, work, sleep and leisure all fight for the available 24 hours in the day. Before last season they did an incredible volume of mileage, 10k paced reps once or twice a week and a weekend long run of a sizeable distance. Unfortunately, they didn't do much else. Over the years they rationalized that an extra mile or two of mileage was better and easier to do than any other form of running. They avoided training at mile race pace or faster for so long, they lost the ability to do it. Not a "gear" to be found in the group.

I started them on strides twice a week so they could relearn how to run fast again. These amounted to six or eight 100m efforts on grass after an easy recovery run. At first they all came back with the same comments "these are making me sore", "boy I feel clumsy", "are everyone else's calves, hamstrings, butt killing them?". All typical comments from athletes who do an exercise they aren't accustomed to doing. From the comments I received it became obvious why they couldn't run a competitive mile or two mile to save their lives, nor could they kick. Sure they were strong, but they were in serious trouble if someone was with them at 400m to go in a race. Single pace was all they knew. To compound the problem, every time they tried to add a speed element to their training in the past they got hurt. They added too much, too soon without a transition.

A few weeks following the addition of strides they all commented on how much better they felt at faster paces. They looked fast and they looked smooth. After they had this background of strides, adding the faster sustained reps in the form of 400's or 800's was a snap. Their history of becoming injured when they tried to run fast disappeared. They were able to reach a higher level of fitness and thus, raced faster throughout the season. This team ended up winning their national championship with the majority having their most competitive campaign in years.

Now this example involves a bunch of old farts trying to remain competitive, but the fact remains that if you stay away from fast running, it is difficult and sometimes painful to reestablish this ability. The old saying "if you don't use it, you loose it" applies here. Look at Johnny Gray, nearing 40 and still able to string 200's together in 26 seconds. The only reason he's able to do this is because he's maintained this ability over the years. Those athletes he used to compete against in the early 80's who now sit behind a desk will never see another 26 second 200 again. The same goes for athletes who stay away from faster running for a number of months. They are at a disadvantage over athletes who stay in touch with their gears during the same time. Not much of a disadvantage initially. Yet slowly over the years those that maintain strides in their program will be able to call on the ability to run fast and do so efficiently while those who avoid this work will watch them race by with 300 to go.

Another compelling reason to do strides is that they help you become efficient at running fast paces. By doing strides your muscles, tendon and neuromuscular system learn to work together versus waging war. Not a real big deal until you realize that racing speed is the product of your VO2max and your efficiency. If you are racing an athlete who has the same VO2max as you, the deciding factor of who wins is usually efficiency. Strides help you become more efficient at running fast, plus they help you stay away from injuries when you start doing the longer, faster sustained reps with the team again. There are many benefits to be gained by maintaining these in your program year round.

The speed at which you do strides is important because the speed is what defines their purpose, the amount you can do per week and the recovery between work bouts. There are really two types, general strides and accelerations. General strides are done at mile race pace and are very good at keeping an experienced athlete in touch with faster paced efforts. Additionally, they serve as a great introduction to speed for athletes new to running as they tend to allow enough recovery so there is very little chance of injuries. General strides also benefit athletes coming back from an injury or an extended break by easing the transition back into faster sustained training.

The length of general strides can go anywhere from 100m to 200m. Again the speed is done at roughly mile race pace. Total volume of work for the week can be upwards of 2-3% of their total weekly mileage and is usually broken down into 1% per session. Meaning for an athlete doing 50 miles per week, you could theoretically have them do 1600-2400m per week broken down into 800m per session. Recovery time between each stride is generally equal to or slightly more than the time run. So over the course of two or three days you could do eight 100m strides on grass or dirt at mile race pace with 20-40 seconds recovery between each.

These general strides can be combined with training runs such that they can become their own workout. Not a real tough workout, but a good one for getting an athlete out of jogging mode. Example of this type of workout would be hopping on the track and doing four to six laps of striding the straight/jogging the turn. Getting this in after a run of five to eight miles adds a bit of aerobic conditioning to these general strides. Another option would be to fartlek these as 15-30 seconds on/15-30 seconds off after a 15-20 minute warm-up. In either case, you're incorporating a bit of speed into the mix such that the transition to sustained, faster running is less of a shock to the system when it's time to hit the faster paced stuff. Marathoners are a very good category of athletes to have incorporate general strides as the high volume of slower paced mileage tends to make them flat. Adding these general strides after their morning or recovery runs will enable them to switch gears without killing them off in the process.

The second type of stride is an acceleration. Just as strides are vitally important for athletes to bridge the gap between easy miles and faster paced reps, accelerations are just as important for athletes as they progress from reps at 3k, 5k and 10k race pace to those run at 400m, 800m and mile race pace. Accelerations are a different animal altogether from a general stride as they start at the pace of a general stride and work down to a very fast effort. This means over the course of a single 100m acceleration, the pace starts at mile race pace effort and works down to 400m effort for the last 10 meters. Thus in the span of a single 100m rep you are effectively working all of the short range speed necessary for a distance runner. Often times racing effectiveness is based on an athlete's ability to respond to pace changes or having a decisive finishing kick, accelerations are an easy means of maintaining and developing an athlete's ability to adapt to pace changes during the off-season. A word of caution is in order, before you immediately jump into accelerations you must realize they are hard work. Not breathing hard, simply hard on the anaerobic systems in the body. A hearty warm-up including some general strides and drills are recommended. Just as sprinters need to be fully warmed up before running very fast, so should distance runners be warmed up and loose before starting these. Recovery time between work bouts should be ample. Four to six times the recovery for the running time is not out of the question. Volume should be restricted to 1% of the total weekly mileage. If you have an athlete running 50 miles per week, the maximum volume for this type of work would be 804.5 meters. That's all. This should really be considered a speed-work day. Doing these one day a week in the off-season will leave the athlete pretty wiped and not real effective if a traditional workout in the form of a fartlek, hard hill run or lactate threshold run is scheduled immediately following these on the same day.

You want the athlete to start at mile race pace and steadily increase the pace until the last 10m are at 400m race pace. 100m is the standard distance, although using repeat 50's or 60's is a good introduction and working up to 150's is good for experienced athletes. Doing repeat 100's with a walk back recovery or possibly taking a 300m jog between each assures that the athletes is receiving adequate recovery. As the athlete progresses in his/her ability to tolerate this type of work, you can either change the length of distance run at 400m pace or change the length of the acceleration itself. If you wanted to add to the length of 400m pace running, add 5-10m every 3 weeks until 50-60m of the 100m acceleration is done at 400m race pace. A good idea for adding length is to accelerate the diagonals of a football field and slow walk the width. A normal football field is roughly 150m corner to corner, so doing four amounts to 600m of acceleration work for the week. Doing these on a soft surface is great as well because it lessens the impact and provides a bit of resistance. Again, no more than 1% of the weekly volume for this type of work.

When doing accelerations and strides in the same week, it's good to keep the total amount of work for both at 3% of the total weekly volume. Another suggestion is splitting them into bouts of 1% per session and doing three sessions weekly throughout the off-season. Strides would be scheduled on recovery or aerobic conditioning days, accelerations would be counted as its own hard rep day.

Here's an example of a training week including two days of strides and one of accelerations. Day 1: Long Run 2. Recovery run, strides 3. Anaerobic threshold run 4. Aerobic conditioning, strides 5. Recovery 6. Hill run 7. Accelerations

The best time to have an athlete start incorporating accelerations is really after they have been involved with fast running for a season. It's much easier to have an athlete do these when they've had some experience running fast and they know the difference between 400m and 800m efforts. Otherwise you get all-out efforts every rep, which can lead to injury. If you have a beginning athlete, it's best to stick with general strides through the first track season.

I'm sure there are a number of athletes and coaches reading this and saying "No duh?" Yet it's very surprising how many programs fail to incorporate this simple, fundamental element to their annual training. These drills are nothing new they've been staples of most top distance runners since the 60's and 70's. Still, many programs fail to incorporate them mostly because they've become preoccupied with other aspects of training. Strides and accelerations are easy to add to your program and the payoff is extraordinary, especially given the effort to do them. Not many aspects of your weekly training will do that on the few extra minutes a week these take. If you're not doing strides and accelerations on a consistent weekly basis you are leaving yourself at a distinct disadvantage. Speed is not innate, it can be developed just as surely as aerobic capacity or basic strength and this is the easiest, most convenient way to get your athletes out of jogging mode and in touch with their gears.

-- Joe Rubio Venue Sports http://www.venuesports.com 800-676-7463

For more information on Coach Joe Rubio's training programs, please check out www.coachbynet.com.