Speed Training for Endurance?
Triathlon training is a brutal experience taking a huge step from typical small distance sprinting and interval training. Me personally I have been putting on lots and lots of miles under my legs in preparation for the longer distances of competition that I am not used to.
I was planning my training for the week and looking a the typical schedule that I had been trying to follow and customize a bit, taken from a few different professional triathletes. I felt like something was missing. I thought about it for a second and there was as I concluded, a definite lack of interval and speed work. So now my weekly routines are going to include more speed work than previous.
You might ask yourself why this is so important. From a general standpoint, if you want to get fast, you have to run, swim, or do whatever fast. Training at slow speeds will not increase your speed, much like lifting the same weight will not increase your maximal strength. It is difficult to perform fast and intense exercise for extended periods of time without sufficient rest, which is why intervals are important to develop speed training the muscles to move faster than normal.
Looking at it from a more technical perspective. Your muscles are divided into 3 different categories, Type I, Type IIa and Type IIb. These fibers are distributed and proportioned thorough every muscle structure in your body. The muscles are used accordingly depending on the kind of exercise you perform. If you do low intensity long duration workouts, you are going to work more predominantly your Type I muscles. Slow Twitch. These fibers are made to last a long time, but do not have a very forceful contraction. Slow and steady. Next you have your Type II a and b muscles. These are intermediate and fast twitch fibers that react to more forceful, short duration and high intensities. The problem with only developing your slow twitch muscles even though those are the types you are using more often in endurance competitions, it can cause a hindrance on the efficiency of your overall muscular force production. With the proper integration of speed and interval training above race pace, you are going to train the muscles to perform at higher speeds causing your pace to decrease, all of this due to adaptations to the muscle from pushing your limits.
Speed training is just a fantastic way to develop not just muscular strength, but also neurological strength and fortify the cardiovascular system. Studies have shown that with proper rest ranges comparative to the interval length, high intensity interval training produces similar and more pronounced cardiovascular effects on the body than traditional long distance running. But don't misunderstand this information, this is not stating that you can replace your endurance training with high speed intervals, this is saying that speed training has tremendous benefits when added to a endurance training program.
I am adding a fairly significant amount of interval training to my schedule. Not only in running, but also on the bike and in the pool. I going to try a different approach to endurance training and see where it goes! The Journey to Ironman continues!
Every Day... A Little Stronger
