Supplements Two Oceans Marathon Training Guide 2018 | Page 34

Tips to improve
your speed
Caroline Wöstmann
In 2015, Caroline Wöstmann became the second woman in history
to win both the Comrades Marathon and Two Oceans Marathon in
the same year – just 7 years after she began running around the
block in an effort to lose some post-pregnancy weight.
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SPEED?
How you train to build speed really depends on what level you are running at and what
you are trying to achieve. Caroline shares tips on improving your speed for major races:
• When you are running at recreational level,
you tread along every day at your normal
rate, but you can run faster, if you put
some work into it. If you do 6-7 minutes
per kilometer and you want to get to 5 or 6
minutes, all you need to do in an easy run
is improve your cruising pace slightly, and
incrementally, until you get to your desired
pace.
• You do not have to put in specific speed work
– that gradual increase in effort will get you
there. It is not about doing speed work, just
adjusting to run slightly faster at your natural
cruising pace. By picking up pace slowly, it
will seem more natural and you have a better
chance of avoiding injury.
• If you are at a pace where your cruising pace
is quite fast, around 5 minutes/km, there are
other things you can do to try and increase
your race speed. The appetite for speed
work varies from person to person, so it is
important to find methods that you enjoy
and do not have you lying awake the night
before, panicking.
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Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon / Training Guide 2018
• You could do interval sessions; a scheduled
session where you say you will do 1km
repeats or 400m repeats on the track or the
road. Or else look at time sessions, where you
run hard for 3 minutes and then relax for
1 minute.
• Another alternative is a pyramid session,
where you run 400m hard and jog 200m,
then run 800m hard and jog 400m, 1200m
hard, 400m jog, back down the pyramid,
in 3-4 sets. If you want to mix it up, run in a
group and take turns deciding what the next
interval and recovery will be; it is a kind of
unstructured speed running. Warm up for 15
minutes, then have the first person decide on
the durations.
• During the recovery, the next person calls
the next set of durations. Do that for about
30 minutes and then have a 15-minute
cool-down, that will make for a great, mixed
60-minute session. When training hard, I
like structured sessions so I can compare
improvements week-on-week. In my off
season, I want less structure and want to
have more fun running around, playing
games!