Speed Workouts on the Treadmill

In line with my post earlier this week about winter running gear essentials, here are some workouts that will help you keep up your speed through the winter months.

Why Speed Work is Good to Do On the Treadmill

Believe it or not, I actually like to do speed workouts on the treadmill. There are times when you just have to suck it up and run on the treadmill, so why not make it go by as fast as possible and get a good workout at the same time? One of the biggest complaints about treadmill running is the sheer boredom associated with it.

One of the best ways to beat boredom is to add variety to the workout, and speed work is a great way to do this. Breaking up the workout into smaller segments helps A LOT mentally. Instead of facing 45 minutes of running at the same pace with the same view, the workout is chunked out into intervals of varying speed and time. Trust me, it works!

Treadmill Workouts

Progression (Predator) Runs

Progression or predator runs have long been my favorite speed workouts. Start with a warm-up mile and then do one mile at steady-state, continuing dropping about 10-20 seconds each mile until the last mile. You run the last mile as fast as you can, as if you are being chased—hence the term predator run.

Incline workouts

Adding some incline helps change it up on the treadmill, and hills can definitely help you in the speed department. Here is a sample hill workout from active.com (I love pyramids!) for the treadmill:

1 mile at 2-percent incline

.75 mile at 3-percent incline

.5 mile at 4-percent incline

.25 mile at 5-percent incline

.5 mile at 4-percent incline

.75 mile at 3-percent incline

1 mile at 2-percent incline

Intervals

And you thought intervals were only for the track! Intervals are another great way to prevent yourself from dying of boredom on the treadmill. Let’s face it: speed work is usually not your favorite workout. If you have to run inside, you might as well get it over with on the treadmill! Since you won’t have 400m repeats, you can just plan on 0.25 mile repeats. There are a bunch of great interval workouts for the dreadmill HERE.

Tempo Runs

While the variety isn’t quite as great as the other workouts, tempo runs will definitely help you become a faster runner. Try doing a 10 minute warm-up and then a 20-30 minute tempo, followed by a 10 minute cool down. Remember that tempo pace should feel comfortably hard. For example, it should be a hard effort, but not hard enough that you can’t maintain it for the tempo interval.