Speed Training for Newbies

Serious speed training is not recommended for runners who have been running for less than a year. The reason for this is adaptation. Beginning a running program itself is stressful to the body as a whole. Bones, tendons and ligaments must all adjust to the impact and repetitive stress of a regular running program.
   As a new runner you should never work on improving more than one element at a time. As you will be concentrating on increasing the amount of time or distance you are running per session, speed should not be a concern until you are comfortably covering the distance you are training for. Just through the act of running regularly you will get faster without increasing your chance of injury.
   When you have been comfortably covering your goal distance for at least a couple of months you can begin a fartlek type of speed training program. Fartlek is a Swedish term meaning "speed play". Keeping the word "play" in mind will keep your "speed" training fun and less arduous than if you approached it with a "work" mind set. It is often suggested to new runners to add hill training to increase speed, although this should be done by changing your route to include hills or rises, not by doing hill repeats. Another often cited speed training method is increasing your speed between lampposts, and then slowing down for the next set.
   My favourite fartlek engages the mind along with the body. Keeping you focused on what you are doing and not on how much harder it is.

Counting Steps:
Every time one foot, either left or right, hits the ground, count one. Increase your speed for 20 steps, then slow to a jog or walk for 20 steps. Then speed up for 30, slow for 30 etc. until you reach 50 steps. For your first couple of sessions keep it to a maximum of 50. You can change this as you improve by stepping up to 50 and then back down to 20 or by continuing to increase your steps up to 100.
1.   When doing any speed work remember the following:Warm up and cool down completely, your speed work should not be more than 50% of your running time.
2.   Do speed work once per week as a maximum.
3.   Don't worry about hitting a certain heart rate or speed, just pick up the pace.