Do you want to run faster? (I know, dumb question – who wants to run slower?) I just read an interesting article in Runner’s World about gliding.
This is a technique I had not come across before: I would describe it as a variation of fartlek. So today I decided to give it a try.
We have just started a cool spell here in Texas. After two months of triple digit temperatures, the weather finally broke and last night it went down to the 50s! That’s after months when if it got below 80 at night we figured it was a cool night.
So today seemed like a great day to try a different kind of run. It was bright, calm and around 60 degrees – perfect running weather. A little bit of smoke from the wildfires (which are fortunately not too close to us) but low humidity.
I pulled on my newest running shoes and ambled outside to try out this new technique. The idea is to jog for ten minutes, then build speed for about ten strides, sustain it for 10-20 more, and then walk. My variation was to jog for about 13 minutes, because at 10 minutes I was heading uphill, so I figured I’d wait for the downhill to take my first gliding break.
After the “glide”, I chose to resume jogging rather than walking, and then picked up a couple more glides on the way back home. I found it easy to make each one a bit faster than the previous one.
Next time you are looking for a variation in your speedwork, try gliding. It’s fun, effective, and makes a pleasant change from intervals and tempo runs.
In an earlier post (
It is easy to get hung up on meeting a short term goal and to just work harder and harder to get there. Too often, when we do that, the goal just seems to move further and further away.