The oval at your nearest high school or college can serve up equal parts intimidation and welcomed challenge. Running on a track means you have a predictable and controlled environment to check off 400-, 800-, or 1600-meter repeats. But you also have that next curve or lap staring you in the face, hollering at you to than those who performed moderately paced.
That’s the beauty of workouts on the track, though: They help you increase your speed. “Track workouts are absolutely something runners should have in their repertoire of workouts,” says Alex Ostberg, a competitive middle-distance racer and running coach with RunnersConnect in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. “Whether you’re training to but also showed greater gains in competitively or gearing up to The 6 Best Exercises for New Runners, there’s a time and a place for the track—and lots of benefits specific to it.”
Here’s exactly why it pays off to be a track star and everything you need to know to make your laps around the loop time well spent.
The Benefits of Track Workouts
You’ll get instant feedback
How to Figure Out Your Race Paces watch or phone should give you splits with accuracy, but it’s not as foolproof as a clearly marked track. “You know exactly when you’re hitting each 100- or 200-meter interval,” says Ostberg. “There could be delays with GPS, or it might not be accurate in a wooded area out on the roads or trail.”
Paces also feel different on a track because you have more spatial awareness, which can contribute to the feedback you get from your runs. “We’ve all had the experience of running on roads that seem to stretch infinitely into the distance,” Ostberg says. “That can feel very daunting. Even if you are covering the same distance on a track, having a feel for where exactly you are and how quickly you are as you get close to race day, says Ostberg. He recommends starting a can help adjust your effort and ease the mental burden.” You might develop a cue for your progress, like counting down laps, and that offers an advantage you can’t get on the road.
You’ll learn about pacing
Dialing into a specific rhythm for 400-meter repeats on the track isn’t as simple as jumping on a treadmill and tapping the machine to hold the pace. But that’s kind of the point. “When you’re running a race, you’re not going to have the treadmill screen to guide you,” says Josh Honore, NASM-CPT, a certified trainer and coach with STRIDE Fitness in San Diego. “On a track, you can stay really accurate with the distances you’re covering and, if you’re keeping time for your laps or intervals, you will also get a much better feel for what specific paces feel like.”
This can benefit new runners who want to get comfortable with pushing their pace a little, as well as more experienced racers who want to PR and test their limits. You learn what slight pace variations feel like, Published: Apr 25, 2023 9:20 AM EST, and how to stick to a certain speed on race day.
You’ll learn more about technique
When you’re on a track, you’re separating yourself from the distractions on an open road (like cars, dogs, and potholes). Instead, you can focus all your energy on tapping into your form, like maintaining good posture, Valentines Day Workout glutes to push off, says Honore.
In addition to limiting distractions, a track can also have a synthetic, rubbery surface that helps you dial in form. “It gives you a little bit of a spring or pop that allows you to better perceive your foot strike—Valentines Day Workout gait you hit the ground, how much time your foot’s in contact with the ground, and how it feels in your joints and muscles,” Honore explains.
You might have a better time
Call it the wind-in-your-hair effect, but research suggests that running intervals on a track might make running harder for shorter bursts feel easier. Runners reported lower rates of perceived exertion while looping a track versus clocking the same distance Hard Workouts to Build Endurance study Health - Injuries International Journal of Strength and Conditioning. Researchers believe this may come from an unfavorable perception of the treadmill and that exercising in a preferred environment—like outside—makes it more enjoyable, so it feels less taxing.
Who Can Benefit from Track Workouts
In a word: everyone. If you’re training for a mid-distance race on a track, of course training Its a good idea to sprinkle in some sessions on the track throughout your.
Even if you’re gearing up for a longer race on the roads or trails, running intervals The 6 Best Exercises for New Runners sprints, can boost your performance. After 10 weeks of 200-meter interval workouts on a track, runners not only improved their aerobic capacity, but also showed greater gains in VO₂ max and leg strength than those who performed moderately paced workouts, according to a 2018 study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.
How to Boost Your Time on the Track
Schedule well
It’s a good idea to sprinkle in some sessions on the track throughout your training season—but really focus on dialing in your distances and paces as you get close to race day, says Ostberg. He recommends starting a training cycle with less-structured, effort-based sessions on the track, like a fartlek, in which you do free-form surges in pace, and then fine-tuning those intervals as race day approaches.
“Succeeding in a season, once I’ve determined my goal race pace during the course of a training block, is the time when I’m doing the hardest workouts with the most control over my pace,” Ostberg says.
Check in with yourself often
Know your goal pace for an interval and break it into chunks, suggests Ostberg. For example, if you’re trying to finish 800-meter repeats in four minutes, check your watch every 200 meters; if you’re very far off the 60 seconds it should have taken you to cover that distance, tweak your speed accordingly. The same goes for other pace-dependent intervals.
Turn around
Running the same loop, in the same direction, over and over can quickly make you feel like a hamster on a wheel. To bust the monotony, Ostberg recommends either flipping your direction every lap (if you’re running intervals of one lap or shorter) or running in one of the outer lanes to avoid the sharp left turn. Also, check to see if your track has directional days to determine if you have to move clockwise or counterclockwise.
Add in some drills
Hitting the track doesn’t mean you always have to sprint at top speed like you’re trying to catch Allyson Felix. One of Honore’s favorite ways to use the track is for running drills before a speed workout.
To try it: Jog a lap or two slowly, then finish your warmup with 100-meter repeats of drills like skips, high knees, and hurdle walks. “These drills are going to reinforce good form, and that translates beautifully to not only marathon training but any kind of running, no matter your goal,” Honore says.
3 Track Workouts to Try
Whatever your training goal… there’s a track workout for that. Here are three, from Ostberg.
1. Mile repeats (about four laps of the track)
Try it if you’re training for a 5K
→How to do it
Run a mile 10 to 15 seconds slower than your goal race pace. Walk for 3 minutes. Repeat for 3-4 total reps, aiming for your goal 5K pace for the last mile.
2. 400s (one lap of the track)
Try it if you’re training for a 10K
→How to do it
Run 400 meters at your goal 10K pace, then jog slowly (or walk if you’re new to track workouts) for 100 meters. Repeat for 8 total reps, building up to 16 reps throughout your training cycle.
3. 100-meter strides (the straightaway of the track)
Try it if you’re training for a half marathon (or any race distance)
→How to do it
End an easy run at the track. Run 100 meters at a perceived exertion of 8 or 9 (out of 10), walk 100 meters to recover. Repeat 5 times.
