Tips No One Told Me: Shoe Parts

Below is a list of stuff I always found annoying as a total newbie reading about running and would have to look up. Even then, half the time the definition or concept wasn't spelled out (I like to tell people to explain things to me like I'm five).


Upper: It's the soft "clothey" parts of the shoe that hugs over your feet. Everything that isn't the insole, midsole and outsole. Basically the part of the shoe you're not stepping on. When I was a newb newb I imagined that this only referred to the tongue.

Upper

Midsole: It's the part of the sole that does most of the cushioning. Generally shoes have a removable piece of smooth cushioning called the insole. This is the piece you're usually directly stepping on. Under that is the midsole, most often the foamy white "meat" of the sole. When I was a newb newb I thought everything you were stepping on was called the midsole. I was wrong. It was insole-midsole-outsole.

Outsole: This is the "hard" piece of rubber stuff under the meaty midsole. The outsole often isn't one piece, instead made up of patches of hard rubber under the midsole at highly used contact points with the ground, in order to extend the life of the shoe. Otherwise, the soft midsole would wear away quickly. Many minimalist shoes barely have an outsole at all, instead having just a few patches of rubber lugs and leaving the rest of the midsole exposed. This contributes to the relatively short life of minimalist shoes. Personally, I don't like outsole material as I find them to neutralize some of the shock absorbing quality of the midsole. I've actually had cobblers shave off the outsole on some of my shoes (pics to come).

Laces: Yeah, we all know what shoelaces are. The key is that there are generally two main kinds, flat and round. Most people prefer flat laces as they feel it relieves pressure on top of the foot (when the laces are twisted, anyways). Round laces on the other hand, are stronger and last longer, which is why they come on hiking boots. I personally think round laces look cooler, too.

To some people, barbwire.

Toebox: I consider this part to be from the forefoot and on. Basically, the widest part of your foot and on, not just the toes themselves. In "barefoot" style running, often associated with minimalist running, the ability of the toes to splay (spread) onto the ground becomes more crucial in order to dissipate shock and to induce good running form. Eventually, most people prefer to stick with shoes with wide toeboxes once they run minimalist, partly because your toe and footshape itself can start changing (no, really).

This is why some minimalist shoes look so funky. Because they actually follow the shape of a human foot.

Heel counter: The hard thing that keeps the back part of the upper stiff. Shoes have varying degrees of firmness and support to them, which minimalist runners preferring less heel counter (surprise!). The advantage of them is that they give support and heel stability. The disadvantage is that some people hate support and believe it's best to let the body do its own thing. Heel counters also add weight. Lastly, shoes without heel counters feel super comfy (check out the Nike Frees as an example).

Overlay: It's the hard stiff material manufacturers use to add structural support on the outside of the mesh upper. If you were to take a look at the Asics line of shoes, they clearly use the Asics "criss cross" design to double as structural support for the shoe, which helps it hug your foot and give the shoe its shape.

The black lines on the side.

Skechers GoRun Ride - Early Impression

So I decided to exchange my Gorun Speeds and head completely the other way and pick up a pair of the GoRun Rides instead. Reason being that I had already just picked up a pair of the Mizuno Ekidens and was still in the process of breaking them in when my friend purchased the Gorun Speeds for me. The soles were simply too firm for me to run in comfortably (or even safely, as I developed some shin pain early on with those shoes). I figured having four racers in my rotation was a little overboard and what I really needed was a cushioned long run trainer. I decided towards the GoRun Rides rather than the GoRun 2s as the tapered toe-box in the new GoRun 2s really turned me off.

Skechers GoRun Rides brand new out of the box.

This is actually the second pair of Go Run Rides, as the first pair had a manufacturing defect (more on that below). So that made it TWO exchanges I made at the San Francisco Skechers store without any hassle. Have I mentioned how much I love the folks who work there?

They look kind of wide and heavy, but are in fact super light. As light as most racers.

While I wouldn't say the wideness gives you significant stability, the Rides don't feel
nearly as nimble as the regular GoRuns.

My very first impression just slipping them on: COMFY. My mother actually thought they were hospital recovery shoes when I had her try them on. The upper is similar to the regular GoRun 1 but with a more accommodating toebox. You feel a very distinctive "squish" when walking in these. Some have compared it to the Saucony Kinvara, but I feel like these are much cushier than the Kinvaras (note: I have the Kinvara 1s and have heard the more popular Kinvara 2s are a tad cushier). They are by far the cushiest shoe I own. This isn't necessarily a good thing for a lot of people and I personally own mostly firm shoes. But that's why I chose these, to go to the other end of the spectrum and hope they would work for me. And they have so far.

One of the most distinctive traits of the GoRun series is the M-strike technology. Whether this specifically refers to the fact that the mid-sole is thickest in the mid-foot or to the cutaway heel or both, I'm not sure. But the result is a claimed disposition towards a mid-foot strike and for once, a claimed gimmick for a shoe clearly works. Not only do I distinctly feel myself running with a mid-foot stride and strike, the sole wear confirms it.

Sole of the GoRun Ride. The white pillars are super squishy Resalyte EVA compound. The black pillars are much firmer carbon rubber-type compound that are supposed to give your feet tactile feedback and encourage a mid-foot strike. I personally found the pillars a little bit too firm in the GoRuns, but the extra cushioning of the GoRun Rides neutralizes this.

Wear on the sole. Note the clean heel. Most of the dirt on the heel is probably
 from me putting my heel down as I drive my car. Also note that the criss-cross Go Impulse sensor is more towards the heel than in the Go Run 1s. I suspect this may encourage a semi-heelstrike.

I've run a total of about 12 miles on them now. No need to break them in. Any breaking in pretty much occurs within the first mile as I've detected no change since then. They feel just as they're marketed: the big cushy brother of the regular GoRuns. They weigh just a skosh more (a reported 0.2 ounces more), are wider, both on the sole and in the upper, have significantly more cushion, and don't have nearly as pronounced a "hump" feeling on the midfoot like the GoRuns, making these very walkeable (though I definitely wouldn't wear them as casual kicks to walk in). Related to these traits, they also don't feel nearly as nimble and fun as the GoRuns, which made you want to just run faster for no reason all the time like some never ending fartlek. I wouldn't call these slow, but to give you an idea, I just came back from a tempo run today and while I felt a perceived effort of 7:15/mile (close to my threshold pace), I looked down at my GPS to see it clocking at 7:30. If you are looking for a 5K racer, this is not it. The comfy squish sucks away some energy and pop and minimizes ground feel. They are also the lowest in ground feel of any athletic shoe I have (including my basketball high tops). I actually run over these bumps San Francisco places at intersections to compare ground feel in different shoes when I'm running.

This guy. I feel almost no bumps through the sole of the GoRun Rides.

Comfort level is again, high. The upper is reminiscent of the Nike Frees and offer very little support. They are a stretchy elastic polyester-type material with decent breathability and is mostly seamless. The insole is significantly thick and was somewhat rougher as I did develop blisters on the bottom of my feet under the big toes on my first 3 mile run and then again on my second 3 mile run with these shoes. Both times they appeared around the end of the run and continuedly lessened. On today's 5 mile run, I did not get any blisters. I do not wear socks. I also suspect that my first pair was so significantly "off" that they were partly the source of the blisters.

Rear of the shoes on my new pair.

Rear of the shoes on my first defective pair. Note the left midsole's uneveness which I could
feel while running. This  pair also had a tighter toe box.

There are no reflective material on the shoe that I could find, so night runners take note. The laces are flat and do not cut on top of the foot. However, I found the ankle locking ability of this shoe sub-par, even with the "Vari-lock" holes. They are simply too low to offer good leverage even with a lace-locking setup. There is no heel-counter to speak of, but the heel collar runs a tiny bit lower than I would like. I believe 1/2 size up would net me the perfect heel collar height.

I feel like "Vari-lock" is too fancy a name for extra holes that most running shoes already have.

These may be reflective, I'm not sure. It may be enough to stop a Hot Wheel car.

Heel collar is comfy and completely disappear for me on the run, despite being a tad bit low.
The shoe comes with an extra set of different colored laces, in this case an alternate grey.

It's one of those "completely collapsable heel counters" heel counters.

The ride is smooth and these are one of the quietest shoes I've run in, especially once you settle into the mid-foot stride. I find myself "gliding" along the ground even moreso than in my other shoes in which I mid-foot strike cleanly. Impact is low when running in these shoes both due to the ample cushioning and to the mid-foot strike. The mid-foot to toe transition is smooth probably because of the super flexible nature of the shoe itself but not effortless due to the squish and moderate stack height. Some may find it too "squishy." What I mean is I feel that as you land, you go through 80% of the compression very quickly before you finally get to the end where you feel surefooted enough to begin the toe off. On the topic of flexibility, these are one of those where you can fold it into a ball if you wanted to. Less so than the regular GoRuns because of the thicker mid-sole, however.

Unlike the GoRuns, I DO feel like its possible to heel-strike in these, but I haven't naturally settled into that so I could not speak as to what that would feel like in these shoes. I recall that in the GoRun I had to lean forward and almost initiate a fore-foot strike to get the best stride out of them (which I think gave me that "fun nimble feeling" that the GoRuns are known for). I do not have to do that in these.

The insoles. I recall the early production runs being green. On closer inspection, it looks like these are "spray painted" grey. Maybe it'll rub off after some more runs and I can confirm.

Insole is removable. I tried it once. Did not like the odd cushioning feeling and never tried again.

Durability has been reported to be very high, at least 300 miles. In my experience with the GoRun 1s, I believe it as the sole never seemed to ever show any wear. Even my GoBionics have no signs of sole wear other than a gash from something gnarly I ran on. I suspect the upper will be the first to go on these.

Closer view of the GoImpulse units.

I tend to wear out the tip quickly on shoes. I suspect these will be able to resist that.

Weight is reported to be 7.9oz for men size 9 and 5.9oz for women's size 6. Forefoot stack height of 12mm, mid-foot of 19mm, heel of 16mm netting you a heel-drop of 4mm. It should be noted that every millimeter at the smaller sizes nets you a more severe ramp angle than for the larger sizes so that a 4mm in a small shoe will feel more severe than 4mm in a larger shoe. Higher heel-drop seems to be one of the  factors that encourage a heel-strike. I wear smaller than average shoe size but found the M-strike to work just as it claims.

Front. The toe-box is wide enough that I don't have to alter the lacing scheme to free
up toe-box room.

Close up. Note the mesh toe box. It's not super airy but more airy than a
traditional trainer and airy enough for me. I don't recall getting swamp feet in these.

Early impression: I think I've found one of "the" shoes for me (I've given up on trying to find "the" shoe as I have too many needs. Just going to try to find "the shoes" from this point on). For me this will be the long run trainer both for easy runs and higher half-marathon pace long runs. I may occasionally take it out for tempo runs but I think I have better shoes for that. I've found these to be incredibly comfy both in regards to the upper and the ride due to the minimalist upper and non-minimalist mid-sole. And the fact that it still accomplishes the promised mid-foot strike without effort in such a cushy shoe with little ground feel is impressive to me. Style-wise, it's meh, but I wasn't able to snag the Warrior colorway. I've found the price to be as low as $50 if you don't mind hideous colors and as high as $80 for the aforementioned Warrior colorway. It's too early to recommend this shoe yet but I'm having very positive impressions. I'm even starting to think this may be a good "gifting shoe" to get friends to run more.

I would love to hear other people's experiences with this shoe.

Medial side.

Resalyte mid-sole. It's cushy. Definitely one of those "It's like running on marshmallows. I hate it!/I love it!" shoes.

M-strike. The upper overlays do not protrude to the interior of the upper like the regular
goRuns did, which was the source of some arch blisters for me.

Front.

Skechers GoRun Speed Unboxing & Preview

So my friend bought me a pair of the Skechers GoRun Speeds for my birthday!

I've uploaded an unboxing and preview video onto youtube (even though I'm not a giant fan of unboxing, but I figured this is kind of unique in that this shoe isn't really being sold widely yet).

Overall impression of the construction is positive, but after my two runs I have to admit the ride is not as positive as I first thought. I think it would work well for certain folks who do really long distances and have excellent bio-mechanics, but I don't think that's me, unfortunately. The sole is really firm. My initial sense of there being significant cushioning when I wore them at the store was probably sensing the stack height along with the give in the hardwood floor. It's like, really really firm. I have the Mizuno Ekidens, a very low to the ground dedicated 5k-10k racer and I feel these GoRun Speeds are much firmer. The stiffness also feels like its fighting me on the heel to toe transition. Again, I think if you've got great form and technique, I think this could actually be a positive thing.

I'm considering exchanging them back at the store or selling them on eBay (my friend fully approves). Or I'll keep them and just run more and put up a full review.

The audio is really jacked up by the way. My voice is not that low. I had to mess with it in post processing to sync up the visuals to the audio.

Tips No One Told Me: Shoe Lace Tying

One of the most important if not the most important aspect of a running shoe is fit. If it doesn't fit right, I just don't go with the shoe, no matter how much I wanted to like it. What I didn't know when I first started off was just how much the shoe laces affect fit. It may sound extreme, but I feel like you can control the feel of the shoe almost as much as the original designers just by playing with the shoe laces. Ok, maybe not that much, but I definitely think you can ruin the fit of a shoe enough to be a deal breaker by having inappropriate lacing for your foot.

My go-to lace is the standard Criss-cross lace. I have this on almost all my running shoes. The key is that most shoes out of the box come with Display Shoe lacing, which is like Criss-cross but (and here's the key), the row closest to the toe is inside out. Display Shoe lacing tends to make the toes cramped. Flipping it inside out with the front row starting from under the eyelets frees up a lot of room. It was enough for me to finally keep my Mizuno Ekidens, which originally had Display shoe lacing. I'm even considering taking it a step further and trying it with Parallel lacing to free up even more room.

Lastly, for every single one of my running shoes, I use ankle lock lacing.

Here's another link with video: http://www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/custom-tie-your-running-shoes

And if anyone's tried the Lock Laces and like them, let me know, would love to hear how they are for runners. 

Nike Lunaracer+ : My Review

Nike Lunaracer+ Reissue (thanks to Pete Larson for the composition for this photo)

The Nike Lunaracer+ is the third(ish) iteration of this lightweight racer. The first, Lunaracer (I don't believe the + was out yet) was beloved for its performance. The Lunarlite cushioning received rave reviews for the combination of cushioning without sacrificing performance as a racer. The Lunaracer 2 wasn't as well received. Actually, it was apparently so bad the Lunaracer 1 was reissued. But the reissue had one major change, with the sole converted to the Lunarlon sole. Me, I haven't had a chance to try the original Lunarlite, but supposedly the Lunarlon is a little less cushy, which is good or bad depending on your preference. What's interesting is that it's a two part midsole with a harder outer "shell" and a cushier "meat" filling it. Honestly, the exterior is pretty darn cushy as it is.

Medial (inside) portion of the shoe. Note the Lunarlon sole.

3/4 front

3/4 rear. Note the siping that runs along the sole.  I've heard this makes it  more flexible.

I've run in a pair of reissues for about a year now, putting maybe about 100+ miles on them by now. My final impression: I love them and have been my shoe for almost every single race this year, from 5Ks to my first half-marathon.

Stated weight for a US size 9 is 6.6 ounces, pretty standard for a racer nowadays (this shoe came out back in 2009). But where it still shines is the sole. I've found the Lunarlon cushioning to be perfect for long runs, providing ample amounts of protection without sucking away spring and pop that you want from a racer. Ground feel isn't great as the stack height is significant at 17mm forefoot and 23mm rearfoot, but the low 5mm drop helps me achieve a good mid-foot strike to make up for it. In fact, I feel like my best running form comes from these shoes. It just feels like I get my best footstrike and toe-off from these shoes. So performance-wise, these are my favorite.

It's about average to below average in flexibility for a racer. This is me pushing it to
what I thought was comfortable to bend by hand. Generally with racers, some stiffness is
acceptable as its part of the pop it gives you for speed.

Heel collar is slightly stiffer than I like but has been a complete non-issue for me.
Some folks prefer flexible, some prefer support. If the Nike Frees are a 1 and a traditional
trainer is a 100, I would put these around 40.

Ride comfort is excellent due to the Lunarlon midsole, but overall comfort is significantly hampered by the mediocre upper, something that was addressed in the 4th iteration, the Nike Lunaracer 3+. It's pretty universally accepted that this shoe is too narrow. And I mean even for narrow feet. Everyone buys these shoes at least half a size up and a full size up is fairly common. I went half a size up and after breaking them in and stretching out the upper over the course of maybe 15 miles, they felt a lot better for me. Then along the way I stopped running in socks. At that point the shoe fit great if I did the lacing right. Still, the upper material isn't as comfortable as minimalist shoes or even other new racers on the market. I would describe it semi-breathable and I invariably get blisters on the top of my instep and under my arches after 5 miles. This happens on the same spot in both feet. And always at the 5 mile mark. I wear socks with this shoe now for long runs.

Interior of the tongue. Seamless and comfortable, but tends to slide off to the side almost immediately.

Top of the tongue. The padding design with the padding centered in a bulge like that actually
makes it less comfortable to me than one where its even all across.

Heel collar material and parts of the interior. The heel collar is stiff and irritated my ankle
when I first ran in these. Over time it's disappeared.

Interior of the sole. I don't feel much arch support in these . Racers generally don't have support
and I don't personally prefer it, especially since I train primarily for 5Ks. Insole is moderately thin but
does add to the cushioning.

Removable insole. I have not run like this ever with this shoe. Doesn't look like
its designed to be what with all that exposed stitching that could cause blisters.

The tongue is relatively thin and seamless, a giant kudos to the designers. However, the extra padding in the middle of the tongue causes the entire piece to always slide off to the lateral side of my feet. I mean always and all it takes is maybe 3 minutes of walking to make it do so. The collar can be a little on the stiff side and when I first ran in them I did get ankle irritation. This has disappeared so maybe I've developed callouses in those areas. Despite all these discomforts listed, it's never really been an issue for anything under 3 miles and so most times I run in these shoes sockless.

Style-wise, what can I say? It's Nike and they usually hit the mark here. I love the bright blue colorway on mine. Everything screams space-theme and even the details like the shape of the sole lugs makes you think that this is what an astronaut would wear to a lunar race. I love the style.

Top view. These shoes run very narrow to the point that everyone has to size up at least 1/2 size.
Note the wide base relative to the upper. This can act as a tiny bit of support for a shoe.

Compared to my Mizuno Ronin 2s, which I consider the most perfect fitting for
my feet. The Lunaracers are that much larger to make the width fit. I've been pleasantly
surprised to find the extra length to not be an issue. My foot does not slide around in them.

Front. Those are reflective dots in the front there. No, they don't do anything but look awesome.

Rear with reflective dots and stripes. These look like they may be more noticeable
but its difficult to really check if drivers can see them. I never do night running.

Note the exterior Flywire which acts as an overlay to shape the shoe, support it and take
some of the stress from the laces. The material from the forefoot on back is a semi-rigid
plastic film that is only moderately breatheable. This has apparently been correct
in the new Lunaracer 3+.

Durability is about average for a racer. Most racers last only maybe 150-300 miles. From the looks of the wear on mine, I suspect they'll go another 100 miles before I decide to get a new pair. And the replacement will almost certainly be either the Skechers GoRun Speed or the Lunaracer 3+ with the improved upper. The comfy mesh toebox means I can wear my normal size in them too (yes, I've tried them on at the store and it was probably the single best update of any shoe I've tried)!

Astronaut footprint. Hard carbon rubber replaces some of the exposed foam lugs.
Traction has been good, never had an issue. But I live in sunny California where
traction and weather isn't an issue other than occasional rain.

5mm heel drop. I detect very little wear after 100 miles as I  mid-foot strike cleanly in these.

The front shows signficant wear. The lateral (outside) portion of the foot almost always strikes
first for all runners and can cause some wear there. It shows up clearly here with the nipples of
the lugs just about worn away. The hard carbon lugs are running fine.

Another angle where you can see significant difference between the exposed foam and the
carbon lugs, especially at the tip where it is half carbon half foam. My toes miss the tip of the shoe
by maybe 3/4 of an inch so I'm surprised its wearing all the way up there. Toe-off gives you half
your wear and primarily shows up on the medial (inside) portion of the sole, under the big
toe. I'm surprised its showing up for me all the way to the tip in these shoes.

But it all goes back to the performance. The comfort is not bad, the style for me is excellent and the performance is top notch. Durability isn't an issue for me cuz hey, after one year I'm itching to try a new shoe anyways. Price is about right at $110 retail, but there are a ton of the Lunaracer reissues online for around $60 (I got mine for $40 from eastbay). Final impression: an A-, excellent. Here's hoping the Lunaracer 3+ really earns that plus sign for me.

 

Types of Runs (Part 1)

I remember when I was starting out I would read these terms like "fartlek" and "tempo run." Honestly, it was kind of annoying not knowing what they were referring to. I eventually found this article giving a quick blurb of what they were. However, it wasn't comprehensive enough and I felt like for newbies we could use a little more explanation and logic behind the runs. I for one just....."ran." I ran a moderate pace that made me feel somewhat tired and stopped, or I ran hard, trying to complete, say, 2 miles as fast as I could. And if I were just trying to keep fit and burn calories, this would have been perfectly fine. But I'm also interested in competition and decreasing my times and for that I've found structured runs in which each run had a specific purpose to be indispensable. So here's my list of the types of runs with my comments on them.

Interval Run
This is to increase your VO2max and your "speed." I think of it as a top speed increaser for long distance running (yes, this is a way over simplification). Usually what it consists of is running a set distance at a very fast pace and taking a "rest interval" of a set amount of time and then "repeating" the distance again at the same set pace. For example, say you ran your last 5K race in 23:00 minutes flat. Then "6x800 repeats" for you may mean you run 800 meters in 3:11 (the time should be at least your 5K pace, preferably faster). Then you rest or jog for the amount of time it would normally take you to run one lap, say about 90 seconds. Then you "repeat" another 800 meters in 3:11 and rest again for a total of 6 times. The key is to try to keep your 800 meter run at the same 3:11 (or whatever time) pace. You'll feel it in the later laps and that's where you're getting faster. This workout is usually only done once a week and you should feel pooped at the end.

Intervals are almost always done on a track. One lap = 400m = about a quarter mile. Bring  a watch.

Tempo Run
This is to increase your lactate threshold and improve your ability to maintain your race pace. This is done by running at near 5K  pace for a moderate distance, say 3-5 miles. Say you're that same 23:00 5K racer from above and now you want to run a half-marathon. Your 5K pace would be a 7:24/mile. For a tempo run you'd run 3-5 miles at around a 7:45 - 8:15ish/mile pace. This type of workout will help your muscles to hold a 7:24/mile pace easily on race day. A Gps Watch that can give you your current pace is pretty useful for this kind of run. This workout is usually done once or twice a week.

Long Run
This is to build plain endurance for your slow-twitch/intermediate fast-twitch muscles and raising aerobic metabolism. For distance running ("distance running" usually refers to races over say, 800 meters. Middle distance being from around 800m to 3K and long distance from 5K and up), this is usually the core workout for all long distance races (though I personally see the interval and tempo run workouts as the core of the 5K race, but I'm a newb and have never won a race so whatdoIknow). It is usually done by running at about 20-40 seconds slower than your race pace for a long distance. If your expected goal is a half-marathon at 8:00/mile, then your long run is run at about 8:20-40ish/mile pace. Normally you build up the miles until your long run is above your race distance. So maybe you'll peak at around 14-15 miles if you're training for a half-marathon. This workout is usually done once or twice a week. At the end of the workout your muscles should not be in pain like in a tempo run. Out of breath, sure.

Easy Run/Recovery Run
This one really weirded me out as a beginner. The idea is that after a hard workout, say a crazy interval session, the next day you run again, only super slow in order to bring blood back to your running muscles to quicken recovery. How slow? At least 2 minutes slower than your 5K pace. Say your 5K race pace is 7:30/mile. Then your easy pace is at least 9:30. If you run faster than this you are just doing a medium run, which I've found to not be productive when training for races. Me, personally, I can't run that slow. It screws with my mind and my form. I never do easy runs but it is considered a staple. I prefer to simply not work out my legs the day after a hard workout.

It's like a running version of this.

Fartlek
This is some Swedish word for "speed play." Its just a glorified way of what I see as "messing around." You ditch the GPS watch or any watch all together. You run at some moderate or slow pace, pass a stop sign, race fast to that bus stop down the block, slow down to a moderate pace as you pass by the blonde Swedish girl, race up the hill to that corner store, etc....Your fast sections might be based on distance, say around 200 meters. They might be based on time, say 30 seconds, its up to you. How hard should you run? "Kind of hard, but not too hard." No pace target and you make the distances up as you go along. It builds strength and speed, but I don't usually see it as an endurance thing. Also, it's fun.

This is what good fartlek running form looks like.

Strides
Not a workout per se. But it refers to really fast portions in the middle of a workout or the "finishing kick" at the end of a workout where you run really hard to squeeze out the last bit. Usually you'll be doing say, a long run and at the end you speed up to near sprint speed and end it after 60-120 meters or so. It's also often done in the middle of a workout, say your long runs. One of the advantages I see for this over a track sprint is that your knees don't explode from the sudden acceleration of a true sprint. You also don't run as fast as a sprint which also saves your knees.


I'll add more in a later entry. But I personally see these as the key runs. The FIRST program highlighted in this book I use sees the interval, the tempo run and the long run as the key runs you have to focus on in order to decrease your race times. The others can be left out if you adhere strongly to the rest of the program.