Lindsay:
All the responses above have been correct. Speed is a much more complex subject than aerobic capacity. To boost AeT there is literally only one way: A high volume of low intensity training. Boom, that’s it. Open and shut case. Speed is a complex combination of many factors. For sprinting speed one needs to develop maximum power and tempo. It is a simple concept but there are many ways to do these things and improvement is hard to achieve. But, we’re not interested too much in sprinting speed, other watching Usain Bolt that is.
We are interested in sustained speed. What you need for sustaining speed depends heavily on the duration it needs to be sustained. Leaving aside short durations under 1-2 minutes we move into the most complex realm both from the physiology and training methodology standpoint. It is the most challenging and interesting for coaches because it takes an appropriate mix of multipole qualities.
Let me try to build a conceptual pyramid to illustrate how to develop speed for endurance events. In an idea world you would want to develop each of these levels to its maximum extent before laying on the next level. In reality that never works but using a periodized approach will help this process.
At the bottom and supporting ALL the comes after it is strength: the ability to effectively generate propulsive force. This is primarily a neurological effect. The ability of your motor cortex to be able to recruit the maximum number of appropriate motor units in the right sequence to apply this propulsive force. Sport specific exercises will accomplish this best. In our world that means mostly single leg stuff that you are familiar with. There are many variations of single exercises and we just show a few in the books. Keep in mind that specificity is key. We use the max strength protocols that you are familiar with to teach the brain to do this.
Next level up is power: a mix is strength and speed. Power is even more complex to train because it involves speed. So, specificity is even more important here. We find Hill Sprints to be the most effect method for developing propulsive power for all mountain athletes. Most endurance, especially ultra endurance (all our sports) athletes can stand to improve sport specific power.
Then comes Speed Endurance. This is a concept used in many traditional sports to indicate extending the event specific speed as long as necessary. As you can see this depends on the event you are training for. For most of the events we deal with that last hours and hours, event specific speed IS the aerobic threshold speed. Hence our over the top efforts to help people improve AeT. However, it does not hurt one to have what is called a speed reserve and that’s why a small portion of the training for even very long events should be conducted at speeds greater than event specific speed. This is the Z3/4 you’ve read about. The ME work is intended to improve your ability to sustain whatever speed you develop.
Well, that’s a beginning anyway on speed and speed development. Have you done your base strength work? Have you added on Hill Sprints? If not I’d suggest doing those first then add in ME then Z3-4 training.
Scott
