If you live near a running track, you can add some variety to your workouts by using it.

I live just over a mile from a high school track and 4 miles from the U of O track. Both offer great opportunities for workouts apart from the usual distance runs. When I’m looking for a track workout, I’ll usually run to it, do some intervals, then run back home for a complete workout.

What’s nice about the nearby high school track is that it’s usually not very crowded – only a few other runners or walkers at any given time.

Here are a few pointers for running on the track:

• If you’re using lane 1 for your workout, move over to the next lane when faster runners come up on you, especially during a cooldown portion of your speedwork.
• During recovery after the faster runs, keep moving instead of stopping altogether. It’s better for the heart to gradually elevate and slow the heart rate.
• Typically you’ll run counterclockwise on the track, but you can mix it up and go the other way. Watch carefully for others if you do!
• Wear spikes occasionally if you have them – this is the place to use them. Expect a little soreness after using them if you’re not used to it.

Challenge yourself to run a fast lap, recover, then beat that time on the next fast lap. Just completing these faster runs improves your overall conditioning and fitness level, adding endurance to your longer runs.

Are you gearing up for a 5K or 10K race? These are popular race distances to run since they are short and fast. And because the pace is going to be faster than that marathon you’ve been thinking about, it’s important to get some speedwork in your workouts.

Speedwork is important to add in to your workouts to increase your endurance and pace for that upcoming race. I like running to a local track on some workouts, which for me is less than 2 miles away. Once I’m on the track, I’ll run a small combination of 200s and 400s, then run back home.

If you don’t have access to a track, you can get the same benefit with different variations of speedwork. You can pick a starting point on your run, then pick up the pace for the next couple of minutes, then slow down again for a recovery. A variation of this would be to run faster up to certain location and commit yourself to that point without slowing down. If you’re able to time this split, then check it against the next time you run this same workout for comparison.