SPEED-TYPE AND ENDURANCE-TYPE RUNNERS

Speed-type distance runners, who have a generous amount of fast-twitch A muscle fibers, may benefit more from a high volume of interval training to improve endurance compared to endurance-type runners. Running many weekly miles at a low intensity doesn’t do as much for speed-type runners. Endurance-type distance runners, on the other hand, get a lot from running many weekly miles at a low intensity, because the slow-twitch muscle fibers love that kind of work. When planning your training volume and intensity, always remember to train to your strengths.

For example, if both a speed-type runner (miler) and an endurance-type runner (marathoner) train for the same race, the speed-type runner should run shorter reps of interval workouts, increasing the distance as training progresses, such as 800-meter reps at VO₂max pace, increasing distance to 1,200 meters. The endurance-type runner should run longer reps of interval workouts, increasing the speed as training progresses, such as 1,200-meter reps at 5K race pace, increasing speed to VO₂max pace.

Alternatively, the speed-type runner may run more, shorter reps at VO₂max pace, while the endurance-type runner may run fewer, longer reps at VO₂max pace, with the total distance of the workout (or time spent at VO₂max pace) the same for both runners. Thus, there are two paths (types of runners) to meet at the same point.   

From the time I started running track as a sprinter when I was a kid, I have always been more of a speed-type runner, with muscular legs suited more for speed than endurance. I am also a speed-type runner psychologically — I have an intense personality, which is more aligned with short, high-intensity races and workouts.

Know who you are, both physiologically and psychologically, and train and race in line with who you are.