SKATE TIP OF THE WEEK
Inline secrets from the world's top skaters and coaches

This week's tip:

Interval Training for Inline Skaters

By Barry Publow
 

Competing in a marathon is a lot like competing in a 10K. The pace changes often with periods of relaxed skating punctuated by hard surges as skaters chase breakaways or go on fliers of their own.

To be successful under these conditions, you need three things: endurance, acceleration, and the ability to recover.

Endurance will get you to the finish line; acceleration will allow you to keep up with surges in the pack; and the ability to recover will allow you to get the rest you need between surges.

One of the best tools for developing these skills is interval training.

Here are two interval workouts especially designed to prepare skaters for marathons:

Workout No. 1

• warm up: 5 minutes at a constant pace, then 5 minutes progressing to race pace in the final minute.
• 4 reps of 5 minutes at 80-85 percent effort with 3 minutes active recovery (very slow skating) between each.
• rest - 8 minutes
• 2 fartleks (variable speed interval) of 10 minutes each with 2-3 minutes rest.
• rest - 3 minutes
• 5 100m sprints with 90 seconds rest between them
• cooldown: 10 minutes

Workout No. 2

• warm up: 5 minutes at a constant pace, then 5 minutes progressing to race pace in the final minute.
• 2 minutes on at 90 perent effort, followed immediately by 1 minute off at 60 percent effort. Repeat 6-8 times (6 ons and 6 offs).
• rest - 5 minutes
• 3 minutes on at 80-85 percent effort, followed immediately by 1 minute off at 60 percent effort. Repeat 4-6 times.
• cooldown: 10 minutes

Interval training is one part of a good marathon training program. Other important parts are seasonal planning and periodization (doing the right thing at the right time of year).

Skaters should gradually increase their training load over the weeks and months leading up to a race. Then, in the final one or two weeks before a big race, reduce their training load.

(Excerpted from Barry Publow's Marathon Training Guide. Copyright - Barry Publow)

---

Barry Publow is an international roller speed skating coach and the author of Speed on Skates and the Science of Speed ebook. A former competitive speed skater, he is a university-trained exercise physiologist who specializes in sport-specific technique, biomechanics and training applications. He lives in Ottawa.

• Barry's Breakaway Skate web site

Related reading:

• Skate Tip of the Week Archive
• Beginners Guide to Outdoor Racing
• Beginners Guide to Inline Skating