Crazy 8s

Every now and then, there needs to be workout that's hard. In the running community, these are called: speed work, farklet, hill workout and tempo run. The idea is to increase leg turnover & get heart rate elevated.

Fitness can be measured by the volume of oxygen you can consume while exercising at your maximum capacity. VO2max is the maximum amount of oxygen in millilitres, one can use in one minute per kilogram of body weight. Those who are fit have higher VO2max values and can exercise more intensely than those who are not as well conditioned. Numerous studies show that you can increase your VO2max by working out at an intensity that raises your heart rate to between 65 and 85% of its maximum for at least 20 minutes three to five times a week.

One key to improved performances for distance runners is to get the body to tolerate increasing levels of lactic acid in the blood while running at a significantly faster pace than that of a steady state, aerobic conditioning run. Lactic acid is produced when we try to run a pace faster than the body can handle aerobically, usually faster than 80% of your MaxHeartRate. Anaerobic conditioning is sometimes called lactate threshold training. This type of training is done at a pace that is just under the point at which lactic acid is being produced at a faster rate than it can be removed from the bloodstream.

Another effective way of accomplishing the same objective is to do farklets. A farklet is a Swedish term that is loosely interpreted to mean "speed play." Crazy 8s are a variation of this age old workout.

In summary, running fast increases fitness. The way we learn to run fast is we.......run fast. Fast running makes fast runners. Speed begets speed.