speed work question

[speedyg]

I know (or think I do) ideally you'd do most speed work on the track in spikes. Curious to see if some of the older runners do some of your flys or sprints on grass to save your bodies (for instance, if you have 3 high intensity days, do 1 day of accel in grass, 1 day of speed on track, then another day of speed or SE on grass)? If you did, did you see any affect on your times?

[mortac8]

If the grass surface is excellent, I'd say use it when you feel necessary for speed work. I assume you always do your tempo work on grass, right?

That being said, if the grass surface isn't great, you won't be able to hit the speeds you would hit on the track. I've tried to put injury prone girls on the grass to do SE and their times were horrible (surface wasn't the best). Maybe you could try 2 high intensity days on the track and the rest low intensity on the grass.

[John]

I know (or think I do) ideally you'd do most speed work on the track in spikes. Curious to see if some of the older runners do some of your flys or sprints on grass to save your bodies (for instance, if you have 3 high intensity days, do 1 day of accel in grass, 1 day of speed on track, then another day of speed or SE on grass)? If you did, did you see any affect on your times?

Wherever possible I train on grass and sometimes even wear trainers on the track depending on the session eg 3 x 4x150m with jog recovery between reps.
That said I need to train at the synthetic track at this time of the year (late autumn) whereas over summer I will use a grasss track as much as possible except for races.

[TJ2K]

I know (or think I do) ideally you'd do most speed work on the track in spikes. Curious to see if some of the older runners do some of your flys or sprints on grass to save your bodies (for instance, if you have 3 high intensity days, do 1 day of accel in grass, 1 day of speed on track, then another day of speed or SE on grass)? If you did, did you see any affect on your times?

we arent allowed to use spikes in practice until outdoor season starts.
this is for university training.
if we do use them its once a week basis. we use flats the rest of the time to save our shins from stress fractures.

[Charlie Francis]

If the grass surface is excellent, I'd say use it when you feel necessary for speed work. I assume you always do your tempo work on grass, right?

That being said, if the grass surface isn't great, you won't be able to hit the speeds you would hit on the track. I've tried to put injury prone girls on the grass to do SE and their times were horrible (surface wasn't the best). Maybe you could try 2 high intensity days on the track and the rest low intensity on the grass.

If the grass surface quality is less than ideal, you might try to find a very slight uphill grade. This allows acceleration technique to be perfected at a slightly sub-max pace.

[sonicboom]

I wish I knew what a grass track even looked like.
I just can't imagine 8 oval lanes of kentucky blue grass.
I will be moving accel work to the hills on grass next year.
Can accel work be accomplished in comp season also?

[Charlie Francis]

I wish I knew what a grass track even looked like.
I just can't imagine 8 oval lanes of kentucky blue grass.
I will be moving accel work to the hills on grass next year.
Can accel work be accomplished in comp season also?

Let's not push it! You should be happy if you get a smooth strip!
You can do early comp season work on grass.

[sprintman]

Golf courses work well if can get on and off before the grounds keepers find you there.