Track Workouts | Tips From Ultrarunner Hayden Hawks – runnersworld.com

Despite being a relative newcomer to the ultra scene, Hayden Hawks has quickly established himself as one of the fastest long-distance runners in the world. In just two years of racing, he’s already won some of the hardest and most competitive ultramarathons, including Broken Arrow, Lavaredo, UTMB CCC, and Speedgoat, as well as setting the fastest known time on the Zion Traverse.

Fresh off a sixth place finish at the World Mountain Running Championships in Patagonia, we sat down with Hawks to learn a bit more about his training mindset and regime. While he excels at 50K and 100K races, his career started with much shorter distances on the track—and frankly, it never fully left. Hawks does many of his hardest workouts with intervals on track ovals. He credits these workouts to some of his biggest wins.

With college PR’s of 13:51 in the 5K and 28:53 in the 10K, Hawks won All-American honors as one of the fastest track runners in the country. Despite transitioning to trails and ultimately to much longer distances, Hawks still runs multiple workouts each week on a track, an anomaly compared to some of his closest competitors. We spoke about why he sticks with fast ovals and what we all can learn from it.

Runner’s World: Why should distance runners invest in track workouts? When you’re racing 50 miles, why worry about 400-meter splits?

Hayden Hawks: Track workouts are one of the best ways to become a more efficient runner. Speedwork helps build running economy, which is the amount of energy that your body demands at certain speeds. If I am able to teach my body to use less energy at faster paces by doing speedwork, think about how much energy I can save when I run a much slower 50-mile race pace. Learning how to become efficient at all paces is very important for ultrarunning, even faster paces. It gives you an extra tool in your toolbox to be able to use when things get tough.

How fast do your intervals need to be to build this economy?

It doesn’t take as much as you’d think. When I train, I’m certainly not going all out each lap, or almost ever. I’m simply doing enough speed to build my running economy and lactate threshold, which in turn, can and will be used in longer races and climbs. I am a better runner because I do this, and I think it’d help a lot of others, too.

What workouts are the most beneficial to boost performance?

I love doing a combination of workouts in one session, to mimic an upcoming race. One of my favorites is five 1K repeats fast, followed by three 15-minute steady state tempo intervals, finished off with some fast hill sprints. This can be modified to mimic any ultramarathons, helping teach your body to work through the race and its varied profile. It helps me be strong on the flats as well as the climbs.

For someone new to training on a track, what’s a good workout to get started?

The best way to get started with speed is simply to do strides. I do a lot of these myself and encourage my athletes [Hayden runs a personal coaching business called ] to start with these. Strides are a simple way to build speed and running economy, and can be done after a run in a short time frame. A stride can be anywhere from 100 to 300 meters long and starts off at a moderate pace. And by the end, you should be at a near all- out sprint. Picking up the pace slowly throughout is the crucial part. I’d suggest that new runners start off with three to four strides after your run and overtime build up to 10 with a short 30 second rest in between each. I love doing strides a couple times each week. They are easy to put into any workout and sometimes this is all it takes to build a little speed.

Andy Cochrane

As winter nears, many runners head indoors. What are your thoughts on treadmill workouts?

Treadmill running is amazing training, too. Treadmill training helps with mental toughness, is softer on the joints and easier on the body, and makes you run without stopping. I love using the treadmill to build my speed during the winter, and it is safer than going out and taking a hard spill on the icy streets. Timed intervals I feel are easier to do on the treadmill, too. Doing intervals for a handful of minutes at a faster pace with an easy one to three minute rest in between each can be very beneficial, and this is easy to time with a treadmill. I have many athletes that come off of treadmill winter training fitter than ever with a rested body and speed.

What are some tips for running on a treadmill?

Try a progression type of run. Start off at a slower pace and slowly get faster and faster over the course of the run. This will help you be able to hold faster paces, build the above- mentioned running economy, and makes running on the treadmill more fun and go by quicker. Throw on a show, listen to some music, and embrace treadmill running with a positive attitude, and I promise you will see fitness gains.

When you’re training, how do you balance speed work with climbs, tempos, and long runs?

During a training block I’ll try to mix of all of these in the same week. Unlike a lot of people, I never take speedwork out of my training. When I don’t do speedwork, I see a significant drop in my performances and how I feel on everyday runs. A typical week will have at least two speed sessions and sometimes up to four depending on what I am training for. None of them are too long—workouts like strides and hill sprints are considered speedwork. I find it helps to really study your race and get to know what you need to do to be training for.