As the seasons change, your running routine may be in need of a change as well. The transition from summer to fall running is often a welcome one for most of us, ushering in cooler temperatures and lower humidity. But all those summer miles trudging away in the heat may have left your body tired and your confidence frayed. Try these five speed workouts to re-energize and refresh your running routine.

Before you start to incorporate speed work into your training, be sure you have a solid running base. You should consistently be able to run 20 to 30 miles per week, always adding mileage and intensity slowly to avoid injury. Read this speed work 101 article and five reminders to safely start speed work before you try any of these workouts. Speed workouts like the ones shared here should never be done more than once per week.

To determine how fast you should run these workouts unless otherwise specified below, learn how to calculate your speed work paces here.

1. 4 x 1-mile cutdowns

After an easy 1-2 mile warm-up followed by dynamic stretching, run 4 x 1-mile repeats based on your goal race pace:

• Mile repeat #1: 15 seconds faster than goal race pace
• 5-minute recovery jog
• Mile repeat #2: 5 seconds faster than goal race pace
• 5-minute recovery jog
• Mile repeat #3: 5 seconds slower than your goal race pace
• 5-minute recovery jog
• Mile repeat #4: Blast your last mile, giving a hard, all-out effort

Cool down with 1-2 easy miles followed by stretching.

2. 5 x 800 meters

Start by warming up with an easy mile followed by dynamic stretching.

Next, run 5 x 800-meter repeats with a 400-meter recovery jog between each. Aim to run each 800 5 to 10 seconds faster than the previous repeat.

Cool down with 1-2 easy miles followed by stretching.

3. Sets of 200s

Start by warming up with an easy 1 to 2 miles followed by dynamic stretching.

Next, run 4 sets of 4 x 200 with 30 seconds of recovery between each 200 and three minutes of recovery between sets.

Each set of 200s should be run one second faster per 200 than the previous set.

Cool down with 1-2 easy miles followed by stretching.

4. Alternating Goal Pace 400s

Start by warming up with an easy 1 to 2 miles followed by dynamic stretching.

Run 6 to 8 400-meter repeats, alternating each rep between goal marathon pace and 5K pace or faster. Jog easy for 60 seconds after your marathon pace intervals and 90 seconds after your 5K or faster intervals.

Cool down with 1-2 easy miles followed by stretching.

5. 6-mile pace run

Start with one easy warm-up mile.

Alternate the next six miles as follows. Hard pace would be your mile repeat pace (see how to predict that pace here). Medium pace may be tempo pace and easy would be one to two minutes slower than your race pace (a pace where you feel comfortable and can talk).

• Mile 1: Hard
• Mile 2: Easy
• Mile 3: Medium
• Mile 4: Hard
• Mile 5: Easy
• Mile 6: Medium

Cool down with 1 easy mile followed by stretching.

This post was inspired by my long-time partnership with Brooks Running.

What workouts do you incorporate into your training to refresh your routine? What are your favorite speed workouts?