Advanced Training Guide
Get the Most Out of Every Moment When Every Second Counts
Welcome! If you’re looking to run your best race ever or looking for ways to take your training to new levels by adding in speed work, then this is the place for you! This program will have you running 5 days a week, with the options for a 6th run as the program progresses. The schedule is set to have Friday and Sunday off (assuming Day 1 is a Monday), so work to carve out the time in your schedule now as well as start scouting locations like a visitor friendly track in your area and a longer stretch of running space with no stop lights or intersections for your tempo runs (parks with running courses typically work great for this). Good luck and remember to message us to let us know how you’re doing and if you have any questions!
Types of Runs for this Week: Easy Pace: Easy Pace is also often called “Conversational Pace” because you should still be able to hold a brief conversation with someone if they were running next to you. Note, we said a brief conversation. You should be able to squeeze out a few sentences here or there, not quote Shakespeare or filibuster the Senate. You also shouldn’t be gasping for breath. If you’re a heart rate monitoring kind of person, you should be around 60%. Pyramid Time Intervals: This week, this work out will be 15% of your total miles (if you run 40 miles a week, this will be a 6 mile workout). In those 6 miles, you will run 1 mile at easy pace to warm up and then get ready to start the fartlek (Swedish for “Speed Play,” feel free to drop this into casual conversation the next time you’re at Ikea). You will switch between periods of running fast and running at Easy Pace. You will run 10 seconds fast, 30 slow, 20 fast, 30 slow, 30 fast, 30 slow, 40 fast, 30 slow, 50 fast, 30 slow, and 60 seconds fast, then another 30 seconds slow. Now we start descending the pyramid so you’ll run 50 seconds fast, 30 slow, 40 fast, 30 slow, 30 fast, 30 slow, 20 fast, 30 slow, 10 fast, 30 slow. That’s one pyramid. You’re going to do this twice. Lucky you. Once you’ve finished your second time down the pyramid, hang out at Easy Pace for the remainder of your 6 miles and bring it on home. This workout will be annotated as: Pyramid Time Intervals: After Warm Up Complete: 2 Pyramids Start at :10, increase by :0 each interval until :60, decrease by :10 back to :10 Rest Intervals Set at :30 Your pace on intervals should be fairly intense, hovering around your 1-1.5 mile pace (about 85%-90% effort) Tempo Run: Tempo Runs are Speed + Distance workouts. They are the kind of workouts that fuse the two elements most important for success in distance running. This week's Tempo Run is 15% of total miles, meaning if you run 40 miles a week, you’ll have a 6 mile tempo run for the day. The first and last mile will be a warm up and cool down, respectively, which leaves us with a meaty middle of 4 miles that you’ll be running at your tempo pace, or about :30 slower than your 5K pace. Intensity for this run will be around 75%. This can be one of the hardest runs in the bag of running workouts, so if you find your first go at it tough, don’t get discouraged. Feel free to back off the pace to around 1:00 slower than 5K pace and let your body find that speed as the program continues. Long Run: You just run for an extended period of time. Simple enough. These runs are at your Easy Pace but the distance is drawn out, meaning you’ll start out feeling fresh at your typical 60% effort, but may feel that effort ratchet up to 70% as your run continues even though your pace has remained constant the whole time. Get all Zen with these runs, try to relax, and just set your body into cruise control. Let your legs do what they want and just keep pushing forward. Day 1 15% Easy Pace Day 2 15% Pyramid Time Intervals Day 3 20% Easy Pace Day 4 15% Tempo Run Day 5 Rest Day 6 35% Long Run (Easy Pace) Day 7 Rest With this schedule, I always liked going to the gym and doing general strength work on Day 1, Day 3, and Day 5, and leaving Day 7 as a “Do virtually no physical activity whatsoever” day. |
AuthorWill spent 7 years running competitively and 5 years as a personal trainer and running coach. CategoriesArchives |