Workout of the Day

photo © kevmofoto.com

3 x (800m, 800m, 300m) + 4 x 150m

Splits: 

Set #1: 2:31.1, 2:31.2, 49.3
Set #2: 2:30.7, 2:31.2, 49.9
Set #3: 2:30.1, 2:24.8, 49.6
150m: 24.6, 24.3, 24.3, 24.1

Recovery: 400m jog in 3' after each rep and between sets. 2.5' rec after 150m reps.

Kristen Rohde — June 21st, 2014

Context & Details

Two-thousand fourteen was a landmark year for Kristen. She ran lifetime bests of 15:57 for 5,000m and 34:16 for 10,000m on the track, all the while working 40+ hour weeks as a physical therapist.  

This session was her final workout before the 10,000m at the USATF Outdoor Championships. It was placed 5 days before her race. 

The aim of the workout was to have her express 5K rhythm for the 800m reps and 800m pace for the 300m reps. Add in a handful of fast 150m reps and the session was a standard mixture of quality to prime/prepare her nervous system for the upcoming 25 laps of championship racing without exposing her to excess fatigue (thus the long recovery intervals between each rep).

When you are less than 10 - 14 days out before a competition, metabolically, a well trained athlete is in the fitness they're going to be in come race day. However, the neurophysiology can be impacted for better or ill depending on the stress of the work done in that timeframe. With that in mind, I tend to err on the side of long rest intervals in workouts to ensure the athlete gets a healthy restoration period before the next rep and avoid any recovery penalty from the session as a whole.

For me, the ultimate goal of the final session before race day is have them walk away from it feeling crisp, sharp, excited, and with a sense of readiness to compete as best they can in the championship competitive environment. Nothing more.

Any questions? I'm happy to answer. You can send me a Direct Message on Twitter or email me at jmarcus.hpw@gmail.com
Thx //  jm