2 Mile, 1 Mile + 2 x (6 x 400m)
2 Mile, 1 Mile + 2 x (6 x 400m)
Intensity — 2M @ 5K, 1M @ 3K, 1st set of 400s @ 1500m, 2nd set @ 800m speed
Recovery — 5 minutes after 2M & 1M, 60” between 1st set of 400s, 3’ between 2nd set of 400s. 5 minutes between sets.
Exertion — 9/10
Context & Details
This a difficult session. It should be reserved for the Specific Period of preparation for 5,000m runners.
As a reminder, in my periodization plan, the Specific Period is the final period of intense training where running workouts are long, hard, and complex (complex meaning a mixture of 3+ biomotor qualities and/or paces). To get to the Specific Period the runner has already put in 3 - 4 months of steady, progressive training. For a quick overview of my periodization plan check out the following two blog posts — How to Develop as a Great Coach: Have a Plan Part 1 and Part 2.
You’ll notice 4 different paces, or intensities present in this session: 5K, 3K, 1500m, and 800m paces. These are all Goal Paces, or the ideal race paces, the runner is targeting on race day.
What makes this session difficult is the demand of running faster speeds in the presence of increasing fatigue. Effective endurance training is a game of readying a runner to produce high forces in the face of fatigue. This is difficult because fatigue dampens force output. So fatigue resistance becomes an important performance variable to upgrade in the Specific Period — and that is what this workout targets, improving the runner’s resistance to fatigue.
The 2 Mile and 1 Mile rep, while hard, should be manageable for the adequately trained 5k runner.
The heart of this session is the six 400s at 1500m pace on short recoveries. This portion of the workout mimics very closely the sensations experienced on race day in the final mile of racing 5,000m.
If you watch most track 5Ks, the entire field is together through the first 3,000m - 2 Miles. Then within the next 90 seconds, big gaps start to form. It’s not that the leaders sped up, but that most of the pack “hit a wall” for the given pace — which is code for having inadequate fatigue resistance.
Overcompensation is the central aim of training. That is why the set of six 400s on short recoveries are performed at 1500m pace, not 5K pace. What we want is to create a strong signal to the organism to overcompensate and adapt to running much faster than is necessary when fatiguing. By practicing this the net effect on race day will be an increased ability to maintain 5K race pace as fatigue sets in, rather than being forced to slow down.
The final set of 400s at 800m pace are meant to serve as a situation specific speed-endurance stimulus. You’ll notice the recovery has been extended to 3 minutes. Here the aim is to rehearse and upgrades neuromuscular power in a fatigued state to ready the 5K runner for a strong final 600m - 400m kick. More rest is taken between 400s to allow more complete recovery so force output can be higher. However, since this final block of work is prefaced by 4.5 Miles of high quality running, the runner won’t be fully recovered by the time they perform this final set of quarters. They’ll be fatigued. Like in a 5K race. And asked to run 400m way faster than feels comfortable. Like in the last lap of a 5K race.
Difficult, complex sessions like this necessities the following 2 - 3 days be recovery in nature. In this workout, the intensity level and volume of intense effort are high. And training days in the Specific Period are highly modulated (a big training stimulus one day, followed by very light regenerative, active recovery days). It can be easy to get excited about big workouts, but don’t forget: rest and recovery are just as important as monster workouts because fitness increases only *after* an athlete recovers.
Work. Rest. Improve.