3 x 1200m/600m Alternations

Designed for 5K runners

Intensity

1200s at 5K pace
600s at 13.1 pace

Recovery

n/a, continuous

Exertion

8/10

Periodization

Performance Period

Context & Details

In the (hard to find) book, Winning Running, by Bill Dellinger from 1978 outlines the process and annual workouts to progress from an average to national class runner in a few years time.

It’s a simple plan, but not easy.

Perhaps one of the biggest pitfalls of novice runners is mistaking simple for easy.

Easy running is great for anyone brand new to regular running. It’s well known that novices respond to very low loads of intensities and volume. However, after about 6 - 8 weeks of consistent running, the novice adapts and their responsiveness to easy running wears off.

Once a runner becomes fit enough to “go the distance,” most want to run the distance faster.

The path many choose is to add more slow miles to their training. The logic seems to be, “if I run more I’ve have better endurance and will (magically) run faster.” This can be true, but, for the most part, it’s not.

Here’s why:

If a runner, runs more and eats less, they will create a caloric deficit and lose weight. If this happens, they will run faster because they are applying the same amount of force every step as before, but moving less mass. It’s basic physics. So running more slow miles (cutting calorie intake) can work, up to a point, as it’s not a sustainable path.

Eventually, the caloric deficit body runs out of excess tissue to tap for energy and starts cannibalizing muscle.

When your body eats it own muscle mass your rate of force (RFD) goes down. Less force is applied per step, so you run slower. This is why Masters runners logging the same mileage as a 20something runner runs slower: the 40+ is losing muscle mass every year, while the 20something is developing muscle mass. Which makes the effect of each training mile for the 20something and Master runner not apples to apples, but fresh apples to rotting oranges. And it’s one reason why runners (or anyone) over 35 should do resistance training regularly — it slows down muscular atrophy associated with aging.

So, what does “having better endurance” mean?

Endurance is simply defined as fatigue resistance. That’s it.

By running more miles in training, the runner gets better endurance, but that endurance is force (or pace) specific. People who want to run faster on race day seek speed-endurance, or fatigue resistance, at a given pace.

The 80/20 rule doesn’t really apply here, even though lots of people like to think it does. Instead, the relationship is more direct: more fast running, as frequent as possible, results in being able to run faster, for longer. Pace is product of Rate of Force Development, and force is the product of magnitude of muscular action initiated and orchestrated by electoral processes in the nervous system. In the words, force is a neural motor skill, and skills get better with practice.

The more you practice a skill, like running 6:00/mile pace, the better you get at that specific skill. 8:00/mile pace is a different skill, with a different force output signature, so a lot of practice at that pace won’t transfer well to a more highly coordinated and higher force output skill like running 6:00/mile pace.

Many object to this stance on training citing claims like: you’ll get injured, overtrained, brunt out, blah, blah, blah. But the human organism is highly adaptable, even under harsh conditions. It’s why people can eat a wide variance of natural foods and food products (and live!), reside in all sorts of inhospitable climates, and have endured torture, slavery, and disease since the beginning of time.

Humans, as species, are very robust and Anitfragile. But our thoughts and biases can weaken us.

Other says running fast, often violates the much loved “Hard/Easy” principle.

But many tend to bastardize the “Hard/Easy” approach. Really, “easy” originally meant “less hard.” Rewritten as “Hard/Less Hard” the secrets to running fast are suddenly revealed. It wasn’t meant to be a cut and dry principle, just a compass. Sometimes run hard, other times less hard. The hard varies, as does the less hard.

Which is what Dellinger outlines in Winning Running and why Renato Canova’s training philosophy is so successful. They both understand the “Hard/Less Hard” principle and how to effectively apply it.

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3 x 1200m/600m is a text book alternation workout. These types of session where staples when Dellinger was coaching Prefontaine, Salazar, Chapa, and the Ducks. It’s one reason why his 1970s UO runners seemed to be on another level.

Dellinger calls this “5,000m Drill #6,” as it is the 6th iteration in a progression of alteration workouts 12 laps long. It should be undertaken when the runner is near peak form, as in the Performance Period.

Again this such a simple workout, but very difficult. Physiologically speaking it’s pretty close to running a 5,000m race — without the finishing burst.

It could also be a good test effort for a 5K runner about a month out from their target race. The feedback gained by performing this drill could build confidence if it goes well, or shine a light on preparation gaps with enough time to address them.

Any questions? Direct Message me on twitter.
Thx. | jm

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3 Good Books on 5,000m and Road Race training

The Science of Running by Steve Magness
The Five and Ten Men by Richard Amery
Faster Road Racing by Pete Pfitzinger