20' - 20' - 20' Drill
20’ - 20’ - 20’ Drill
Designed for 13.1 runners
Intensity
20’ @ 26.2 pace, 20’ @ 13.1 pace, 20’ @ 15K pace
Recovery
n/a — continuous run
Exertion
8/10
Periodization
Performance Period
Context & Details
Half Marathon runners tend to have a long Performance Period. It’s not uncommon for a 13.1 runner to run 2 or 3 halves within a 6 -8 week period.
Half Marathons are a sweet spot for the brain and body from a demand standpoint. Physically, 13.1 miles is not as depleting as 26.2 miles of racing. Neurologically, halves are less stimulating than 5Ks or 10Ks. This makes this distance perhaps the easiest to hold “peak” for an extended period.
I love the 20’ - 20’ - 20’ Drill for distance runners. It’s a highly effective and manageable way to perform an hour of quality running. Other common names for this type of session are Progression Run or Momentum Run.
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Start with a quality, but manageable pace, and systemically quicken the tempo. I prefer 20’ chunks of time because it allows long-distance runners to “get in a groove” and practice a pace for a sustained timeframe before changing up their running tempo.
This workout is not designed to be difficult as the desired training effect is the retention of key biomotor and physiological qualities. One of the biggest mistakes runners and coaches make in the Performance Period is running too hard in workouts. Workouts in this period are designed to consolidate and retain fitness achieved in proceeding training periods — not further develop it.
One of the biggest reasons runners feel better in this period is because workloads have been eased, so their daily fatigue recedes. This gives runners the impression they are more fit when in reality they are just fit as they were in the Specific Period, but now substantially less fatigued. This is what the Two-Factor model — where fatigue suppresses the expression of fitness — explains.
Runners will feel good and want to go faster during Performance Period workouts. But the job of the coach at this stage is to hold them back in practice and keep them disciplined with their pace, energy, and recovery management.
Remember, what matters in the Performance Period is race day. Nothing else.
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3 Good Books on XC and Neurological training
Brain Training for Runners by Matt Fitzgerald
The Performance Cortex: How Neuroscience Is Redefining Athletic Genius by Zach Schonbrun
The Physiology of Training for High Performance by Duncan Macdougall & Digby Sale