5 x 1200m + 3 Miles Steady

5 x 1200m + 3 Miles Steady

Designed for 13.1 runners

Intensity

  • 1200m at 5K pace

  • 3 Miles Steady at 13.1 pace

Recovery

  • 3 minutes between each 1200m rep, and before the 3 Miles Steady

Exertion

  • 8/10

Periodization

  • Performance Period

Context & Details

First things first, does this workout obey the Get Better Principle: Run Faster, for Longer.

Repeat 1200s at 5K pace — faster, check.

Three Miles steady at 1/2 Marathon goal pace — longer, check.

This session is a blend, or complex, workout, since several qualities are being stressed. These are: vVO₂ Max, running economy, velocity at lactate threshold, fatigue resistance, and event-specific strength.

Let’s focus on event-specific strength.

Strength is simple — it’s the capacity to exert force at any give velocity.

Strength is sometimes confused with power, perhaps because there is a direct mathematical relationship between the two: Power = Force x Velocity.

More power is produced when a system increases both force and velocity.

Think sprinters.

Every step in a race sprinters exert high levels of force, quickly. Faster sprinters have high force moments, with shorter ground contact times. When the foot is on the ground it’s static. This is why when the foot of a runner touches down onto the ground it’s considered a breaking moment. The foot has stopped moving. The longer the foot stays on the ground the less powerful, and fast, a runner will be no matter how much force is produced or how well developed their aerobic system.

Faster runners have shorter ground contact periods, meaning they lightly touch on the breaks every step. Slower runners have longer contact periods, meaning they hit the e-brake every step.

This is why regular sprinting is so important for distance runners — it teaches them how to navigate high force moments, quickly. And is why I think runners should do some form of sprinting every day.

But I digress. Back to strength.

Many think of Strength as associated with slow speeds, but that’s incorrect. Strength is the capacity to exert force at any given velocity. What matters is the ability to exert high force at velocities characteristic of the athlete’s sport.

Running at, or slightly faster than race pace, is excellent event-specific strength training. Transfer is high as it’s skill specific, plus desirable metabolic adaptions occur in cell membranes as well. A lot of good things happen when runners run faster, for longer.

If you want to get better results by learning more about Event-Specific Strength training methods, Join the Running Scholar Program for only $29 and get unlimited access to tons of training logs and courses that show how to successfully implement Event-Specific Strength training into your training.

This workout is best performed after an accumulation of general strength in the General and Foundational Periods of training. Performing this type of work before a runner’s strength capacity is well developed will result in lower force output, longer ground contact times, slower overall speeds, and much high oxygen consumption — meaning a much higher/harder effort.

It’s well known athletes lose a degree of strength during competitive periods.

Producing a lot of force quickly (read: Power) is taxing both on nervous and physiological systems. Since performance is the focus, less force exertion (read: Strength) training is performed because of the high neural and metabolic costs. So athletes taper, or rest, by performing less strenuous workloads in practice during peak competitive periods. Saving “it” for race day.

It’s a trade-off.

Some strength is lost due to lack of skill rehearsal and conditioning, but fatigue levels remain low. Which is what affords athletes to maximize their output on race day.

Complex sessions, like today’s workout, allow well-condition runners in race mode to maintain a degree of event-specific strength without a lot of fatigue build-up.

The primary goal of the workout is retain strength and performance qualities between races, it’s ideally place 7 - 10 days before and/or after a race.

This is a “Retain, not strain” workout. All reps should be of high quality. Rest is near full on each rep. The runner should finish feeling upbeat and in good spirits, not depleted and exhausted.

Alterations, if needed, could include shorten the 5K pace rep length to as short as 800m or breaking up the 3M steady into 1M reps on short (45” - 90”) recoveries. These revisions still allow the desired training reactions and effects to take place without beating up a runner who might be having an off-day during the workout.

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

Get Better Results with The Running Scholar Program.

LEVEL UP | BECOME A SCHOLAR now

Get Better Results by joining The Running Scholar Program — the World’s #1 Resource on the Current Science, Best Practices, and History of Distance Running Training & Performance.

3 Good Books on Half Marathon training

  1. The Science of Running by Steve Magness

  2. Running Science by Owen Anderson

  3. Block Periodization by Vladimir Issurin


Specific Period, 13.1 WorkoutsJonathan J. Marcus