3 x (5 x 300m)

Designed for 10K runners

Intensity

300s at 1500m speed, or better

Recovery

100m walking between reps
Full Recovery between sets, 3 - 6 minutes

Exertion

7/10

Periodization

Performance Period

Context & Details

People, runners included, tend to know what they want but don’t know how to get it.

Six-pack abs, a faster 10K time, more money in the bank, etc.

What’s worse than not knowing how to get what you want is thinking you can get something difficult with little to no effort.

One example is running a lot of slow miles to run fast or the LSD (Long Slow Distance) high mileage running. I always scratch my at this approach — it doesn’t make much sense and violates the SAID principle. But people have an obsession with big numbers — the bigger is better bias.

The reality is: bigger is bigger and better is better. It depends on the context when bigger is better, and when’s it not. But almost always, better is better — and highly desirable.

Getting better is a shared principle of all coaches and athletes. It’s the reason we practice, make training plans, and do the work.

Every sport measures and assesses the Get Better Principle differently.

In running, the Get Better Principle is clear: Run faster, for longer.

When racing the Get Better Principle is expanded: Run faster, for longer than you or your competition wants.

Clear (and correct) principles allow accurate assessment and measurement of decisions, actions, and behaviors.

Using the Get Better Principle of Run faster, for longer clarifies what to do in training. Both qualifiers (Run Faster and For Longer) must be valid for the training activity to help the runner get better.

Does more slow running for long periods teach runners how to run faster? No.

Red Light. Stop right there. You have your answer. There’s no need to add more slow running to the training calendar.

Do full sprint 100s teach runners how to run faster? Yes. Does it help them run faster, for longer? No.

Yellow Light. Proceed with caution. Add some full sprint 100s, but don’t make it the focus of training.

Will repeat 300s at 1500m teach runners how to run faster? Yes.

Does structuring it as 3 x (5 x 300m) — about 3 miles total faster running — help them run faster, for longer? Yes.

Green Light. All systems go. This workout obeys the Get Better Principle of Run faster, for longer, and should be a priority training session.

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Today’s session of 3 x (5 x 300m) is a speed endurance workout — where the speed of the reps is the first priority, and enduring that speed is the second priority.

Workout priorities are important because if things head sideways, you need to know what components can be compromised and cannot.

With these priorities here is how you could troubleshoot this session:

If at any time during the session a runner is failing to hit the desired speeds, first try shortening the rep length first — say to 200s with the same recovery periods. If that doesn’t work, try extending the recovery periods slightly (by +25% to +50% of the rep time), but not much more because doing so will comprise the endurance component. Finally, try cutting the number of reps is a set from 5 to 3.

Should none of that work. Abort the session. Call it a day. The athlete is clearly too fatigued for training.

In the Performance Period, you don’t want workouts to excessively fatigue runners. Training sessions should reinforce and maintain qualities built up in prior training periods.

If this workout was attempted in an earlier period, like the Foundational Period, I would ask: Why?

This workout is a power session, focusing on leg power (producing 1500m pace) and aerobic power (doing so on short recoveries).

The majority of workouts in the General and Foundational Periods should be capacity focused. Meaning, this session would be run at similar effort, but slower marks recorded (since fitness is building) for perhaps both shorter rep length on longer recovery intervals.

Capacity workloads are about building up technique and key qualities like strength, speed, and endurance.

In the Specific Period, the focus shift to advancing Power. Power workouts sharpen the ax — by harmonizing all the bodily systems, as well as the runner’s mind and spirit for performance.

In the Performance Period, competition is the focus. Training sessions simply ensure that on race day a runner is ready to successfully cut down their tree with many strong, fast swings, without let up, while using a very sharp ax.

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