Week 5

QUALITY

20 MIN STEADY RUN

Steady runs are a unique type of run. Typically called “threshold” runs or “tempo” runs in other training systems, I consider Steady runs to be in it’s on category. It is an extended run (20 minutes in this case) run at a “comfortably hard” pace: hard enough to feel like you are doing work & that you could not extend the effort indefinitely, yet easy enough to feel comfortable for the first 10-15 minutes. The challenge of the run is the final 5 minutes & staying concentrated throughout the entire 20 min time frame.  Or most of you, this will be a challenging session, not necessarily because it is a hard workout (you control the pace & the effort, after all) but because of the duration of the work & the need to stay concentrated & in the mental zone. 

Be positive. Stay relaxed. Try to find a flow. If the comfortably hard goes to just plain hard, slow down a little bit. Find the groove, find the rhythm & flow. 

Warm-up is just 10 min & cooldown can be 5-15 minutes, as you feel. The focus this week is on the 20 min Steady run. 

This session should be done on the roads. 

SPEED ECONOMY

4 x 100m BUILDS w/ easy 300m jog

A “build” is just another way to run a stride. The focus on this kind of stride is getting fast throughout the whole 100m distance. So you start off easy & quickly begin to ratchet up the speed as you progress through the stride. Building...building...building...building...until you get to about 90% of full/all-out effort. Keep your face, neck & shoulders relaxed. 
Take a full 300m easy jog. This is a great session to do on the track but it can be done on the roads. If you are stuck on a treadmill, skip the Speed Economy this week. 

LONG RUN

30-40 MPW: 8 MILES

40-50 MPW: 8-10 MILES

50-60 MPW: 10-12 MILES

FUNDAMENTAL TOPIC: HARD RUNNING

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