Enter a distance and time you have recently run and you will be
given some suggested training paces.
Easy runs are for a few things. Running easy will increase blood
flow to your muscles, which will speed recovery. However, they still
have a lot of training benefit. They will improve your body's
ability to get oxygen to the muscles, as well as the ability of the
muscles to use the oxygen to fuel themselves. Improve these
variables and you will see dramatic drops in your race times.
Sample workouts: Simply get out and run. Do as many miles
as you can at an easy pace, making sure you don't sacrifice your
other workouts. Once a week, go for a long run at easy pace to 30
seconds slower. This will both increase aerobic capacity and your
body's ability to burn fat, another important variable in long
races.
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Threshold workouts are designed to increase your Lactate
Threshold. Lactate threshold is a variable in distance running
performance that is very trainable. With a lot of training, you can
make big improvements in your lactate threshold for years. Lactate
threshold can be a factor in races of 400 meters and up.
Sample workouts: The most simple workout would be to run
at your threshold pace for 20-30 minutes. You can also break up the
workout by doing mile or (my favorite) 2 mile repeats at threshold
pace with 1 minute recoveries between repeats. You can also go down
to 1000 meter repeats but recoveries should be shortened to 45
seconds or less if the repeats will take less than 5 minutes.
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VO2max is something that seems to be thrown all over running
circles, so what exactly is it? Well, it's your body's maximal
capacity to burn oxygen. In running circles, velocity at VO2max is
the key. How fast can you run when you are at your VO2max? The
faster you can run at this level, the faster you can go before your
body starts using much more expensive energy systems that can only
maintain exercise for a short time.
Sample workouts: Good VO2max workouts are built around
some general guidelines. Run for 2-5 minutes at your VO2max pace,
with your recovery being equal in time to, or slightly shorter than,
the hard portion. For most people, repeats of 800-1200 meters work
well. Hill repeats can also be very good VO2max workouts but run
these by effort, not pace. Some people like 400 meter repeats with
shorter recoveries.
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Speed workouts are all about raw speed. Consider this the icing
on the cake. If your top speed is higher, you should be able to run
faster at all effort levels. Unfortunately, you can not change your
top speed by very much. However, you can a little and every little
bit helps.
Sample workouts: The all time favorite for these workouts
would be 400 meter repeats. Also, consider 200 and 300 meter
repeats. On easy days, you could add a few 100-200 meter strides. I
would personally strongly suggest doing strides at least twice a
week almost throughout the season. When doing strides, just hit the
pace and focus on quick turnover and good form.
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