Workout of the Day: 4 x 1,200m + 3 x 1 Mile
4 x 1,200m + 3 x 1 Mile
Intensity — 1200m @ 5K pace, 1 Mile cutdown from 15K on #1, 10K on #2, 5K on #3
Recovery — 3’ walk/jog after each rep
Exertion — 9/10
Context & Details
This workout was designed by coach Bill Dellinger of University of Oregon. I really like it, and I think it prepares a 10K runner well to meet the demands of their race.
With that said, it’s a demanding session. Make sure an intelligent period of recovery follows the running of it so a strong adaptation response can be realized from the stress this workout elicits.
Three miles of work at 5K already provides a strong stimulus, but the cutdown miles afford a manageable situation for practicing extension of 10K race-specific and faster speeds.
This session is best ran a few times in the early season before the important racing starts. It’s tough, but that is the point as it upgrades resistance to fatigue, vVO2 Max, running economy, aerobic power, and event-specific lactate threshold velocity.
The best way I’ve found to coach the session is to focus on external load (or hitting the pace) on the 1,200m reps and shift to internal load (effort) on the cutdown 1 Miles. The time on the 1 Mile reps in this session doesn’t matter, what’s key is the effort given. Encourage runners to run the first 1M at a moderate tempo, about 15K effort. Then a medium-hard tempo, 10K middle-of-race effort, on the 2nd 1M. And end with a “see what you got” or hard effort on the final mile.