4 x 1.5 Mile Modulations
4 x 1.5 Mile Modulations
Intensity — 800m segments at 5K pace, 400m segments at 15K pace
Recovery — 400m easy jog as needed between 1.5M work blocks
Exertion — 8/10
Context & Details
This is a workout I often employ with my 10K - Half Marathon runners in early season training, specifically in the General and Foundational Periods of their training plan.
I think it’s a solid early-season workout for a couple of reasons:
Physiologically, modest modulation efforts increase Lactate Clearance rates. Being able to process large amounts of lactate as fuel, and not waste, is a key physiological variable which impacts race day performance for nearly all runners, especially long-distance runners (10K and longer events).
Psychologically, this session’s construction allows it to be performed fartlek style, if desired. This option gives the runner more freedom to auto-regulate their effort as they feel on the day. It could be performed on track, trail, roads, or a mixture. The freedom to go by effort and change up the environment as desired makes this session a favorite among runners I coach.
To realize the full cumulative training effects of this workout my distance runners repeat it about 8 - 10 times in a 6 to 8 week period. Sometimes they’ll do this session twice in a training week.
The 5K pace segment is run at Date Pace effort and the 15K pace effort at Date Pace for 15K.
Like Canova, I care about the internal load, not external load, early in the training plan. During the General and Foundational Periods what matters is the degree of effort or perceived difficulty the runner endures on each workout. The pace recorded by the stopwatch is an afterthought.
This focus changes as we transition to the Transformational and Specific Period of the training plan. In these final training periods, the emphasis switches: now runners needs to “learn their race pace” so training is focused on running specific paces, regardless of how easy or hard it feels.
I’ve found taking this internal to external approach helps runners get more fit early on and with less worry
By deemphasizing the paces in favor of the perceived exertion in the early stages of the training plan, the runner can maximize their fitness returns without the mental burden of having to hit any prescribed paces. This allows a certain degree of mindfulness to take place in workouts. They’re able to be more attuned to the present moment on each rep, process any signals of fatigue their body puts out, respond to it and continue on. Running steadily in the face of fatigue is a key performance variable for distance runners and something worth training (in some capacity) year-round.
Additionally, deemphasizing the pace factors in the higher volatility of a runner’s daily readiness during early training periods. One of the cruel truths about fitness is when you’re less fit training is harder, recovery is longer, and gains are slower. Over the years I’ve learned not to fight this truth, but embrace it by structuring workouts in the early training periods to be more auto-regulatory in nature. With this orientation, all a runner needs to do is “punch the clock” — meaning do the workout to the best of their ability that day — and get the intended stimulus to start the adaption process. How it happens doesn’t need to be pretty, it just needs to take place.