4 x 2,000m
4 x 2,000m
Designed for 1500m runners
Intensity
Lactate Threshold Pace
Recovery
2 minutes between reps
Exertion
7/10
Periodization
Foundation Period, Extension Block
Context & Details
Training runners is simple — the primary objective is to improve the runner’s stamina.
What’s stamina?
In general, running stamina is the ability to hold a pace for a length of time or distance.
Endurance is the absolute maximum distance you cover before stopping due to total exhaustion, without concern for how fast you went.
Speed is the absolute maximal running velocity you can achieve, without concern for how long you kept it up.
Endurance is the farthest you can go. Speed is the fastest you can go. Stamina is a mix of both.
There are two main types of stamina:
Speed-focused stamina — Speed-Endurance
Endurance-focused stamina — Endrunace-Speed
Speed-Endurance is about increasing the speed you can run for a set distance.
Endurance-Speed is about increasing the distance you can cover at a set speed.
Most footraces are Speed-Endurance affairs. Race distances are set. The variable is the speed each runner can endure, or hold, for the race distance. Effective training is any activity that helps increase the speed a runner can run for a set distance — like today’s session.
This workout helps improve the miler’s Speed-Endurance in a non-direct way by expanding their Aerobic Capacity. Enzyme signals produced from this type of workout will create adaptions that will increase the supply of energy-rich fuel (in this case, lactate) readily available to help power running.
Aerobic Capacity is a general quality for the miler. In the Foundation Period of training, there is an emphasis on improving Aerobic Capacity, so in the Specific Period, training can be performed which transfers Aerobic Capacity into Aerobic Power.
Broken threshold sessions, like this one, allow the runner to do more work, but with less strain. The short breaks between reps allow for a mini-reset, both in mind and body, making it so fatigue and lactate accumulation in the bloodstream is kept at appropriate levels to elicit the desired response.
Because the degree of metabolic stress experienced to perform this session is low, recovery is quick — both between reps and after completion of the session. This is a session the miler can revisit 4 - 8 times throughout the Foundation Period once every 6 to 10 days.
The 2Ks are run on effort, or if pace is used, a wide range (+/- 10” per mile). Don’t force the pace — that’s a quick way to make the session far harder than it needs to be. The pace of the 2Ks will naturally quicken on the same recovery periods as improvements to Lactate Threshold and Aerobic Capacity are realized.
Continue Learning
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Good books on 1500m training
Better Training for Distance Runners by Peter Coe
Winning Running by Peter Coe
Running Science by Own Anderson
Modern Training and Physiology for Middle and Long-Distance Runners by John Davis