3 x 1 Mile, 2 x 2 Miles, 1 x 5 Miles
3 x 1 Mile, 2 x 2 Miles, 1 x 5 Miles
Designed for 1/2 Marathon runners
Intensity
1M reps at 5K
2M reps at 10K
5M rep at 1/2 Marathon
Recovery
3 minutes after 1M reps
1 minute after 2 Mile reps & before 5 Mile rep
Exertion
8/10
Periodization
Specific Period, Stabliziation Block
Context & Details
Rehearsal of race pace when fatigued is an important skill for the long-distance runner to master.
When training half marathoners, one of my main concerns is elevating their ability to cope with fatigue in the final stages of a race.
Coaches and runners know it is near impossible to avoid fatigue on race day — at best you can only delay it.
Effective half marathon training is about conditioning the body to delay the onset of fatigue for as long as possible and having a high tolerance to fatigue once it’s present.
Simply put: the best distance runners are comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Resistance to Fatigue is a key performance variable I reference often in WOTDs and it’s an interesting phenomenon.
I was first introduced to Resistance to Fatigue in Owen Anderson’s book, Running Science. Anderson defines it as: “the ability to sustain a high-quality velocity for an extended time without a falloff in pace or intensity. Athletes often become fatigued before they reach maximal rates of oxygen consumption, topmost heart rate, highest blood lactate levels. Meaning, fatigue during running cannot be fully explained by oxygen or cardiac limitations or excessive acidosis in the bloodstream.”
Anderson continues:
“A more logical explanation is that there are neural-output settings in a runner’s brain that do not permit specific intensities, or speeds, of running to be continued beyond fixed durations. Neural output consists of the motor signals sent to the muscles by the brain and spinal cord during running. These signals control the magnitude of muscular force production and the rate.”
If coaches and runners accept that fatigue in highly demanding running situations, like races or workouts, is heavily influenced by our neural output then there must be a control center in the nervous system, which regulates this, or what Time Noakes defined as the Central Governor.
Embracing the Central Governor model makes slow long runs almost obsolete in the distance runner’s training program.
As Anderson exmaplins:
“The strategy of carrying out long runs at submaximal paces is not a good approach for increasing the neural governor’s set point — unless one is preparing for an ultramarathon — since such workouts correspond with submaximal neural outputs. A general rule in exercise physiology is that a well-trained system must be stressed at its limits in order to produce adaptation. Calling on the nervous system to produce minimal levels of neural output is thus unlikely to reset the neural governor to a higher intensity of running although it might somewhat dampen the governor’s tendency to create fatigue during very long efforts.”
For this, and other reasons, I like distance runners I coach to perform high volume workouts instead of traditional slow high volume long runs. It comes as a shock to many the first time they go over a training block. They wonder, “where is the long run?”
Workouts like this are long runs in disguise.
If you include 2 miles for warm-up and cool down the total volume of the session is about 16-17 miles, more than adequate for a half marathoner.
A key benefit of this session is it enhances fatigue resistance because the overall quality is higher and more challenging than the traditional slow long run. By performing faster tempo work prior to the half marathon pace segment, the athlete is able to practice race pace when fatigued in a situation that closely mimicks race day.
Since this session is earmarked in the Specific Period, that means the paces matter. Sustaining the designated tempo is key to elicit the desired neural adaptions. And being in the stabilization block a lot of the “ugly” (read: grueling) work has already transpired, making this particular session merely an opportunity to get even more comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Continue Learning
Join the Scholar Program for $29 to learn more about successful 1/2 Marathon Training and get unlimited access to courses and training programs on distance running.
Good books on 1/2 Marathon training
The Science of Winning: Planning, Periodizing and Optimizing Swim Training by Jan Olbrecht
More Fire by Toby Tanser
The Science and Practice of Middle and Long Distance Running by Philip Hayes, Richard Blagrove
Daniels Distance Running Formula by Jack Daniels