Progression runs feature quite a bit in my plans and are great for building stamina, mental strength, and teaching the body to run increasingly faster at the end of a race.
When you should utilise progression runs in different ways at various points of your macrocycle of training is important to know. It is not enough to just blindly do a run session.
To race fast, you need to train fast, but a progression run will bring on much less fatigue than a sustained long run at race pace or a tough track workout, and therefore it will require less recovery.
We are working on pacing with Darren because it has been a weakness in the past by going out too hard sometimes and I am happy to report there are big improvements.
3 main benefits:~~~~
✅Mental strength, what feels better during a race than closing hard. Practicing race skill of getting faster and tougher throughout your effort.
✅Appropriate association of effort, stick to goals and when u start figuring it out, you will get a better understanding of the effort associated with different paces, running to feel.
✅Resistance to fatigue, closing hard isn’t just a mental skill, its physiological one also. Longer races like marathons are a battle against fatigue, the more we train our bodies to push that fatigue arising, the more successful we can be in accomplishing our goals.
These runs can be continuous, or broken
Darren’s was a continuous run with a cut down each km from easy pace to critical velocity.
Prescribing a range of paces eg 15 sec per km allows for some individual freedom and reaction to your perception of effort in the workout.
Adjust it to how you feel as the miles progress and ultimately get a more successful workout.
They a great tool to add to your long run arsenal, feeling of running hard at the end of a long race.
Some examples⬇️
3-4k easy, 20/20/20, steady/MP/HM, creates a great stimulus.
8 min to 1min cut-down
8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 with 2′ easy rec jog in between, as length shortens, pace increases, start at MP, close at 5k effort.
Make the total volume of running appropriate for the stimulus you ar
3/2/1km (half, 10 mile, 8k effort) with 600m rec in between
Be aware that there are times for effort and times for trying to strike race pace e.g when weather isn’t conducive to running your typical pace.
Progress by feel in a recovery run. A slight progression during the second half of a recovery run can actually speed recovery by helping to flush lactic acid out of your legs from a previous days hard workout and give your body a better chance to absorb that hard workout and add a little more zip into what might normally be a slow, lethargic run.
Give it a go,
Variability in training is always good 🏃♂️
Michelle Greaney Run Coaching 