Training Definitions

The objective of any well-thought-out training plan is to help you achieve your goals on race day. In order to do that, it is imperative that you know the reasons for each type of run and workout, and to stick to the paces prescribed each day. My goal is to help you train your body and mind, strengthen your heart to increase blood flow and oxygen transport, develop resistance to injury and fatigue, and work a variety of systems to encourage physiological adaptations, so that you’ll be firing on all cylinders when the race approaches.

Easy - Much of an athlete’s training will consist of easy running (up to 80% of weekly training volume). Easy running should be done at a comfortable, conversational pace. This will be your target pace for general running, warm-ups, cool-downs, recovery runs, recovery running within a workout, and any other runs for which there is no specified pace. As your training and life stresses ebb and flow throughout a training cycle, this pace may vary significantly day to day based on how you are feeling. Running at an easy pace helps to strengthen your cardiovascular system, build an aerobic base, and prepare your body for higher intensity training. 

Marathon Pace - Marathon pace refers to the pace that you hope to achieve in your goal marathon at the end of a training cycle. Marathon pace running teaches your body to more efficiently utilize fat as fuel and to conserve your body’s carbohydrate stores, improves your mental and leg strength, makes you more economical at marathon race pace, and hopefully increases your confidence in your ability to achieve your goal time. Marathon pace runs are also great as trial runs (to test race equipment and nutrition strategies) for race day.

Threshold - Threshold running is generally slightly faster than marathon pace, and should feel comfortably hard and manageable for a fairly long time. The main purpose of threshold running is to improve your body’s ability to clear blood lactate more efficiently, thereby increasing your endurance and your ability to handle a more demanding pace for a more prolonged period of time.

Interval - Intervals consist of relatively shorter bouts of fast running broken up by period of rest or easy running. Intervals help to increase your VO2max and aerobic power and will help to make most other types of running feel easier. These sessions are typically very physically and mentally demanding.

Fartlek - Fartlek runs are similar to intervals, but are more based on time and effort, rather than specific distances. Fartleks are great to use in preparation for road cross country racing, where terrain and weather typically vary greatly, because they teach you to run by feel and not get too tied up in hitting exact splits.

Repetition - Repetitions are very fast, but short, bouts of fast running broken up by periods of rest or easy running (often longer than the repetition itself). Repetitions are used to improve anaerobic power, speed and running economy. It is very important to focus on running form during any repetition workouts.

Hills - Hill workouts are “speedwork in disguise” and consist of running hard uphill for a set distance or time, walking or jogging back down the hill as the recovery, and repeating. Hills improve anaerobic power, speed, running economy, and running form. Hill workouts are very demanding, but are typically relatively short because you get a lot of bang for your buck, as they say.

Strides - Strides are short bouts (10-30 seconds) of smooth, fast running done at approximately mile race pace. These are generally prescribed several times a week to improve speed, running economy, and running form, and to prepare your body for harder efforts to follow. These are often done after an easy run on the day before a hard workout and also right before each hard workout to prepare your body for the faster, more sustained efforts you’re about to undertake.