The Best 'Speed Day' Workouts
Scheduling in *at least* one training session a week that has a focus on generally running faster, is the icing on the cake of your training.
An old running expression that basically means your aerobic base is the cake itself, but the icing, to really bring it home, is your Z4+ training. The icing has to be used tactically, as too much or too little can ruin the cake as a whole. (Read: Ruin race day as a whole.)
Also, it’s important to know when to apply speed training; you wouldn’t start spreading icing on a cake that’s half-baked, would you?
You can train in zone 2 until the cows come home, but the real leaps occur when you apply that new aerobic base to speed days in your weekly training.
Note: I am using “zone 2” as another word for “below blood lactate threshold".
Generally speaking, “running faster” can be:
Intervals on a track
Tempo Runs: Running shorter distances than normal training runs, but at an order of magnitude faster.
Long Run Progression miles
What’s a Fartlek?
If you’re not “in the know” on some of the terms I just used, don’t worry, it will all be explained in this article.