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Most runners know that we want to build our aerobic system while running. The marathon and half marathon are said to be 99% AEROBIC in nature. It only makes sense that distance runners should focus on that aerobic development the most. However, when it comes to the shorter distance races like the 1 mile or 5k, more of our performance is going to require development of the anaerobic system. We want to chat today about the different systems used and the type of workouts you should focus on for each type of distance you are training for.

What is the anaerobic system?

How long can you run at an anaerobic pace?

What is the aerobic system?

How long can you run at an aerobic pace?

The marathon & half marathon are 99% aerobic in nature: TEMPO, progression, LT, MP, steady state

What kind of workouts will help build the aerobic systems?

What kind of workouts should you avoid during marathon training?

If you did only speed work during a marathon training cycle, could you still run fast in the marathon- why/why not?

Training specifically for the distance matters

The 5k is 90% aerobic. I said earlier it is important to develop the anaerobic 10% because that is a 1-2 min of the race.

How would you train 5k runners?

What type of speed workouts?

How often do you do a speed workout vs threshold?

How long of a long run?

The 1 mile is like 60% aerobic. A lot more of this race is anaerobic. How do we develop runners for this?

What type of workouts do you run?

Would running long make you slower?

Why do college xc coaches not allow their runners to do a marathon?


What are running workouts?



Track workouts



What is an easy run? Why do we do easy runs most of the time?



We need to go slower to build the aerobic base


You need to go slow enough to recover from workout days


“I can’t slow down. My legs won’t let me”



Your workouts aren’t hard enough


You aren’t running enough



“9 mile marathon plan”


Mileage is key to success: You can get away with less mileage if you have a strong aerobic base like a masters runner or a triathlete



What are the best time of running workouts to do?



Training for a 5k 10% anaerobic



Speed work comes into play



Training for a 10k


Training for a half 99% aerobic 


Training for a full



Video on youtube that goes over all of this



Medium long runs


Steady State Runs


Threshold workouts


Long runs in the mid-zone not hyper focused on the 20




Training for an ultra



What are the most common mistakes we see athletes make



Running in the gray zone


Not doing the correct workouts


Only doing workouts they are comfortable with


Not progressing stress


Doing too much too soonMara

I can't complete 20 miles in 3 hours, can I do 5 easy + 10 mp + 5 easy?239



3 hour long run rule


Marathon pace work- when is it good



Can I run a marathon 6 weeks after running a marathon?



Marathon manics


Ultra marathons


Racing vs running


50 states 



What should be the fartlek pace?



Fartlek = speed play




How to get constant speed for a longer run



How are we measuring this?


Do we need to go fast on long runs?



Is HR too high 170-180 for MP?


Easy Pace only improved by 30-60 sec after a year of zone 2… is this normal?


What is the best shoe for a first time marathon?

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We sometimes see runners on strava or IG referencing their ‘goal race pace’ for various distances. We wanted to do a deep dive into how useful this actually is to train using goal race paces or if it is actually detrimental to your progress as a runner. Should you be training using your goal race paces or should you be training at your current fitness level?


What causes someone to want to train at goal race pace



We want to run a sub 3:00 marathon and know that is a 6:52 pace. We think that if we train & do workouts with 6:52 pace as marathon pace, we will be in sub 3 hour marathon shape


The FLAW with this logic: You could be racing workouts. 



Many marathon workouts are broken up with rest intervals. Let’s give for example a workout like 3 x 2 miles at marathon pace within a long run. Someone who is in 3:10 marathon shape could do a 3x 2 mile workout at 6:50 pace. However, this 6:50 pace is their threshold pace.



Another common example- women in 3:45 shape and wants to BQ



When she trains with an 8:00 marathon pace: this is actually her threshold pace. When she does a threshold workout at 7:30 pace, she is actually dipping into interval pace and anaerobic territory. Physically she can do these workouts, but they will be too stressful over time and lead her into worse shape and not improving


Not only will she be working very hard and not improving, she will be frustrated on race day because her training workouts indicated that she was in better shape than she actually was. Little does she know, she was racing most of her workouts and overtraining during her training cycle


When we don’t train at the correct paces, we neglect the purpose of the workout & negate a lot of the benefits



It is not good to set a goal and train at “GOAL” paces. Instead, you should train at the fitness you are currently at which will allow you to progress and reap the benefits of the workouts



How should you figure out what pace to run



Do a race or time trial


If the 3:45 chick raced a 5k in 23:00 and we discovered her marathon pace is 8:22 and threshold pace is 7:50, we can use these paces in training


We would retest fitness in 4-6 weeks. It is better to slightly undershoot workouts than overshoot them. 


Even if you think you are in better shape, you need to be honest and do a race. It doesn’t benefit you to run faster than you should.



What if you really want to run a BQ time but the fitness just isn’t there?



Have it be a longer term goal and focus on other benchmarks to get theseHow o

Many runners dislike hills for a number of reasons. They are hard & they can slow you down! Many people avoid hills because they don’t like how hilly routes slow down their average pace. It is important to work on things we are not good at in order to improve as athletes. When we neglect our weaknesses, we do not improve as much as we could have! Hills not only will help you on hiller races, but they also improve your running in other ways. They increase your power, help with form & allow you to build stronger legs. When you work on hills, you can become a more well-rounded runner AND run faster on flat ground as well. Today we will be talking about different type of hill workouts and how to add them into training

We get used to doing the hills. At first it feels really hard. If you are used to it, it’s not a big deal. 


Training for hilly races vs flat races



If you are training for a hilly race, hill work is a must


Even downhill races need downhill work


Simulation of the race


Boston marathon is very hilly and doing a lot of miles on rolling hills helps



Regular training adding in hill work even when training for a flat race



Hill repeats helping with vo2max & power



Tempos



Steady state on rolling hills- effort based. Some people are better at downhills vs uphills. You're not going to be able to get a pace band that tells you exactly what pace you should be at each second. 


Mile repeats on rolling hills


Long run steady on hills


Easy runs on hills



Speed work



VO2max type workouts on hills



Combo/mixed workout



Hill sprints then tempo work after

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Have you ever seen an athlete have an amazing race and wonder how they were able to pull it off? Do you ever wish you could get the extra edge that other athletes seem to have on race day? Today we are going to be talking about the main factors that go into having a great race. There are a variety of areas you can improve on when it comes to mastering your race day performance. When you try to get 1% better in each area, it adds up to be a lot!


Training For The Event/Distance with specific workouts



Anaerobic


Aerobic


Workouts 20% of the time


Paces specific to your VDOT fitness



Being selective with your races



You can’t expect to race every month and improve forever


You need time to train for the races


Picking courses that are FAST


Picking races during optimal time of year


Course spectators? People to run with?


Limiting how often you race



Building the mental muscle



Doing uncomfortable things


Sarah Sellers 2018 Boston Marathon: she ran after working nursing shirts. When you train in a tired state, it can help with the rough patches during a race


You don’t need to train in perfect conditions or always feel like running


Building confidence in workouts by practicing negative splits


Don’t let yourself get handicapped by yourself: “I always blow up”, “I am not good at marathons”. You have to practice how you speak to yourself and not go down a negative spital



The little things like tapering, fueling and carb loading



Carbon plated shoes can make you faster


Beats can make you faster


Fueling properly will allow you to race to your potential in events over 90 min


Hydration is key


Make sure you have all the loose ends taken care of!

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Lots of runners love the feeling of crushing a big workout and having something they can confidently hang their hat on as a statement of their race day abilities in training. However, when athletes constantly overreach and dig too far into the well for workout days, are they testing their fitness or is it training? Are there potential drawbacks to leaving it all out there during every single workouts?


What is the potential problem with going too fast on workout days



Tempo runs turn into vo2max when defeats the purpose


Almost better to go slower



Might be disappointed when you don’t have another gear on race day



Your PR might be in a workout



Not as efficient with energy



Going to 100% takes longer to recover from and it’s harder on body



Hard to trust the process