There are many ways of improving your speed endurance.
The ability to run for the extended period of time at a fast pace to complete a
race has several components, which include:
• a high aerobic energy capacity;
• an efficient running style;
• good pace judgement, and;
• a willingness to tolerate discomfit for the time the
race takes.
The following session is aimed at improving 5k race
times. It could be done once a week, complementing a session that is composed
of shorter distance, faster pace repetitions that are aimed at improving
anaerobic capacity and power.
Warm up thoroughly before starting the interval
session, then aim to do:
5 x 1000m @, first and last 100m @ 95% effort, middle
800m @ 5k target race pace, 4-6 minute recovery between intervals.
The first thing to stress is that you should be
realistic about your target race pace. This is not the pace you want to be
running at in 12 months time. It should be a modest, achievable, but
challenging pace that you want to achieve over a period of 4-6 weeks.
By the time you have completed the session, you will
have run the equivalent of a 5k race in terms of total distance. Each 1000m
repetition requires that you run the first and last 100m (you can vary this
from 60 to 100m, there is nothing magic about the 100m distance) at faster than
race pace. The middle of the repetition is then run at what should be an
aerobic pace. Why do this?
In most races, people tend to run faster than their
average race pace at the start. This may be because they want to get into a
good position for the rest of the race or an attempt to stay with a particular
competitor. In a large field it may be a tactic to avoid congestion. It may
simply be that a rush of enthusiasm overwhelms pace judgement. Whatever the
reason, planned or unplanned, it happens. There is therefore a need to be able
to cope with the anaerobic demand that this places on the body and not to slow
below target race pace after the fast start. At the end of a race there is
often the need to lift the pace to try to overtake someone or to meet a
challenge from someone who is trying to do that to you. This has to be done
after a period of running at what should have been the best aerobic pace you
can sustain for 5km.
The set of 5 x 1000m described above is essentially
training in running a 5k race. If the “middle bit” is run at your best
sustainable 5k pace, it should not matter whether it is 800m or 4.8km. The
fast, sustained aerobic pace, fast sequence is what you are going to have to do
in a race. Check your time over the middle 800m to make sure that you do not
slow below 5k race pace after the initial sprint. You want to fix this pace in
your running memory as your 5k race pace. There will be a tendency to back off
the pace too much the first few times you do the session as the brain tries to
get the pace back into a comfort zone. Racing at your best pace isn’t
comfortable and your training should help you to tolerate discomfit.
The recovery period between the repetitions should
initially enable you to fully recover between repetitions. This may make things
seem easier, but it has the consequence that your breathing and heart rates
will fall and have to increase again when you start the next repetition. You
can progressively reduce the recovery period down to around 60s when you feel
comfortable about being able to complete the session. Then, set a slightly
faster 5k target pace and repeat the sequence. Alternatively, you may want to
try 3x2000m with the same fast start and end and the same 5k target pace and
the longer recoveries.