Know Your Run Types

An easy, conversational pace held for an extended time — usually the longest run of your week. It builds capillary density, strengthens the heart, and teaches your body to burn fat efficiently. Because the pace is easy, it's also the best time to rehearse race-day nutrition and hydration.

A pace you could hold for about an hour in a race — challenging but controlled, sustained for 20–40 minutes. Tempo runs raise your lactate threshold, letting you hold faster paces before fatigue sets in — one of the most effective sessions from 5K to marathon.

Short fast repeats — often 400 m to 1 km — separated by recovery jogs. A classic: 6 × 400 m at 5K pace with 90 seconds easy between. Intervals boost VO2 max and top-end speed while managing fatigue through built-in recovery. Once or twice a week, no more.

Swedish for speed play: unstructured surges mixed with easy jogging in one continuous run. Sprint to the next lamppost, ease off, pick another landmark. A perfect entry to speed work without the pressure of exact splits — and it teaches you to change gears mid-race.

A short, very easy run the day after a hard session. If it feels like effort, you're going too fast. The goal is gently moving blood through tired muscles — it only works if it stays easy from start to finish.

Hard efforts up a moderate incline, jog back down, repeat — typically 6–10 climbs of 30–90 seconds. Builds strength and power in the exact movement pattern of running, with less impact than flat-ground speed work.

Begins easy and gradually accelerates, often finishing at tempo or race pace. Teaches pacing discipline — hold back early, finish strong — and builds the ability to run well on tired legs.

15–20 second smooth accelerations to near-sprint speed, 4–8 repeats with full recovery, usually after an easy run. Sharpens form and leg turnover without meaningful fatigue.

The bread and butter of any plan — the relaxed runs that make up most of your weekly mileage and let your body absorb the harder sessions. Keeping them genuinely easy is a skill in itself.

Training at your actual goal pace — rehearsing the exact rhythm, breathing and effort you'll need on race day, so settling into it becomes automatic when it matters.

An all-out effort over a fixed distance — a mini race against the clock. No pacing strategy to hide behind: an honest snapshot of your current fitness for setting realistic goals.

10–20 minutes, deliberately slow, one or two days before a race. Loosens the legs, settles the nerves, and doubles as a final gear check. This is not a workout — treating it like one defeats the purpose.

A long run whose final 10–20% is run at tempo pace or faster — endurance and race-specific speed in one session, teaching your legs to produce a hard effort when already fatigued. Best saved for a well-established aerobic base.