Quality Counts

So far, all I've been doing is easy runs. Early in the season, easy, longer runs should be the bulk of your work. The idea being that you need to build a solid, aerobic base. But I have a half-marathon in two-and-a-half weeks, so, I have to add some quality workouts, or speedwork, before then.

It's important to note that Quality is just a matter of terminology. This doesn't mean that the easy, longer runs lack quality. They are just as essential to bringing out your best.

These Quality workouts fall under two categories, VO2 Max, and threshold. VO2 Max are geared more for 10k and under training, but, I'm training for a half-marathon, and then a marathon in a couple of months, so, threshold will make the bulk of my quality for right now. I'll do about 3 of these types of workouts in a two-week period.

I won't go into the biochemical details, basically, I'm just working at improving my body's tolerance of lactic acid. Think of it as a way to improve a body's ability to sustain a hard pace for an extended period of time.

There are two types of threshold workouts, Temp runs, and Cruise Intervals. My favorite Cruise interval workout is to run 4 X 1-mile repeats @ threshold pace (TP) with a very short rest of about 1 or 1:15 in between each. Think of your TP as being the pace you can run in an hour long race. For me, right now, that would be about 6:50 or so. You can quickly and steadily lower this pace over several weeks.

It would be nice to have a training partner right about my level that I could do these with on a track, but, for right now, I do them on a treadmill.

Weight: 169.2