Every session in a Run-R plan
- Easy runEasy pace, a range
- Relaxed running you could chat through. Most of your week. It builds the aerobic engine everything else rests on, at little recovery cost.
- StridesAbout mile race effort
- 6 × 20 seconds quick but relaxed at the end of an easy run, with a minute of walking or jogging between. Leg speed and form, without tiring you.
- Long runEasy pace
- Your longest run of the week, at an easy, steady pace. It builds endurance. In the peak weeks of a half or full marathon plan, some long runs finish at race pace.
- Tempo runThreshold (T) pace
- About 20 minutes at a comfortably hard pace, the effort you could hold for an hour in a race. It raises the pace you can sustain.
- Cruise intervalsThreshold (T) pace
- Threshold running in blocks of 5 to 15 minutes, with a minute's easy jog for every 5 minutes of running. The same benefit as a tempo run, easier to hold.
- IntervalsInterval (I) pace
- Hard reps of 3 to 5 minutes, often 800 m to 1600 m, with an easy jog for about as long between. They raise your VO2max, the top of your aerobic engine.
- RepetitionsRepetition (R) pace
- Fast, relaxed reps of 200 to 400 m with a full recovery jog. Speed and running economy. Mostly in 5K plans.
- Hill repeatsAbout 5K effort
- 60 seconds up a steady hill, then a slow jog back down. Strength and form before the faster work. Run by effort, not pace.
- Marathon pace runMarathon (M) pace
- A steady block of 6 to 16 km at the pace you plan to race. It teaches your body, and your fuelling, the race.
Paces come from Jack Daniels' VDOT model: one recent race sets them all. See training paces by 5K time or how Run-R builds plans.