RP Glossary: Workouts

From intervals to tempos, a look at speedwork terms

Welcome to another edition of the Running, Probably Glossary. The point of this project is to demystify running jargon and create a common vocabulary around these terms that we can all understand. As a reminder, these posts are free and unlocked for all readers. If you’ve thought about upgrading to a paid subscription, consider this an open invitation. 

In the first edition of the RP Glossary we focused on various training runs like: easy, recovery, and distance. This time, we’re cranking up the intensity and getting after it with workouts where strong runners are forged between “the borders of pain and suffering” in the immortal words of the great Emil Zatopek.       

Workouts are supposed to be hard. Your muscles will burn and your lungs will ache. That’s the good stuff. When done correctly, workouts will improve your ability to run faster for longer periods of time while introducing all kinds of physiological adaptations that will make running a far more enjoyable activity.    

While difficult, workouts can also be a lot of fun. After all that easy running you’ve done to grow your aerobic base, this is when you let you fly your freak flag wide and high. Not only are you improving strength, speed, and stamina, you’re also building confidence and resilience. 

You’ve probably heard that a little bit of fast running goes a long way. Believe it. You don’t need that much for it to pay huge dividends. One or two days a week with around 20 percent of your weekly mileage at a high effort level is sufficient. 

That percentage is not an accident. Training is more art than science, but there’s a lot of science backing up the notion that long-term running success is built on the 80/20 ratio of easy running to hard. For an excellent primer on the subject, check out Matt Fitzgerald’s book, appropriately titled, 80/20 Running. 

One final note. We talked a lot in the previous edition of the RP Glossary about heart rate zones. If you’re going to do workouts, you need to have a working understanding of your specific HR zones, as well as the differences between tempo, threshold, and anaerobic efforts. It’s alright if this feels overwhelming at first. Practice is the best teacher. 

For all workouts, it’s best to allow for a two mile warmup and two mile cooldown at a very relaxed pace. (Read: jogging or a slow shuffle. Walking is fine too.)  

Intervals

The most basic form of speedwork and a staple of just about every training program, intervals are typically done on a track or relatively flat sections of a path or trail. The key to executing these workouts is understanding what the interval is and why it’s important. By way of definition, allow me to quote from a piece I wrote back in March: 

“An interval is the rest period between hard repetitions. Typically, an interval is the same distance as the rep, so if you run hard for 400 meters on a track -- that’s one lap -- you then jog or walk 400 meters to recover before the next rep takes place.” 

Intervals are usually made up of sets of 400 or 800 meters. (I have done 1,200 meter intervals and they were the hardest thing I’ve ever attempted.) If you had a workout that called for 4 x 400 intervals, you would alternate running 400 meters hard with 400 meters easy four times. For speedwork newbies, that’s an excellent place to start. 

Pay close attention to that easy paced interval. Via one of my favorite resources, Build Your Running Body (BYRB): “During the rest interval, pressure inside the heart increases momentarily from returning blood, stretching the heart’s ventricles.”

What you’re doing is building something called “stroke volume” (settle down, Beavis), and it’s what separates average runners from truly fit flyers. That adaptation works primarily during the interval when you’re walking and/or jogging for recovery. 

Some workouts vary the interval duration, but I typically aim to make the recovery period at least twice as long as the hard rep. So if my 800-meter goal goal pace for each rep is 2:57, the interval will be around 6-7 minutes.

4 x 800 meter intervals, note the pace differential.

How fast should you run each rep? It depends on a number of factors including your training and overall fitness. Keep in mind that while you’re pushing really hard, it’s still not an all-out sprint. You want to be able to replicate each rep. Consistency is the name of the game. 

Choosing the right pace for your workout is crucial. There’s a very thin line between effectively pushing your limits and maxing yourself out. Staying on the right side of that equation takes some practice and a little research. 

One way to gauge interval pace is to have a recent 5K time. For example, using BYRB’s pace table as a guide, a 24-minute 5K runner would yield a 400 meter goal pace of 1:55 per rep and 3:50 for 800 meters. Experienced runners lock in that pace on the first rep and aim to get progressively faster with each trip around the track. 

A well-executed interval workout will take you right up to the edge of the physiological cliff, so it's important not to send yourself careening into a valley of death. If you finish your workout and feel like you could do one or even two more, that’s perfect. Stop there. 

4 x 800 intervals by heart rate. Again, note the differential during the interval.

Remember to cool down with a light jog afterward and begin refueling your body as soon as you can. I usually have a gel on hand for quick energy immediately after the workout before settling in for a more balanced recovery meal. 

Strides

Strides are short bursts of speed -- again, not a sprint -- performed in sets at the end of a run with an accompanying recovery phase. There’s no magic formula, but think 20-30 seconds. Strides can improve running economy, especially when performed on a hill with a slight incline. If you decide to incorporate strides into your training, save it for those times when you’re feeling good.  

Hill repeats 

Basically the same as track intervals, but done on a hill. Your pace will naturally be slower, but your heart rate will likely be higher. It’s effort that counts with this workout. Ironically, hill repeats can be less taxing on your body than trackwork because of the incline. Running is weird. Embrace the paradoxes. 

The key is finding the right hill. It should be steep, but not so steep that you can’t maintain a good stride. It should also be runnable -- i.e. non-technical if you are on a trail -- and completely safe if you are on a road. The last thing you want is to be pushing up a hill with a car barreling down on you from just over the ridge. 

Ideally, your hill is free from any kind of distraction, whether it’s other people, dogs, bicyclists, or anything else that might throw off your gait or cause a scene. If you do encounter pedestrians, make sure to call out as best you can to give them a warning. Turns out, people don’t like having runners race past them and dogs like it even less. Just because you’re blazing, doesn’t mean you get to be a jerk. 

Hill repeats can be short (30-45 seconds), or they can be long. Mine are typically 800 meters, which is a really long way to run up a hill, but this is the life I’ve chosen. 

As on the track, the interval plays a crucial role. You want your HR to return to normal before your next rep. That can be accomplished with slow jogging or walking. Absolutely resist the urge to run back down the hill. That’s a good way to get hurt. 

Hill Transitions 

As with all of these workouts, there are countless variations. A new one for me and perhaps more ideally suited for trail runners, hill transitions are short, nasty, and brutal. When my coach Avery Collins assigned these to me he said, “Transitions turn you into a freak on the hills.” 

Here's the workout per his description: 

“For the transition portion of the workout, keep it on a steep section of trail. Start with 30 seconds of hard power hiking then 30 seconds of all out running uphill. After 60 seconds, turn around and jog back down the hill at 50% effort level. AS SOON as you hit the spot where you started, continue with the 30 seconds power hike effort and then the all out sprint. Repeat 10x total.”

The key is getting into a mental state where you’re not thinking and acting purely on instinct and repetition. Transitions do, in fact, turn you into a freak on the hills.  

The transitions start around the 60 minute mark.

Tempo 

If intervals test your high-end speed, tempos challenge your ability to sustain a pace that legendary track coach Jack Daniels famously referred to as, “comfortably hard.” Therein lies the trick. While you want to find a pace that pushes your limits, you also need to be able to hold it for a significant period of time without feeling like you’ve reached said limits. 

This is where it really pays to understand your HR zones. For me, a tempo effort is between 145-160 beats per minute. When I run tempos, I’m usually more concerned with effort as it relates to my HR than I am to pace. 

A typical tempo run might look like this: Two-mile warmup, two miles at tempo effort, two mile cooldown. As you build stamina, the tempo period can become longer or more intense, but the purpose of the workout is to stay within the designated HR zone for the duration of the activity. No sprinting to make up time!  

Tempo pace is generally a bit slower than race pace. For many untrained runners, a tempo pace feels kind of like their natural pace, but that’s a trap. Too much running at or near tempo effort can lead to injuries and stagnation. 

3-mile tempos w/2-miles recovery on the AT. Note the pace and HR differentials.

There are more tempo variations than I can count, but here are two that I use quite a bit.  

Aerobic progression 

One of my favorite ways to break up a long or medium-sized run, aerobic progressions allow you to run in different HR zones and dial in pacing while building strength and stamina. They also hold the key to unlocking the mysteries of the negative split, where you run the second half of a run faster than the first. 

A typical 12-mile progression using my HR zones run looks like this: 

• 3 mile warmup at 50 percent effort (HR under 135)

• 3 miles at 55 percent effort (HR under 140)

• 3 miles at 60 percent effort (HR under 145)

• 3 mile cool down at 50 percent effort (HR under 135)

Note that at no time during that example would I be pushing my HR into the tempo zone. If my workout calls for time in that zone, it would have a fancy name like: aerobic tempo threshold progression run.

Pyramids and Ladders  

A variation on multiple themes, these are relatively short bursts of tempo effort for varying durations. For example, a 1-2-3-4 Pyramid workout would include one minute at tempo effort followed by a minute of recovery running, and then two minutes at tempo effort followed by two minutes of recovery, and so on, up to four minutes. 

The Ladder element comes into play after the four-minute interval when you climb back down with three more minutes of tempo running with comparable recovery back down to one, so that your workout is 1-2-3-4-3-2-1 minutes of tempo efforts with subsequent recovery. 

(I’ve seen Pyramids referred to as Ladders and vice-versa. It’s really not important what you call it, only that you know what you’re trying to accomplish.) 

However, you name this workout, it offers a great introduction to the practice of managing your run. The goal isn’t to burn on the first minute and burn out before you’re done. It’s to get comfortable holding sustainable hard efforts over periods of time. If anything, you want that four-minute tempo at the top of the pyramid to be your fastest pace. 

This is a structured form of that awesome Swedish word, fartlek, which means, “speed play.” A fartlek run is relatively free of predetermined times and distances and allows runners to play with their pace intuitively. Perhaps you want to burn up that hill or get into a race pace on a flat section. Whatever feels good, just remember to recover after your surge. 

If you’re running just to run and not following a specific training program, short tempo efforts are a great way to build speed and stamina. Once you get comfortable, you can build your own variations. 

Running is supposed to be fun, so enjoy these moments when you push yourself out of your comfort zone and let it all hang out. Just remember that a little speed goes a long, long way.  

Questions, concerns, clarifications? Hit me up in the comments.