Progressive Runs
Hey guys I was checking my mails this morning and this came in... I found it to be very interesting so I am posting it for you to check it out......
Like many runners, Stephanie Hammond had no problem cruising through the first 20-plus miles of a marathon—but then she'd crawl through the rest.
"I was still moving," she says of her typical race finishes, "but I wanted to cry." Was she doing too few long runs? Not running far enough?
It wasn't until roughly a decade later, when she enlisted the help of a coach, former Marine Corps Marathon champion Peter Sherry, that she discovered the surprising culprit: her pace. Hammond had been starting most of her runs too fast and then slowing down at the end, which taught her body to do the same thing on race day.
To break this discouraging habit, Sherry suggested that Hammond try progression runs, whose defining characteristic is a steady acceleration. These workouts start at a comfortable speed, gradually get faster, and wrap up at marathon, threshold, or even interval pace. This kind of acceleration offers your body an opportunity to warm up, helps develop your sense of pacing, and trains you to hold onto your speed—even when you're slightly tired.
Progression runs aren't new. Paavo Nurmi, who won nine Olympic gold medals, used them back in the 1920s. Over the last few years, they've seen a resurgence, popping up on the schedules of top athletes and in programs designed for recreational runners. Why? Their versatility.
"You can do an infinite number of progression runs, different lengths and different intensities," says Greg McMillan, who coaches elite and recreational runners in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Long runs, tempo sessions, and base miles can all be turned into progression runs. And they can be used at any time throughout the training cycle (see "Pick It Up" on the next page).
One key benefit of progression runs, says McMillan, is that they increase the volume of your fast-paced miles without the added fatigue of a full-length quality workout. If you end two of your usual easy runs with 10 minutes at half-marathon pace, you've added 20 minutes of tempo work to your week. Over time, this extra quality work will make you a stronger runner.
