There are many ways we can create a boost in fitness by learning to run with fatigued legs. To do this, I often program workouts that include hills with tempo runs or short intervals with tempo runs to create a boost in fitness or to simulate race conditions. The time of year I tend to program this most often is in early spring, 12 to 16 weeks out from a goal race, and near goal races.
Hill / Tempo Session Example
2 to 6 x 20 seconds to 1-minute hill sprints. Recovery is a walk or jog down taking at least 1 minute to 90 seconds for full recovery.
After the hills, jog 3 minute to a flat location to start your tempo run.
Run 10 to 20 minutes at threshold.
After the tempo, jog 3 min back to your hill location.
2 to 6 x 20 seconds to 1-minute hill sprints. Recovery is a walk or jog down taking at least 1 minute to 90 seconds for full recovery.
The short sprint hill session utilizes our fast twitch muscle fibers. We are turning on the recruitment of our fast twitch muscle fibers. These fast twitch muscle fibers stay turned on when we move into the tempo. Here is what is happening physiologically: Fast twitch muscle fibers consist of Type 2a and 2b. Type 2b recruitment last less than a minute. Then what happens is that Type 2a needs to handle more of the aerobic work. These muscle fibers last up 30 minutes. We become more efficient by recruiting more of the Type 2 muscle fibers in our training.
Short Intervals / Tempo Session Example
4 to 8 x 200 meters at mile pace with 1-minute recovery.
After the 200s, jog 3 minutes
Run 10 to 20 minutes at threshold.
After the tempo, jog 3 minutes
4 to 8 x 200 meters at mile pace with 1-minute recovery.
Like the hill/tempo session, this workout accomplishes the same goal of turning on our fast twitch muscles and recruiting more fast twitch muscle fibers overall.
I tend to program the hill/tempo session early in the training cycle. The short intervals/tempo session is something I like to program three to six weeks out from a 3km to half marathon distance race.
