Find some sharpness again after a long, slow block
Plan length
8 to 12 weeks, as a block, then you come back down.
Example
A typical week in the build phase
MonRest
TueIntervals5 × 3 min, hard but even5.6 mi
WedEasyZone 2, conversational4.3 mi
ThuTempo2 × 10 min at threshold pace5.6 mi
FriRest
SatEasy + strides6 × 20 s relaxed and fast3.7 mi
SunLong runSteady, fully aerobic8.1 mi
Week total27 mi
The sessions that matter
How much hard work counts more than how hard it is
On long intervals, what makes the difference is the total time spent at high intensity, not going higher on a handful of reps.
What works on a bike does not necessarily transfer to running
The very short formats that work for cyclists do not transfer to running: in running, four results point the neutral or the opposite way. Your plan does not extrapolate from them.
Heart rate lies on short intervals
Steering a short-interval session by heart rate overstates what you are really loading. We prescribe by pace and by feel, not by heart rate.
Start
A template plan for your goal, ready right away.
Four questions, and a plan built automatically based on your level and your number of sessions.
$39one payment
You pay once. Nothing renews.
Four questions: goal, race date, level, sessions per week
Built automatically based on your level and your number of sessions
Up to your race, 20 weeks at most; 8 weeks without a race (up to 15 if you start with walk-run)
Paces from a recent race time, otherwise by perceived effort
Ready as soon as you pay if you ask to start right away
Best for getting started fast with a simple framework, paid once.
Your plan built from your answers and reviewed by a person, with nutrition and race strategy. Automatic analysis of your watch data is coming soon. A subscription with no commitment: monthly, first month free on your first subscription; yearly, paid in one go.
$250a year
or $24.90 a month
Monthly: first month free on your first subscription · no commitment, stop whenever you want
Built from the full questionnaire: your background, your week, your constraints
Reviewed by a person before it reaches you
Messages to adjust a session, and a plan that moves with you
No. A speed block is a goal in its own right: it raises your ceiling and makes every pace below it feel easier. Plenty of athletes run one between two race builds.
Short intervals or long intervals?
In running, the literature leans towards long. In a trial on 81 well-trained women, over eight weeks, only the 4 × 4 minute format raised maximal oxygen uptake — by 7.3 % — against two short formats that changed nothing. The same trial counted eight injuries in the group doing all-out 30-second efforts, against none in the other two.
How many fast sessions a week?
Two, rarely three. The rest is slow, and that is not a concession: it is what lets you absorb the two sessions that count.
Can I move on to a race afterwards?
Yes, and it is often the right order. A speed block before a race-specific build gives you margin on race pace.
Where the figures on this page come from
Every figure on this page points back to the paper it comes from. When a question has no settled answer, the page says so instead of inventing a number.
Helgerud J, Hov H, Mehus H, et al. (2023) — Aerobic high-intensity intervals improve V̇O2max more than supramaximal sprint intervals in females, similar to males. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports 33(11):2193-2207. doi:10.1111/sms.14470
Helgerud J, Høydal K, Wang E, et al. (2007) — Aerobic high-intensity intervals improve VO2max more than moderate training. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 39(4):665-671. doi:10.1249/mss.0b013e3180304570
Your race is on the calendar. Your plan should be too.
