Okay, the Warrior Dash is in seven weeks and its about time we did some RUNNING! That’s right, just flat out plain old running. For this reason, I am going to explain the concept of PACING INTERVALS. Pay close attention. (Or have a cup of coffee and skip ahead to the workouts.)

So, lets say you are used to walking or jogging at a moderate or pathetic pace, but every time you try and push yourself to go faster, you end up with a stitch in your side, or just plain worn out before you go the distance. Pacing intervals are designed to help you increase your intensity over time until you can maintain your new intensity for the entire duration of your run/bike/swim/row, etc.

For example, using a rate of perceived exertion scale, you are used to running at an intensity level of 5 on a scale from 1-10 with 1 being walking through the mall and 10 being close to death. You want to increase your pace such that the distance you run in 45 minutes is longer. To do this outright, you could just sprint. But after about 2-3 minutes, you would be lying on the side of the road, possibly vomiting.

Instead, try increasing the pace and/or intensity at which your run a set time or distance and then rest for a set period of time before repeating. If you were on a treadmill, let’s say you are used to jogging at 4.5 miles per hour. To use pacing intervals, try increasing the speed to 5.5 mph for 2-4 minutes (don’t push yourself to failure or you won’t be able to complete the workout). Walk or jog to recover for 1-2 minutes.Repeat this interval for the normal duration of your run. If you don’t rest too much, the immediate result is that you will have covered more distance. In the meantime, your muscles will have adapted to the higher demand for fuel and will start generating more mitochondria. Your respiratory and cardiovascular systems will respond to the increased demands for more oxygen and become more efficient. Over time, you will want to extend the length of the intervals until you are running the entire distance/time at the higher pace.

As an aside, Stephen Seiler has written an amazing course on the science of interval training and how to use it to improve performance. It is available on-line through the ISSA as a continuing education course.

So, back to training.

Monday:

Strength:

Back Squat 3×10
Bench Press 5×5

Conditioning:
Kettlebell swings 1 minute on, 1 minute off, 5 rounds

or

5 Pullups
15 Goblet Squats
15 dumbbell curl and press
15 deadlifts
15 1/2 turkish getups, each side

Tuesday:

Sandbag clean and shoulder, 20
Sandbag carry, 50 meters
Sandbag Zercher squat, 10

Wednesday:

Strength:
Deadlift, peak to max and do 3 sets across of triples
Dumbbell curl and press:  3×10

And/Or

High Intensity Interval Training
15 pushups
15 box jumps
50 meter sprint
4 rounds, followed by 400 meter run

Thursday:

Rest Day

Friday:

Strength:
Squat,peak to max and do 3 sets across of 3-5 reps
Overhead Press, 5×5
Pullups: 3 x max reps

OR

400 meter run
30 squats
400 meter run
30 body rows or 3 rope climbs
400 meter run
30 walking lunges or stair run
400 meter run
30 pushups
400 meter run
30 knees to elbows or situps
400 meter run