With spring upon us, and runners marking their calendars with races, it’s time to start bringing some speed back into our training cycle. What are some good strategies for increasing our intensity to set us up for a great race season and not, as runners often do, setting us up for injury? I put this question to friend and fellow coach Mike Barnow.
I first met Mike in 1982 when dating my soon to be wife. He coached her (Jean Kerr) to 2:47 in the marathon and had a stable of terrific runners. I would join them weekly, either on the track running myself, or helping with a stop watch. Mike coached terrific runners such as Bill Krohn to 13:25 for 5k (although his 13:38 at the Millrose Games 5,000 meters on that 11 lap to the mile track at Madison Square Garden had to be his best performance) and Charlie Bevier, a former team mate of mine from the Onteora R.C. with a sub-29 minute 10k. In 1984 he guided Kenyan Sosthenes Bitok to 6th place in the 10k at the Olympic Games in 28:04. Those were just a few names that came to Mike for guidance.
Mike has always worked with regular people too, not just the top-class crowd. His workouts were always a mix of what I would call the “gunslingers” and the middle of the packers. I gave Mike a call and asked him if he would give some suggestions for how to add some speed, or ‘quality’ work into a training program. His email replies came in spurts, five sentences here, ten sentences there, always with a note saying “I wanted to get this off to you while it was fresh in my memory. More to come”. From his wealth of knowledge and experience with runners of all abilities, here is what he suggests on how to implement speed and quality into a running program.
First some basic guidelines for speed work regardless of the time of year.
Stay on soft surfaces whenever possible. Mike Barnow has a home in New Paltz, NY and his athletes train on the many miles of dirt carriage roads around the Mohonk Mountain House Preserve and Lake Minnewaska State Park. Trails, grass, synthetic track, and soccer fields are much better on your legs than pavement.
Show up for your intensity workout days reasonable fresh. You will get more out of the workout, recover faster, and reduce your chance of getting injured or sick. Limping into or away from a workout is not part of the recipe for a long term, sustained training cycle.
Finish the workout feeling like you could do more. 80-90% of maximum effort in practice is adequate. Save “going crazy” for race efforts.
Work on race-specific endurance and learn the rhythm of the race. A 5k effort is much different than what you would put out in a 21k or 42k race.
Design workouts that are challenging but doable. You want to sustain two to four months of building fitness and going too hard doesn’t allow for a long buildup. Patience learned in your training will be key when you race.
Negative split your workout. Having spent a lot of time with Mike and his athletes I observed his runners starting conservatively and slowly increasing their effort and pace. Much of the faster running, although fast, is controlled and progressively faster.
Base your workout on perceived effort. Not trying to hit an exact pace teaches you how to relax throughout the session.
Mike Barnow’s Workout Suggestions:
Before any workout, Mike’s athletes warm up with some easy running, stretching, drills, and some easy strides.
For 5k and 10k training: 2 x 8 minutes, 2 x 6 minutes at tempo with 3 minutes of rest between repeats (28 minutes total). This workout is great for groups of athletes of various abilities as they all start and finish together. Mike has them run out 4 minutes on rail trail, then turn around and come back. They are encouraged to run slightly faster on each repeat, finishing each one about 15 seconds faster than the previous. A conservative start is important. What’s nice about this workout is that It is easy to play around with the repeats, 8/8/6/6 one week, another week 10/8/6/4. With 25-30 minutes of total tempo volume, you will slowly build fitness while also finding your race rhythm during the workouts.
A similar session for the half marathon athlete would be 40 to 60 minutes of tempo volume structured as 2 x 12, 2 x 8, with 3-4 minutes rest in between each repetition. Over the course of a training cycle, Mike would increase this workout to a 4 x 15 minutes, 6 x 10 or 2 x 30.
Since 1982 Mike has worked with many of the East Africans and currently his best athlete is Harbert Okuti of Uganda, who has run 1:03 for a half marathon and mid 28’s for 10k. He has finished 7th at the Falmouth Road Race and twice won the Hartford Half Marathon. Here is how Mike described one of Harbert’s workouts. “I would want him to run negative splits in any repeats in any of the above situations, starting out at about race pace (4:55-5:00) and if it comes relatively easy, increase the pace in last 5 minutes of each repeat.”
Mike also does a similar workout for his athletes in the Westchester area on a loop in the Rockefeller Preserve that is about 40 yards longer than a mile. It is not flat but it is gradual up and down on dirt carriage roads.
5k session might be 2 x 2 laps, 2 min rest with 2nd lap slightly faster than the first. Might build to 1 x 4 laps, or 1 x 3 laps, 1 x 2 laps
10k session might start at 2 x 2 laps and build to 2 x 3 laps, or 1 x 5 laps, or 1 x 6 laps, depending on athlete. Always want the last lap the fastest without digging in.
½ Marathon/Marathon session. The effort here would be easier than the 10k training. Athlete might start with 3 x 3 laps building to 10 laps. The combination may vary; 1 x 4 laps and 2 x 3 laps. 2 x 5 laps or 1 x 6 laps and 1 x 4 laps.
Dick Vincent, is a USATF/I.A.A.F Level 3/5 certified coach based out of Palenville, NY. He can be found on-line at DickVincent.com and reached at dickvincentrun@gmail.com.