jack daniels classifies running training into four categories (see his lectures here). i’ll summarize here because i found it to be a helpful framework for building my own training program for the new year. each type adheres to the same general principle of minimum effort for the maximum gain. he says if you want to improve physiological function, you want to stress it. but you want to stress it at the lowest intensity of stress
easy runs
- build aerobic base and ability to do higher volume runs
- train at max stroke volume to gradually create cellular adaptations
- mitochondrial density
- fat oxidation
- 60% of max heart rate
threshold training
- build endurance through pushing the lactate threshold. blood lactate accumulation happens at difference paces / effort levels. so goal is to push accumulation farther out relative to effort
- accumulation is function of how much produced vs how much cleared
- past the threshold is where speed of running beyond which blood lactate rises continuously instead of plateau
- at or below threshold = steady state lactate accumulation (not rising)
- train at threshold means training at pace where any faster results in lactate rising continuously
- 82 – 88% of mhr
- threshold is basically pace you can hold for roughly 1 hour
interval
- purpose is to maximize aerobic power. how much blood is delivered and how much of that o2 is converted to energy
- aerobic power is approximated via vo2 max
- o2 consumption measured by millilitres of oxygen per kilogram of the body mass per minute (e.g., mL/(kg·min)).
- vo2 max is max rate of oxygen consumption
- 97 – 100% of MHR
repetition
- kind of like intervals (honestly not sure why he called this out separately), except the focus is on even higher intensity followed by long rest periods. purpose is to improve running economy
as you go from easy running to repetitions, the main variables within a training session that change are intensity and volume. easy runs are high volume, low intensity. on the other ends, repetitions and intervals are high intensity but low volume. this is a helpful lens through which to view running programs because the proportion of a type of training in a running program tells you the type of race or performance it’s effective for
while i really like doing threshold training, my current volume of training is low so right now i feel like i’m sacrificing base building when i really ought to aim at building more volume and developing a larger base. right now i do higher intensity training twice a week, but i may dial that back to just once a week and dedicate my other days to easy runs. it’s hard for me to do two intense sessions a week without feeling the impact on my joints / ligaments, particularly my right knee – which tells me i should probably scale back the intensity and just focus on volume