Coach Turney Workout 8

Purpose: To blend aerobic support intervals with some harder efforts to practice the changes of pace that happen in longer races. Also, to get a small dose of work at a higher heart rate to prepare for vo2max intervals.
Hard effort overall – 8/10.

Warmup:
5min easy shuffle jog/walk
10min easy run
2×15 reps per side of Warmup Circuit B – Video
(A-skips, straight-leg running, high skips, side-to-side speed hops, in & out speed hops)

Workout: Fartlek Ladder
1,2,3,4,5min threshold with 1min easy recovery between each interval +
4,3,2,1min hard with 2min easy jogging recovery between each interval.

*Run the intervals going up the ladder (1min->5min) at a consistent threshold effort. Then, for the intervals back down (4min->1min), each can get progressively faster finishing at a hard 5k effort. I suggest running this on a trail with moderate, but runnable hills. But just like any of the workouts, you can complete on any terrain that matches the terrain of your goal races.

Cooldown:
10-15min easy run or incline walk @15%

Effort Descriptions:
Shuffle jog/walk – Breathing very easy and relaxed. Zone 1.
Easy – Breathing calm enough you could maintain normal conversation. Zone 2.
Threshold – Breathing becomes labored and you can maybe say a sentence. Race pace for events 60-90 minutes. High zone 3/low zone 4.
Hard – Breathing is labored and you can barely get a couple words out. Takes a lot of focus to stay relaxed. 5k-10k race effort. Intervals will end in Zone 5.

Scaling options:
Beginners – 1,2,3,4min threshold with 1min walk between + 3,2,1min hard intervals with 2min walk/shuffle jog between.
Yancy OCR Athletes – Replace workout with a continuous steady/moderate fartlek. Follow the ladder structure, but run intervals at a steady zone 3 effort with rests at an easy zone 1-2 effort. You should only spend time doing longer zone 4/5 intervals 1-2x per week, so skip the threshold and hard intervals unless this is one of your harder efforts.