80/20 Running

There are a dozen types of run in all. They are divided into three categories. Low-intensity runs take place entirely in Zones 1 and 2 (refer back to chapter 6 for zone descriptions). Moderate-intensity runs include at least one segment in Zone 3. High-intensity runs feature multiple efforts in Zone 4 or 5 or both.

If currently you run only three or four times per week, set a goal to run six or seven times per week. According to the World Health Organization, daily aerobic exercise is required for maximum all-around health. As a runner, you might as well meet this requirement by running. Not only will your health improve but your running will too.

MIXED INTERVAL RUNS Mixed interval runs are intended to sharpen runners up for racing after they’ve already built a solid foundation of fitness. Including efforts in Zones 3, 4, and 5, they serve to maintain the fitness gains that have been accrued through workouts individually focused on each of these zones.

Seiler’s rule also helps runners by explicitly defining low intensity. The boundary between low intensity and moderate intensity, according to Seiler, falls at the ventilatory threshold, which is the intensity level at which the breathing rate abruptly deepens.

Typically, these adjustments are achieved by increasing and decreasing overall running volume rather than by fiddling with the balance of intensities.

LONG RUNS WITH SPEED PLAY A long run with speed play is an endurance run that’s done mostly at low intensity but has short bursts in Zone 3 sprinkled throughout it.

If your ultimate goal is to become the best runner you can possibly be, then you’ll want to continue to increase your running volume until your current limit merges with your final genetic limit. This is the point beyond which there is no possibility for further improvement by means of additional running.

High-Intensity Runs Speed play runs, hill repetition runs, and interval runs featuring long, short, and mixed intervals include high-intensity efforts in Zones 4 and 5.

in the case of interval-type workouts that feature relatively short active recovery periods between high-intensity efforts, the entire interval section of the workout, including recovery periods, is counted as time spent at high intensity.