Up Your Training

Whether your goal is to run a kilometer without stopping or to qualify for Comrades, how you train has a dramatic effect on your performance. Of course, there’s more than one way to get where you’re going, each with its merits.

A good place to start is running regularly for fitness, since the most important building block of running is consistency.

A better approach, once you have a solid base, is to add one “quality” workout per week to increase your fitness. But to take your running to your highest level, it’s best to follow a training plan skewed to your strengths.

For instance, if endurance is your strong suit, find a plan that focuses more on mileage and tempo runs and less on interval training. If speed is on your side, focus on interval training and less on mileage.

Applying the principles of good, better, and best to your workouts will help you improve your fitness, avoid plateaus, and get closer to where you want to go —wherever that is.

Novice runners should follow the recommendations below for at least two months before adding additional workouts to their weekly routine. Intermediate and advanced runners may add more sessions as their bodies adapt.

Novice

Tempo Run: Once a week
Intervals: Every other week
Long Runs: Once a week

Intermediate

Tempo Run: Once a week
Intervals: Once a week
Long Runs: Once a week

Advanced

Tempo Run: Twice a week
Intervals: Once or twice a week
Long Runs: Once a week

Click next for the breakdown of the individual workouts