Last Sunday, I did my first progression run of the year – it was a wonderful change from the long base pace runs I’ve been doing most Sundays. What is a progression run? Well, according to The Final Sprint:
The concept is quite simple: You start out at a slow pace to give your body the sensation of embarking on a relaxing run. Complete relaxation and diaphragmatic breathing is the only focus. This allows the runner to unleash their inner speed. Progression runs can vary in duration, frequency and intensity – but all of them stick to the theme of a progressively, faster pace. – via TheFinalSprint.com.
According to Greg McMillan, a renowned exercise scientist and coach, progression runs are effective because:
- Warming up the muscles by starting out slowly decreases the risk of injury and “primes” the physiological pathways that are used in faster running. In contrast, if you start out too fast, you will stress your anaerobic system which can inhibit the development of your aerobic system.
- Progression runs allow you to increase the volume of faster, stamina-type training while also enabling you to recovery quickly, which results in great gains in fitness.
Not being an exercise scientist myself, I can’t speak to the accuracy of all of these claims, but I did find that I really enjoyed the challenge of my Sunday run and I did seem to recovery quickly.
I also think that progression runs have a couple of additional benefits:
- They help your mind and body figure out what a particular pace feels like.
This is something that I definitely have not mastered. My Sunday run was supposed to be an 11-mile run that started out at recovery pace with pace increases every other mile, ending at half-marathon pace. I found this to be pretty tough – although I started out at about the right pace and ended up at about the right pace, I went back and forth a bit during the middle miles instead of doing a true progression.
- They are a lot of fun and can add some additional challenge and variety to your training.
If you’d like to shake up your training a bit and try a progression run, I’ve got a couple of resources for you to check out for some specific workout ideas:
- The High School Runner has a post where he discusses three different types of progression runs you can try.
- On the McMillan Running site, this article gives tips for three more types of progression runs, the “Thirds”, the “DUSA” (named after a Discovery USA workout) and the “Super Fast Finish”.
Do you incorporate progression runs into your training? Or are you going to try them out? Let me know what you think!
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