Where did I say the object was building speed? I said that people incorrectly think all intervals are about running as fast as you can for that duration.

---

Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon

Perhaps I read too far into this and assumed things I shouldn't have.

"being able to bang of a couple 60s laps isn't gonna do you no good when you are running 4h IM marathons, and speed is definitely not going to be the limiter when you want to break 3 or some other decent time. "

I think you almost answered that yourself. I would say that in my experience, being in good shape on the bike (and not over-biking) has been when I've had my best runs in longer events. Really, if you're not out front racing head-to-head, it's about meting out the effort to achieve the best finish; generally that involves throttling back on the bike and making good on the run. Of course, the stronger your biking is, the faster 'throttled back' is.

Either way, you need to be thinking "what can I do on the bike now, that will help my run later"

---

29 years and counting

Probably just me struggling to get my point across as usual ;)

---

Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon

Lol

So point being you can maximize your increase in speed by staying easy and running more mileage? This all comes from me wanting to run a faster 13.1 standalone. I’m setting running goals alongside my tri goals. In turn I hope to carry that fitness into a faster 70.3 run split later in the year. So I’m looking at how to do a long run focused block with some cycling sprinkled in, mostly just because I got a new bike. I want to get faster.

For me to give an appropriate answer would require knowing how long your race is

In the short term (6 mo) an open half marathon. In the longer term (9 mo), a faster run split in a 70.3 next summer.

The lower you overall run mileage the more of it you should be doing at an easy/conversational pace. The majority of triathletes don't run enough miles nor do they run consistently enough to really worry about anything other than 5-15 min of fast running per week. They are trying to put a huge layer of frosting on a piece of bread and calling it cake.

More easy/conversational miles more often would be a solution that gets them to the finish line faster then worrying about doing intervals of some sort

---

Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

No. I recall two studies, one with rowers one with runners, that found that a program made up of the interplay between low intensity endurance work and VO2/HIT work was most productive at increasing performance metrics down to roughly 4 hours a week of work. Triathletes running less than 4 hours a week shouldn't think their situation applies.


yup


nope, and it needn't be.

To quote the good doctor Phil:
Do the minimal amount of work required to induce an adaptation and no more.

You'll be quite surprised how little work is required to induce an adaptation, both the volume of work and especially the high intensity work



No public advice/plan is verbatim, rather look at it and learn from it and glean from it what will best work for you. This is the YMMV part. Knowing how recommendations fit in with your physiology, life, goals, training, etc.

---

36 kona qualifiers 2006-'23 - 3 Kona Podiums - 4 OA IM AG wins - 5 IM AG wins - 18 70.3 AG wins
I ka nana no a 'ike -- by observing, one learns | Kulia i ka nu'u -- strive for excellence
Garmin Glycogen Use App | Garmin Fat Use App

Your more likely to get injured and go backwards fitness wise by running too hard. Whereas if you just increased your running volume at a lower intensity you would be getting faster. Granted not everyone can increase volume but with running you can find a way to squeeze 15 mins in here there.

Yes, consistency and mileage is key! Read this and follow it, you don’t have to do doubles since you’re doing tri, but try to run everyday or at least 6 days a week and do that consistently.
http://www.letsrun.com/...i-sucked-in-college/

---

Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon

I agree 100%, but the one caveat I'll add is changing running courses. I moved last year. At my previous house I could walk out the front door and run a 5 mile out and back that was dead straight. In my new location the subdivision is one mile from one end to another. In order to get any mileage I had to weave in and out of every street, requiring a 90 degree turn every quarter mile. I was mid way through a marathon training plan so volume was fairly high. Adding those turns in (without building up to it) resulted in a meniscus tear.

While it's easy to see now, I never once gave it a thought then. Just a word of warning - hopefully it saves someone an injury.