Working With Run Intensity Zones

We talked about setting intensity for run intervals from race pace baselines in https://fwdmotionsthlm.blog/setting-running-intensity/ if you missed it take a look. In this post we will dig into the subject a little more.

For context,  I’ve been listening to the Training Talk series of pods on the Sweat Elite podcast. The background is that the Sweat Elite founder Matt Fox has been struggling to hit his goal of a 2:18 marathon even though his key marathon training sessions leading up to the races have predicted success. Under the guidance of Max Frankel they concluded that what was missing was the underpinning energy systems needed at shorter race distances. The revised approach is to first build this speed base before re-specializing towards the marathon distance later in the year.

To do this they have a system that rotates and progresses through the intensity zones. Every third day they have a key interval session above LT1 (Z3 to Z7), the day after that key session is a Z2 day and the day after that (preceding the next >LT1 session) is Z1. So the first day of the block is Z7 or Z6 and then the three-day micro-cycles descend from Z5. The blocks then repeat:

I like it. It works all the zones and allows 72 hours between the hard sessions which is important for ligament, tendon, and connective tissue recovery. It also removes the focus of the single weekly “long-run” which I am skeptical about for most recreational runners who simply do not have enough weekly volume to capitalize from it.

However, one problem many of us have when listening to elite/sub-elite athletes talking about training is converting it to something applicable to the level of runner you are. When someone talks about 1km repeats on the track, a kilometer at the same intensity could take 3- to 5+ minutes depending on your level.  As the body responds to target time-at-intensity, distance is not a great prescription. One of their pods talked about Zone 6 - 400m to 800m Paced training - which for Matt makes sense but for a slower runner Zone 6 might be 300m to 600m paced training (or something else).

I wanted to create an interval workout framework that individuals could use regardless of current run ability. I managed to get a Zoom call with Max Frankel at his home in Boulder, Colorado to discuss this with him. We came up with this table. No doubt it can be improved but it is a good start.

In the table I have listed the zones, the focus of that intensity, the theoretical physiological capacity, or in other words how long could you run at this pace in a single all-out effort at this intensity. What would be the total (accumulated) work you should be targeting for the session? If it is an interval session, how long a single interval should be? What kind of rest should you be taking and the target pace for that interval? The idea is that it can be used to guide the formulation of workouts at each zone intensity regardless of current ability.

Try to use these guidelines in your training and see how you get on. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions, feedback or improvements on the table.