Rogelio
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- May 2, 2025
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Five important workouts for increasing endurance include progression runs that get faster over time, tempo training at 85–90% of your max heart rate, long slow distance runs to improve your aerobic fitness, Yasso 800s to get you ready for a marathon, and hill repeats to build strength and power.
To get the most out of your training and avoid burnout, you'll need to mix things up in a smart way throughout your training cycle. The specifics of each session are what will help you improve your long-distance performance.
For the first third of your targeted distance, run at a slow, conversational pace. Then, throughout the middle portion, slowly pick up the pace until you reach the last third, where you should run at a comfortably hard rate, around 10 to 20 seconds quicker per mile than your starting pace.
This workout pattern teaches your body how to stay in shape and work well even when you're tired. Practicing controlled discomfort will help you get stronger both physically and mentally. To get ready for race day, try adding one progression run to your schedule each week.
Tempo runs help your body learn how to keep up faster paces for longer periods of time. Most coaches say that you should run at a speed that is 85 to 90 percent of your maximal heart rate, which is a speed you could keep up for roughly an hour. Start with 20-minute parts and work your way up to 40-minute segments as you get stronger.
The best thing about tempo work is that it's quick and easy. You'll get a lot of endurance gains without having to wait as long to recover from harder interval sessions.
When you run LSD, you should keep a conversational speed, which is roughly 60–70% of your maximal heart rate. Training at this moderate intensity helps your body build more mitochondria and capillaries, boosting your aerobic capacity and improving your ability to burn fat as a primary fuel source.
The cumulative effect of these runs is what makes them so useful. By slowly increasing the distance of your long runs over the course of weeks and months, you are building both your physical strength and your mental strength for race day.
If you want to run a marathon in 3 hours and 30 minutes, for example, you would run each 800m in 3 minutes and 30 seconds. Start with 4 to 6 repeats and work your way up to 10. This planned workout not only greatly improves your VO2 max, but it also makes you mentally stronger as you go through the repeats.
Yasso 800s are great since they are easy to do and can help you forecast how well you will do in a marathon.
Pick a moderate hill with a slope of 4–8% and run hard up it for 30 to 90 seconds, focusing on driving your arms hard and lifting your knees high. Take a walk or jog to get better. Hill repeats help your heart and lungs get stronger, and your quads, hamstrings, and calves get stronger, which speeds up your stamina development.
Start with 4 to 6 repetitions and work your way up to 10 to 12 as you get stronger. Pushing through the burn will provide you with mental strength that will help you at tough times in a race.
To get the most out of your training and avoid burnout, you'll need to mix things up in a smart way throughout your training cycle. The specifics of each session are what will help you improve your long-distance performance.
Progression Runs
Many runners just think about keeping a steady pace, but progression runs are a more dynamic way to train for endurance. These workouts teach your body to finish stronger than it started, which is what you want to do in a race.For the first third of your targeted distance, run at a slow, conversational pace. Then, throughout the middle portion, slowly pick up the pace until you reach the last third, where you should run at a comfortably hard rate, around 10 to 20 seconds quicker per mile than your starting pace.
This workout pattern teaches your body how to stay in shape and work well even when you're tired. Practicing controlled discomfort will help you get stronger both physically and mentally. To get ready for race day, try adding one progression run to your schedule each week.
Tempo Training
Tempo training is a key part of training for long-distance runners who want to do better in races. These "comfortably hard" workouts are meant to raise your lactate threshold, which is the speed at which your body starts to build up lactic acid quicker than it can get rid of it.Tempo runs help your body learn how to keep up faster paces for longer periods of time. Most coaches say that you should run at a speed that is 85 to 90 percent of your maximal heart rate, which is a speed you could keep up for roughly an hour. Start with 20-minute parts and work your way up to 40-minute segments as you get stronger.
The best thing about tempo work is that it's quick and easy. You'll get a lot of endurance gains without having to wait as long to recover from harder interval sessions.
Long Slow Distance (LSD) Runs
Tempo runs help you improve your threshold capacity, but Long Slow Distance (LSD) runs are the most important part of any serious endurance program. These long exercises, which usually make up 25–30% of your weekly mileage in one session, help your body make important changes that shorter workouts can't.When you run LSD, you should keep a conversational speed, which is roughly 60–70% of your maximal heart rate. Training at this moderate intensity helps your body build more mitochondria and capillaries, boosting your aerobic capacity and improving your ability to burn fat as a primary fuel source.
The cumulative effect of these runs is what makes them so useful. By slowly increasing the distance of your long runs over the course of weeks and months, you are building both your physical strength and your mental strength for race day.
Yasso 800s
Yasso 800s are one of the most popular and successful marathon-specific workouts you can do to build on your base of long, steady distance runs. This interval training plan, which is named after running coach Bart Yasso, has you perform 800-meter repeats with equal rest time. You should aim for your marathon finish time in hours/minutes as your 800m time in minutes/seconds.If you want to run a marathon in 3 hours and 30 minutes, for example, you would run each 800m in 3 minutes and 30 seconds. Start with 4 to 6 repeats and work your way up to 10. This planned workout not only greatly improves your VO2 max, but it also makes you mentally stronger as you go through the repeats.
Yasso 800s are great since they are easy to do and can help you forecast how well you will do in a marathon.
Hill Repeats
When a lot of runners reach a plateau in their training, hill repeats become their secret weapon for building muscle, power, and mental toughness all at once. This tough workout makes your muscles work harder against gravity, which builds up the strength you need to run faster on level ground.Pick a moderate hill with a slope of 4–8% and run hard up it for 30 to 90 seconds, focusing on driving your arms hard and lifting your knees high. Take a walk or jog to get better. Hill repeats help your heart and lungs get stronger, and your quads, hamstrings, and calves get stronger, which speeds up your stamina development.
Start with 4 to 6 repetitions and work your way up to 10 to 12 as you get stronger. Pushing through the burn will provide you with mental strength that will help you at tough times in a race.
