The Long Run With 4x 100m Stride Outs

I have prepared this article to illustrate the concept of what a long run with 4x 100m stride outs near the end will look like.

I did this session on Wednesday.  Starting from home I went downhill for about 15 minutes and got on a flat trail and ran that until half way through my run before returning home on exactly the same route. When I was 25 minutes from home I commenced 4x 100m stride outs every five minutes.

The purpose of the long run is to develop the aerobic system. Making the heart and lungs more efficient will enable you to run harder or longer with less effort.

A stride out is not a full on sprint, but an acceleration in pace, running qwikly with good form for a short distance (in this case 100m). It is a good way to conclude a long run with a series of them prior to the cool down as it reminds the legs that running long and steady isn’t the only thing we do.

Don’t forget to finish with 10 minutes stretching to assist with the recovery.

If you look at the graph above you can see the altitude I was at with the grey shading. It starts high at about ~50m above sea level, and drops down staying nice and low then climbs back up at the end.

The yellow line is my cadence which stays steady in the low 80’s the entire run, although it does get up into the high 80’s with each of the stride outs briefly.

The red line is my heart rate (HR).  It was a very hot day and I got sun burnt!!! My HR climbed steadily from the outset all the way to the end. That wasn’t helped by the fact I had to run up a hill to finish with, but as I got slightly dehydrated it was continuing to increase during the flat section too. It never levelled out totally.

The green line is my pace.  This was relatively steady throughout the session up until I got to the first stride out, where you can see the spike where it looks like a cathedral spire, then it returns to the same level as previously.  This is repeated four times. I then commence my cool down, which is at a slightly lower pace as I am now climbing up a hill to home.

So there we have a qwik analysis of a long run with 4x 100m stride outs. Keep these points in mind on your next long run

If you would like further advice feel free to contact me.

I am the Head Coach & Director of Qwik Kiwi – Endurance Sports Consultant.

I specialise in assisting first timers and recreational athletes to achieve their sporting goals. I can be contacted at coachray@coachray.nz and 021 348 729.

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