Enhancing your VO2 max by running at a high intensity will pay dividends for your running. This is a great session for all runners and triathletes, especially those running 5km & 10km events.
Each week I will be posting the Friday Fartlek Run Sessions that you can do to enhance your running. Fartlek is a Swedish term that is often used by runners and it means speed-play. See a previous post about training intensity (levels) to know how hard to work.
The inspiration for this post came from an article from McMillan Running that takes you through a session that will develop your 5km running speed. Read the original article here. This week’s session advances things from last week by getting you to maintain the pace for a longer interval.
McMillan Running Buildup Workout #2
- 10min WU Level II;
- 8x 600m Level V, 300-400m Level II RI;
- 10min CD Level II;
- 10min Stretching
Start the workout with a Warm Up (WU) of ten minutes of easy jogging at Level II.
The Main Set involves running eight reps of 600m at Level V. Between reps jog for 300m to 400m at Level II for your Rest Interval (RI).
The Cool Down (CD) is at a low intensity, jogging (Level II) for a minimum of ten minutes.
Finish with 10 minutes of stretching to assist with the recovery.
The recommendation is that you do a workout of this nature once a fortnight. The temptation is to run the first reps too fast. Target your goal 5km pace and aim to maintain that through ALL reps. Use the below chart to judge your pace.
| Goal 5km Time | 600m Target Time |
| 0:16:00 | 0:01:55 |
| 0:16:30 | 0:01:59 |
| 0:17:00 | 0:02:02 |
| 0:17:30 | 0:02:06 |
| 0:18:00 | 0:02:10 |
| 0:18:30 | 0:02:13 |
| 0:19:00 | 0:02:17 |
| 0:19:30 | 0:02:20 |
| 0:20:00 | 0:02:24 |
| 0:20:30 | 0:02:28 |
| 0:21:00 | 0:02:31 |
| 0:21:30 | 0:02:35 |
| 0:22:00 | 0:02:38 |
| 0:22:30 | 0:02:42 |
| 0:23:00 | 0:02:46 |
| 0:23:30 | 0:02:49 |
| 0:24:00 | 0:02:53 |
| 0:24:30 | 0:02:56 |
| 0:25:00 | 0:03:00 |
| 0:25:30 | 0:03:04 |
| 0:26:00 | 0:03:07 |
| 0:26:30 | 0:03:11 |
| 0:27:00 | 0:03:14 |
| 0:27:30 | 0:03:18 |
| 0:28:00 | 0:03:22 |
| 0:28:30 | 0:03:25 |
| 0:29:00 | 0:03:29 |
| 0:29:30 | 0:03:32 |
| 0:30:00 | 0:03:36 |
| 0:30:30 | 0:03:40 |
| 0:31:00 | 0:03:43 |
| 0:31:30 | 0:03:47 |
| 0:32:00 | 0:03:50 |
| 0:32:30 | 0:03:54 |
| 0:33:00 | 0:03:58 |
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.
Share this post so your friends can benefit as well.
Download the Garmin (.FIT) files for this workout for FREE
If you enjoyed this workout, here is a similar session I published.
Get my great e-Book that is packed full of my most popular 20-run sessions for only $7 (save $20), normally this is $27.
This eBook is a veritable gold mine of workouts that you can include in your training.
At the special price of only $7, you will save yourself $20.
