“I’ll admit to being nervous about how the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas 5K & Half Marathon would go for me.  I am experimenting with lower volume, higher intensity training & the longest I had run since Oct 2022 was 6.5 miles.  Truthfully, I wasn’t 100% onboard with this new training plan & I was 2nd guessing the process.

Why the experiment?  Well, I’ve spent 7 yrs working on building & establishing a solid foundation of base volume.  Now that I have a great base, Coach Michelle & I decided to focus on improving my overall speed by lowering the volume & increasing the amount of intensity work.  We also discussed that I might not feel the full benefits of the new training plan for this 1st race of the season (we had about 7 wks to implement this program prior to Rock ‘n’ Roll).

Highlights of My New Training Plan

Here are the highlights of my lower volume, higher intensity training plan for run (half & full marathon) & bike (Century) distances:

1. Less Volume – ‘Long’ runs & bikes are NO MORE than 60% of race distance (7 mi for half marathon, 16 mi for full marathon, 60 mi for Century ride)
2. More Intensity – Both long run & long bike workouts include very short higher intensity intervals
3. Increasing Intensity – Those short interval sets will incrementally get longer & more intense over time
4. Targeted Strength Training – Sloooooow lifting focusing on Time Under Tension (TUT) (see NOTES below)

Frankly, I didn’t think it was going to work.  I even told friends that I was not ready for this half marathon.  I thought I was going to hit Mile 7 & fall apart!

But, when I reached Mile 7, I was totally shocked at how great I felt!  My legs weren’t exhausted, my effort level still felt good & I was able to keep using my 4:1 run/walk ratio.  I actually finished 02 min FASTER than what Coach Michelle & I had planned!

I attribute my success to the lower volume, increased intensity & solid strength training.  Now I am so excited to see how this new training plan affects all of this season’s races!”

NOTES:

For more info on TUT training, see the following blog posts:

• “5 Counterintuitive Concepts I’ve Come to Accept”
• “Think You Don’t Need Fast-Twitch Muscles?  Think Again!”