Optimising Your Running Training: The Complete Guide

What makes a good running workout?

A common mistake is that runners always train at the same pace. Not too fast, not too slow: just that one comfortable mid-pace. It feels good, but it doesn't yield much after a while. Your body needs variation to adapt.

A smart training schedule consists roughly of three types of training:

Relaxed endurance runs (the foundation): most of your kilometers, at a pace where you can easily carry on a conversation. These workouts build your aerobic base, make your capillaries denser and teach your body to burn fat efficiently.

Quality training (the incentive): interval, tempo, fartlek and hill sprints. This is where you make the difference. You train speed, strength and your lactate threshold.

Recovery training: short, easy runs that help your body recover without putting extra strain on it.

The ratio? Roughly 80% quiet, 20% intensive. That sounds like little, but that 20% largely determines your progress.

Where do you start?

That depends on your goal and your background. Have you just started running? Then first read our start-to-run guide for a solid foundation. Have you already made some progress and do you want to go faster or further? Then the answers are below.

Training zones: the basics of smart training

Before you start specific workouts, it is important to know in which zone you are training. Your training zones determine the intensity of your training and therefore the training effect.

Train by feel with the chat test: can you still easily carry on a conversation? Then you are in the lower zones. Short sentences still work? Then you are in zone 3-4. Can't say another word? Then you are in zone 5.

Do you want to train more precisely? Then read our guides about training at heart rate and training with power.

Types of training

There are five basic workouts that every runner should know. Each with a different goal, a different intensity and a different place in your weekly schedule.

Interval training

The fastest way to get faster. You alternate hard effort with active recovery. Good for your VO2max, your speed and your lactate threshold. Not for beginners who have been training for less than six months.

Tempo run

Comfortably hard. Just below your lactate threshold, the pace you can maintain for about 40-60 minutes. A tempo run teaches your body to deal with lactic acid more efficiently. Essential for anyone who wants to improve a 10k or half marathon.

Zone 2 training

Surprisingly effective, surprisingly underrated. Slow, controlled running in zone 2 builds your aerobic engine. More mitochondria, better fat burning, a stronger heart. The foundation on which everything rests.

Fartlek

Swedish for "speed game". No stopwatch, no strict schedules: just speed up when you feel like it. Ideal for adding variety to your training and working on speed and fitness at the same time.

Hill sprints

The most underrated training for runners. Hill sprinting is specific strength training and technique training at the same time, with less risk of injury than flat sprints. Even once a week makes a noticeable difference.

How do you structure a training week?

An example for someone who trains three times a week:

• Monday: easy endurance run (zone 1-2), 45-60 minutes
• Wednesday: quality training (interval, tempo or fartlek), 45-60 minutes including warm-up
• Saturday: longer endurance run (zone 2), 60-90 minutes

Do you train four or five times a week? Add an extra easy run and one or two shorter recovery workouts. The quality training remains a maximum of one or two times a week. More is rarely better.

Learn more

Do you want to know how to structure your training smartly over weeks and months? Then read our guide to periodization for runners. Do you want to get stronger and prevent injuries? Then strength training for runners is required reading.

Running training starts and ends with the right preparation. Also read our guides on warming up before running and cooling down.