Warm-Up
General (8:00): 3 Rounds, easy and steady: 200 m Easy Jog or 1:30 Easy Bike 10 Air Squats 10 Walking Lunges (5 per leg) 10 Hip Bridges 10 Calf Raises Specific (10:00): 2 Rounds: 10 Leg Swings (each leg, front-to-back) 10 Ankle Rocks (each side) 30 sec Easy Jog in place or A-Skips Running progression: 1 x 200 m at easy pace (conversational) 1 x 200 m at goal mile pace (steady, even effort) Then: 1:00 Walk 2 x 20 m Strides at about 85% effort, walk back to recover Self-check: if the 200 m at goal pace felt controlled and your breathing settled within a minute of walking, run the full 1 mile Rx. If your calves or shins felt tight or you had to slow down well before 200 m, choose the 1 km scaled run and run/walk as needed.
Coach's note: Primes the calves, quads, hips and ankles for 1,600 m of continuous running and lets you feel goal pace over 200 m before committing; if that pace felt steady and your breathing recovered quickly, go Rx on the mile, otherwise take the 1 km. You should finish warm, lightly breathing and ready to settle into an even pace, not tired.
Open Road
For Time:1 Mile Run (1,600 m) Run outdoors on a road or track, or on a treadmill at 1% incline. Start controlled, hold an even pace, and finish it off in the final 400 m.
Coach's note
- Stimulus
- A hard, even threshold effort, about 6:30-9:30 for most. Don't turn it into a sprint start: if you redline in the first 400 m, the next mile's worth of pain comes early.
- Muscles
- Calves, quads and glutes drive every stride, hamstrings and hip flexors cycle the leg. Calves and feet take the most impact, and the warm-up calf raises and lunges have them primed.
- Strategy
- Run lap 1 (400 m) at the pace you can hold, about 85%. Hold the same split on laps 2 and 3. Build at 1,200 m and empty it over the final 400 m. Stay relaxed in the shoulders.
- Scaling
- Scaled is 1 km: aim for 5:00-8:00 and push the last 200 m. Run/walk in even blocks, e.g. 3 min run, 30 sec walk, and keep moving. Treadmill: set 1% incline.
Cool-Down
4:00 Easy Walk or Slow Bike Log your score. Then: 1:00 Couch Stretch (each side) 1:00 Standing Calf Stretch against a Wall (each side) 1:00 Half Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch (each side) 1:00 Seated Hamstring Reach (each side) 1:00 Figure-4 Glute Stretch (each side) 1:00 Foam Roll Calves and Quads 1:00 Child's Pose with Deep Nasal Breathing
Coach's note: The mile loaded your calves, quads, hamstrings and hip flexors on every stride; the calf stretch and couch stretch target those first, and the figure-4 releases the glutes. Finish with slow nasal breathing in child's pose to bring your heart rate down after the final 400 m push.
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