1. Spectrum of Running Types
  2. The Most Common Ones
    1. Long run
    2. Intervals
      1. Caution
      2. Progression
      3. Example
    3. Hill run
      1. Uphills
      2. Downhills
    4. Sprint / Stride
    5. Tempo Debate
  3. Different paces
  4. A World of Different Pacing Methods
    1. 1. Absolute Pace
    2. 2. Effort (Grade Adjsuted) Pace
    3. 3. Lactate Threshold Pace
    4. 4. VDOT / VO2Max
    5. 5. Lactate Threshold HR (Heart Rate)
    6. 6. RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion)

Spectrum of Running Types

Often, people emphasize on a particular type of running (see some below). For for a runner, often we will need to consider running ability as a full spectrum of running types （different paces, different distances). Even though the goal is a specific race, one will need to train the full spectrum running abilities, while only tilt towards the race when closer to the race date. Polarized training is often referring to the latter.

Following this perspective, we can consider the “base” as:

  • pace - all kinds of paces, from sprint, to VO2Max pace, to conversational pace
  • distance/duration - all the way to the 90-min
  • strength - raw power, stability and plyometrics
  • skills - forms, understanding of effort, and injury prevention

The Most Common Ones

There most common ones are:

  1. Easy run
    • Typically at a conversational pace.
    • It can be considered as a way to maintain endurance level, allow recovery and improve efficiency.
  2. Long run
    • For long distance runners, it is typicaly >= 90 mins. I prefer measure by duration rather than distance.
    • Typically done at a conversational pace.
    • It simulates body for better efficiency andd adaptation of long distances.
  3. Hill run
    • Uphill run put less stress on joints, while can still demand a lot of power output.
    • It is ideal before adding Tempo run into one’s training.
    • Sometime, it can be mixed with Tempo or Intervals (there is no clear division).
  4. Tempo
    • It is faster than the conversational pace. Often, it is at the speed you can sustain with some discomfort.
    • Maintain such a pace for a long duration, e.g., 20 mins to one hour.
    • It stresses runners by simulating a race-like situation. It focuses on runners’ tolerance to high intensities.
  5. Intervals
    • At a highest speed a runner can maintain for a short distance, or at the target speet for a race.
    • Repeated with rest in-between.
    • Short distance per repetition. E.g., 200m to 2000m.
    • Sometimme, people also sub-divide interval training into short and long intervals.

Long run

  • Pace - usually the pace is at conversational pace.
  • Heart rate drift - if heart rate drifts upward while keeping the same pace/slope, it often means:
    1. under-fueled
    2. too much dehydration
    3. pace is too high

Intervals

Interval training is considered to be an effective way to improve VO2Max and running economy.

Caution

Running in high speed introduces high risk of injury. So it is important to be caution about:

  • Keep good forms and high cadence, and avoid over striding. Stop or reduce intensity if you find you can’t sustain good forms or cadence.
  • Concentrate on running lightly and efficiently
  • Consider performing interval training on flat surface (e.g., a track), or even a stationary bike.

Progression

Ease into interval training with patience. Start with some striding, then fartlek.

Once you are confident enough, consider some hill intervals.

Example

  1. Norwegian 4x4:
    • 4 repetitions of 4-min interval runs at 90-95% of max heart rate, with 30min recovery in between.
    • Often, one need to make very hard (maybe even all out pace) to reach the targetted heart rate in 60-90 seconds. Then effort can be reduced slightly to keep HR in range.
  2. Tabata intervals:
    • 8 repetitions of 20-second interval runs at “all out” intensity, with 10-second recovery in between.
    • Can be modified to be a hill interval, at ~10% gradient. Consider a short hill which takes ~ 30 seconds at the fastest speed. Log downhill after each repetition.

Hill run

Uphills

Uphill run generally put less stress on joints, so safer to perform. At the same time, it requires significant effort, hence is often a safe alternative to tempo or interval training.

One note is that while you are likely to land on forefoot due to the slope, it often puts more stress on the feet and calves. One should probably pay more attention to how to increase the stride using the glute muscles.

Downhills

It is generally believed that downhill runs are riskier. It is likely due to longer air time, and hence heavier landing. Muscles are often taking eccentric load during downhill.

To train:

  • pay special attention to increase or maintain high cadence.
  • shorter steps
  • try to land more on the mid to forefoot
  • shift body slightly forward to stay perpendicular to the hill.
  • spread arms for better balancing.
  • overall, try to maintain smooth and efficient runs.
  • start with shorter repeats to get used to the downhill runs, and gradually increase to 2 minutes.
  • resist from practicing downhill runs too often (e.g., once every two weeks). It requires time for muscle to recover from hard downhill training.

Sprint / Stride

Sprint is a short-distance exercise (100-400m) with all-out effort. It often requires >1.5 minutes recovery, so that the body typically recovers before the next repeat.

The purpose is to recruit more muscle groups and increase the top speed, which creates room for relatively lower speed and teaches the body how to perform in high speed.

Tempo Debate

Tempo refers to continuous running at a relatively high speed (e.g., Lactate threshold speed) for a considerable long distance (longer than intervals). It sits between long run and interval runs, which puts stress in multiple trainable factors.

There is a lot of debate on effectiveness of tempo training. For professionals, extended tempo training means to sacrifice scarce resources (time, stress quote the body can take and recover from), which may lead to less-ideal performance improvement. On the other hand, polarized training approach is often preferred, where long run and HIIT are used as the main training types. The argument for polarized training is:

  1. Long run at easy pace allow for fast recovery, while specifically targeted on training for endurance (e.g., higher volume).
  2. HIIT also specifically targets running economy, and puts less stress on the body. It also allows the athletes to training more at the higher intensity.

For beginners though, tempo still offers training benefit. But it may also increase the risk of injuery. To make an analogy, tempo training is like those complex weight-lifting workout, which engages many muscle groups. While you can archieve many things at once, none of the muscles groups receives strong stimulus. While the weight increases, some weak-link may be put on too much stress, leading to injury. While some more specific exercise can be better controlled to avoid injury.

Different paces

  1. Aerobic pace / conservational pace
  2. Marathon Pace
  3. Half Marathon Pace
  4. Lactate Threshold Pace - the max pace one can sustain for about 1 hour
  5. 10k
  6. 5k

A World of Different Pacing Methods

Here is a breakdown of the pacing methodologies we have covered, how they work, and when to deploy them in your training.

1. Absolute Pace

  • How it works: Running a specific minutes-per-mile or kilometer (e.g., 8:00/mile) as measured by standard GPS.

  • Pros: Directly aligns with race time goals; simple to understand and track on any device.

  • Cons: Ignores terrain (hills), weather (heat/humidity), and daily biological fatigue, which can lead to overtraining if you force a pace your body isn’t ready for.

  • Best for: Race day execution (on relatively flat courses) and track workouts where precision is required. Also suitable for relatively flat courses with short intervals (where HR is not fast enough to be picked up).

2. Effort (Grade Adjsuted) Pace

  • How it works: A Grade-Adjusted Pace that translates the physical strain of running on hills into the equivalent flat-ground pace. In Coros, it also adjusts to your baseline fitness.

  • Pros: Provides instantaneous feedback that doesn’t suffer from heart rate lag; keeps your physical exertion in the correct zone regardless of elevation changes.

  • Cons: Proprietary to the Coros ecosystem; relies heavily on the algorithm accurately understanding your specific hill-running biomechanics.

  • Best for: Rolling hills, trail runs, and structured intervals off the track where you want steady effort without relying on delayed heart rate data.

3. Lactate Threshold Pace

  • How it works: The pace at which your body produces lactic acid faster than it can clear it. Used by platforms like Coros EvoLab to anchor all other training zones.

  • Pros: Highly individualized to your current fitness level; scales training intensities automatically as you get faster over a season.

  • Cons: Needs accurate baseline data (like a 5K race or a dedicated threshold test) to be calculated correctly; still subject to the “hills and heat” flaws of standard pace.

  • Best for: Setting structured training blocks and dictating the specific speed for tempo or “comfortably hard” runs. E.g., long run, tempo or long intervals.

4. VDOT / VO2Max

  • How it works: A scientific formula that uses a recent race result to determine your current cardiovascular fitness, prescribing exact paces for easy, threshold, and interval runs.

  • Pros: Extremely accurate for scaling workouts; ensures you are targeting the exact physiological adaptations without over-stressing your system.

  • Cons: Can be rigid; does not natively account for environmental factors like heat, altitude, or steep trails without manual calculator adjustments. (Instead, one may adjust for grade and other factors to achieve the accuracy benefit).

  • Best for: Flat track workouts, precise interval training, and strictly structured marathon or half-marathon training plans.

5. Lactate Threshold HR (Heart Rate)

  • How it works: Training in specific heart rate zones anchored to the BPM where lactic acid rapidly accumulates.

  • Pros: The ultimate biological truth-teller that automatically adjusts your prescribed effort for heat, humidity, hills, stress, and fatigue.

  • Cons: Heart rate monitors (especially optical wrist sensors) can lag significantly during short intervals; numbers can be easily skewed by caffeine or poor sleep.

  • Best for: Daily base-building, long endurance runs, and recovery days to ensure you keep “easy days easy.”

6. RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion)

  • How it works: A subjective 1-10 scale rating how hard the effort feels to you in the given moment.

  • Pros: Free, requires no technology, and works flawlessly across any terrain, weather condition, or fatigue level.

  • Cons: Requires significant running experience to gauge accurately; runners often underestimate their exertion when feeling fresh at the start of a workout.

  • Best for: Trail running, extremely hot days, and acting as a “safety valve” on race day when your absolute pace feels unexpectedly difficult.