Better late than never right? The final four run workouts in my Fast Fridays series can officially be found all in one place. These four workouts all focus on race specificity and are best used in the Build Phase of training as racing gets closer.

Terms for the Workouts

• Muscular Endurance: the ability of the muscles to continually perform an action without tiring.

• Tempo: a “comfortably hard” pace that you should be able to sustain for a long period of time. Works on the upper limit of your aerobic zones.

Over the last four weeks I’ve brought you some quality Base Phase training runs that can help you increase your aerobic endurance and prep the body for heavier run loads later on. Below you’ll find those four workouts to try. From hill training to quality long runs, you’ll be ready to move onto more race specific training.

Terms for the Workouts

Fartlek: “speed play” - the ability to add in faster intervals of running randomly inserted throughout a run.Strides: used to open up the legs by working on cadence (rpm) and speed.Tempo: a “comfortably hard” pace that you should be able to sustain for a long period of time. Works on the upper limit of your aerobic zones.

Over the last four weeks, I hope you have been able to hone in your swim skills and try some of the drills and sessions. Is your confidence growing? Today we are diving in with the last four workouts for you to try. If you have any questions, please reach out!

Okay, probably a silly question if you are training for triathlon but I’ll ask it anyway! Many triathletes believe they can get away with swimming the absolute bare minimum yards/meters in training because the swim portion of the race is so much shorter compared to the bike and the run portions. However, there are many reasons to swim more.

Confidence. The more you swim, the more confidence you build when you have to translate your pool swimming to open water. There isn’t a wall to rest at each 25 meters in open water, so being confident in your ability to swim is key.

Fatigue Resistance. For an athlete that didn’t grow up with a swim background, the more swimming done in training, the less fatigue the swim portion of the race will take out of the body. No one wants to be gassed coming out of the water and then have to bike and run already feeling tired. By swimming more you’re building your resistance to fatigue.

Aerobic Fitness. Swimming gives a huge boost to overall aerobic fitness. By working on muscular endurance, breath control, and pacing, the body is getting more aerobically fit with each swim session.