[Scott Johnston]

Max:

Thanks for writing in with these great questions.  Your concern with lack of ME is common, so allow me…….

This high volume of low-intensity running you’ve been doing has mainly only been recruiting the slowest of the slow twitch fibers.  They are getting the training benefit which, as you point out, is metabolic.  To run faster or even longer especially in the mountains, requires the recruitment of a pool of faster twitch, more forceful fibers.  You can do that with all the methods you list in bold; plus, I would add Strides or Pick Ups to your list.

With runners, we have had very good luck achieving what you are asking about by adding on gymME and one hill sprint workout a week for a minimum of 8-10 weeks.  Take a break from the ME and add strides in place of the hill sprints. You should find yourself running faster and feeling less fatigue from the long runs

If that all worked and feels effective give yourself a couple of months of faster running including 1xZ3 session/week.  Then repeat that cycle but go 12 weeks in the ME/hill sprint phase.

For the hill sprints, stairs in a tall building can work, and so can stadium stairs. If you belong to a gym that has sleds, you can push or pull a sled sprinting for 10-15 sec to get the same effect.

During this ME and power phase, you should minimize the amount of Z3 as it will target many of the same fibers, and you could have trouble recovering.

I hope this helps,
Scott