[Scott Johnston]

Great question that shows a good understanding of the training theory we use.  The short answer is “YES”, adding either or both hill sprints and strides into the early weeks will help keep your nervous system tuned up and result in more muscle activation. This will help as you transition to more aerobically challenging faster running later in the program.

As to why they are omitted from the early part of the plan:  Our stock plans are by necessity a one-size-fits-all plan. We have no idea the level of the athlete who will be starting this plan. Many will have a serious aerobic deficiency and for them just running at and below AET  for the first phase is the best use of the time.  From the sounds of your history you’ve been training pretty well in line with our philosophy and are entering this plan in a different place than they lowest-level athlete this plan must accommodate.

I suggest adding strides 1x/week to a Z2 run and 1x/week of hill sprints during a Z2 run.

Scott