[Scott Johnston]

I recently got an email asking the following question:

– Is it advantageous for the military population to plan zone 4 runs because the shorter distance runs we are evaluated on? Or is it better to stick with zone 3 tempo runs when adding intensity?

Here is my reply:

As with most things it life “it depends”.  I’m assuming that your ultimate goal is to be able to run at a certain pace/mile for some selection or other test.  The process of getting there is where the “it depends” comes in. From the sounds of it you’ve got some knowledge about proper training and understand the role of the lowly aerobic metabolism in producing high performance. Jumping to Z4 training with an inadequate base that first includes improving the aerobic threshold before layering on Z3 and Z4 will probably backfire.
 
Think in terms of pace instead of zones since you need to hit that pace of say 6min/mile for a 2 mile or 8min/mile for a 5 mile test.  It does not matter but first you want to determine your target pace.  If you are more than about 10% slower than your target pace (6:40 for a two mile for instance) it is going to be tough to drop that down to 6min/mile by doing short Z4 intervals.  It is difficult to drag pace up by training above it. That is why the common military mindset of doing lots of high intensity running results in plateaus in pace after a few weeks.   You’ll respond better to gently nudging the pace faster from below than trying to drag it up from above if that makes sense.  This process takes time but it is the proven method.  
 
All that being said. Let’ say you can’t even run a single 800 at the target mile pace, then you have a speed problem and that needs to be addressed with a high volume of faster reps with long rests. Cuz, if you can’t run one 800 at a 6min pace how are you going to run 4 of them that fast.  But once you can run several 800s at the desired pace you need to develop the endurance to stack them up back-to-back
 
We normally do that by having the athlete do 5 or 6×800 at target pace (still talking 2 mile test here). He will take as long a rest as needed so he can complete the workout as planned (no slowing down).  Then, over the course of several weeks, the recovery time between reps is reduced till he can do 6×800 at target pace with about 30sec rest/rep.
 
How long this takes is dependent on too many things (genetics, training history, other work load,etc.) to say definitively. But 6 weeks would be the minimum I’d say.  
 
But don’t think in terms of zones. Think int terms of pace. What is the metabolic cost to you to run at your target pace?  That is the limitation. If there is too much reliance on the anaerobic metabolism to run at that pace for the desired distance, you will not succeed by developing more anaerobic capacity doing Z4 runs.
 
 I hope that helps and you can see it is not a “yes” or “no” question.
 
 

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