Work in Progress
Progression runs: A Kenyan secret everyone can use
By Kevin Beck
As featured in the October 2004 issue of Running Times Magazine
Dowling echoes Browne’s comments about the role of progression runs in ensuring physical and psychological race readiness. "The number one benefit of progression runs is that they train you to react to surges in a relaxed fashion, which is important in marathoning," he says. "You never want to cross the threshold too often in a marathon, and this workout pushes that redline in a gradual manner. All pace changes are done gradually so that your nervous system isn’t all out of balance."
Browne says that at first, progression runs—performed several times a week as a matter of course in Kenyan training camps —are taxing, but that, as with any training stress coupled with adequate recovery time, adaptation follows. In the context of frequent progression runs, this adaptation might entail a jump to an entirely new plateau of disposable power. "It becomes more natural," says Browne, "and in effect you find yourself piling strength on strength." Moreover, the progression run becomes not merely another weapon in a runner’s training arsenal but a day-to-day means of approaching training, whether what’s on tap is a recovery run or a hard track session. "My easy days are progressive," says Browne. "The intensity is different but the approach is the same."
That approach, says coach and exercise physiologist Greg McMillan (www.mcmillanrunning.com), can reach beyond the ranks of the world class and benefit anyone angling to race, from beginners with a less-than-perfect handle on day-to-day fatigue assessment to seasoned veterans accustomed to their own training and competitive rhythms. "Progression runs are effective for three primary reasons," says McMillan. "One, warming up your muscles by starting out slowly not only decreases your injury risk, but ‘primes’ the physiological pathways you’ll use in faster running. Two, and most importantly, progression runs allow you to increase the total volume of faster, stamina-type training you do across your training cycle. And three, this increase in the volume of stamina training comes at a very small price—recovery is relatively easy given the invested effort."
Progressive Implementation
McMillan recommends three different ways in which to perform structured progression runs. The first, which he calls "Thirds," involves doing the first third of a run easy, the next third at a steady or "typical" pace, and the final third at half marathon to marathon pace—roughly 80 to 90 percent of maximum heart rate. Increases in pace are not "step-wise" but gradual, and McMillan suggests starting with a progression run 45 minutes in duration and working upward from there. "It’s likely that on some of your runs, you already do a Thirds progression run without even trying," notes McMillan. "It’s just kind of how the body likes to run when you are fully recovered from previous workouts." Especially useful for marathoners, Thirds runs should not be treated as tempo runs and should not be attempted by runners still recovering from hard workouts done in the preceding days.