LifeSport Coaching works with some of the finest multisport athletes in the world. The coaches strive to supply these athletes with workouts that have a specific physiological purpose while providing inspiration. These training sessions are often trying, but when tackled with zest, result in world-beating performances.

This series offers a little peek into the training diary of LifeSport’s elite athletes. Note the workout adjustments included at the end for athletes of various abilities, experience and fitness levels.


Athlete: BREE WEE – first-overall female amateur at 2007 Ironman world championship (course record 9:47:40)
Hometown: Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
Distance: Olympic-distance/Ironman 70.3
Coached by: Paul Regensburg, LifeSport Coaching


WORKOUT: TREADMILL RUNNING FARTLEK STYLE
Fartlek is essentially varied-pace running. It’s often an unstructured workout but can be very structured like this one. Each interval gets faster but is kept under control.

Warm up: 15 minutes easy jog
Main set: Start with 6 minutes steady with 2 minutes recovery. Then 5 minutes/2 minutes (recovery), 4 minutes/2 minutes, 3 minutes/2 minutes, 2 minutes/2 minutes, 1 minute/2 minutes.
Cool down: 10 minutes easy jog

WHY IS THIS IS A FAVORITE WORKOUT?
Wee: “It keeps me honest and hurts so good. I also get a good crack-up looking at the faces of people lifting weights who are watching the treadmill about to blow up! As the hard efforts get shorter and as the speed picks up, it helps to visualize yourself getting closer to the finish of a race.”

Coach Regensburg: “This is a great workout to either fine-tune for race preparation or recover from a hard training block or race. The reason being that it’s a continuous set with descending paces where the athlete can really control the effort. If done properly, each effort will get faster (most athletes go out too fast on the first intervals) so you end feeling great with good leg speed. The benefit from this workout is high, mentally it is fun and the recovery time afterward is fast, making it a great tune-up.”

WHEN WOULD YOU DO THIS WORKOUT?
Wee: “I would do this during pre-race training blocks prior to 10km run races and Olympic-distance triathlons. This workout stimulates a number of energy systems and is perfect for developing race pacing”

ADJUSTMENTS FOR OTHER ATHLETES
The workouts below have been adjusted for athletes with differing levels of running ability, background and fitness. They have been adjusted for length of run and recovery time. The pace for each interval will be dependent on your race times, but you should start around your 10km pace and finish the final interval at around your 5km pace.

Novice Athletes
Warm up: 10 minutes easy jog
Main set: Each interval gets faster but is kept under control.
Start with 5 minutes steady with 2 minutes recovery. Then 5 minutes/2 minutes (recovery), 4 minutes/2:30 minutes, 3 minutes/2:30 minutes, 2 minutes/2:30 minutes, 1 minute/2:30 minutes.
Cool down: 10 minutes easy jog

Intermediate Athletes
Warm up: 15 minutes easy jog
Main set: Each interval gets faster but is kept under control.
Start with 4 minutes steady with 2 minutes recovery. Then 4 minutes/2 minutes (recovery), 3 minutes/2 minutes, 2 minutes/2 minutes, 1 minute/2 minutes
Cool down: 10 minutes easy jog

You can work by heart rate, pace zone or even goal pace. Treadmills are a great tool for exactly this purpose and sadly underused. Depending on the time of year and the distance being trained for, athletes may want to increase the distance. An experienced and certified triathlon coach will be able to help you integrate these longer runs into your overall program to optimize your training time and race performance.

Paul Regensburg is an Olympic, Pan Am Games, and Ironman Coach and Team Manager.

Visit LifeSport.ca or write Coach@LifeSport.ca (phone 250-744-3648) for coaching enquiries.