On/Off

• A great session for getting a bit of speed in the legs, and also for pushing yourself in a controlled way
• Works well on flat roads or the running track

On/Off is the ideal session for when you're starting to get back into tougher sessions after a break or a period of easier training.

The Session

Start running at a comfortable pace and get into the habit of counting your steps.

Now alternate running 70 steps fast and 70 steps easy. Repeat this ten times.

Following the ten repeats, walk or jog slowly for a couple of minutes.

Now alternate running 60 steps fast and 60 steps easy. Repeat this ten times as well.

Following this set have another couple of minutes recovery.

Next alternate 50 steps fast and 50 easy steps tens times. Continue in a like manner, reducing the number of on/off steps for each set by 10 until you are eventually running just 10 steps fast/10 steps easy.

After a five-minute jog recovery do the whole thing again.

Variations

Backwards

A session that involves exactly the same number of steps, but is more challenging psychologically is to start the first set with 10 steps on/off and work up in increments of 10 steps to 70. Knowing that each successive set will get harder can be tough