I'm hoping for a good discussion about moderate pace. Primary goals are to discuss:
1) Purpose of moderate runs
2) Importance to marathon vs shorter distances
3) How to use them appropriately in a periodized plan
I've been reading a several of the pros' training logs, and every one of them differentiates between "moderate" and "easy" pace for non-workout days.
Example (Moses Mosop week from January in buildup to Boston debut):
M: Easy
T: Easy + 20 min @ 4:50 pace
W: 8x1k (2:42) + 10x600 (1:36)
Th: Moderate
F: Easy
Sat: 28 miles @ 5:21
Sun: Easy
I'll gloss over how insane 8x1k + 10x600 is at that intensity.
His schedule has 10 days marked as moderate in January, then the frequency decreases Feb-April.
Pftizinger talks about moderate pace in "Advanced Marathoning", Lydiard used "steady" runs with similar frequency, and Wetmore, Brad Hudson and several others use some form of moderate pace sessions.
Contrast that with a parallel week of my Jack Daniels-based hobby jogger sessions (goal races are HM and Marathon):
M: Easy
T: 25-35 minutes @ threshold
W: Easy
Th: 12-16 x 400m @ mile
F: Easy
Sat: 8 mile progression run (MP start, finishing at threshold)
Sun: Long run on the faster side of easy
First, what is the purpose of the moderate run? What does it do for fitness that I'm not getting from the schedule above?
Second, is the moderate run only important for marathon training? If not, at what goal race distance does it lose its effectiveness?
Finally, How do you structure it in your program? I'm used to taking a recovery day after every session, but Mosop's coach is blending things in a way I'm not used to seeing. He runs through a wide variety of paces (see the next post). I tend to like 3 average volume workouts a week, but it looks like Mosop was doing 2 monster sessions a week with lower-intensity work spread through the rest.