Race week workouts to help you ace your upcoming event

Are you running a marathon or half-marathon soon? If your goal race is coming up, it’s often hard to decide exactly how far, how fast, and how often to run in that final week of training.

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Almost everyone agrees that tapering (reducing the duration and frequency of your running in the weeks before your goal race) will help you rest to perform your best on race day. However, it’s still important to maintain some intensity and speed in order to avoid feeling stale. Below are three key workouts that are a perfect addition as a race week workout. Aim to complete the workout four to five days before the race and take extra care to rest and recover before and after, including proper nutrition and hydration. Race week workouts are not meant to stress the body but aim to instead develop confidence and hone your existing skills.

Ladder intervals

A ladder workout is a number of short intervals that get progressively longer and then shorter again. Aim to run the intervals slightly faster than goal race pace. The rest breaks should be kept short and very easy. This workout is a great confidence builder, as the intervals are short enough to feel easy and are over quickly.

Sample workout: run an easy 15-minute warm-up then complete 400m – 800m – 1200m – 800m – 400m with 400m rest between. Finish with a 15-minute cool-down.

Hill repeats

Hills, especially short repeats, are a great way to develop strength and speed while also reducing the risk of injury. They should be done as close to race pace as possible but you’ll need to find a hill that’s not too hard and steep, nor too flat and easy. The idea is to mimic the effort of race pace late in the race when you’re already tired. The best part is you won’t wreck your legs and can recover quickly afterward.

Sample workout: run easy for 10-15 minutes then complete two sets of 5 x 60-second hill repeats. Walk or run slowly down the hill after each repeat and run easy for five minutes between sets. Cool-down for another 10-15 minutes of easy running afterward.

Short tempo

A tempo run aims to mimic how you’ll feel in the race and helps you feel comfortable running at race pace. Running at goal pace for a much shorter distance than what you’ll do in the race should also boost your confidence as it should be easy to do. Use this workout to visualize being in the race and imagine how you’ll feel at various points. If you can, finish the tempo a bit faster than goal pace as long as you feel strong.

Sample workout: after a short warm-up, run 3-5K at your goal race pace, followed by a cool-down.

You can also use these efforts as a dress rehearsal in which you wear the shoes, apparel and gear you plan to wear for the race. Better still, perform these race week workouts at the same time of day (usually the early morning) as your upcoming event and also practice your pre-race routine getting up early, eating breakfast, relaxing and psyching yourself up. Remember, you’ve already done the hard work in training. Race week is all about feeling rested, energized and ready to go. Use these workouts to get a mental boost and know you’re ready to run at your best.