Ben Parkes' Speed Rebuilder

Workout - Ben Parkes' Speed Rebuilder

• 12min @ 8'00''/km
• 6 lots of:
  • 1.0km @ 5'00''/km
  • 2min rest
• 6 lots of:
  • 200m @ 3'30''/km
  • 1min 10s rest
• 7min 30s @ 8'00''/km

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Ben Parkes walks through a tough track session in “MARATHON TRAINING TRACK SESSION - this REALLY hurt after TWO months away!!” The structure is below so you can run it yourself. The full video covers the nuances.

Key points

• After two months off, Ben uses K-repeats to measure fitness and build speed. For more on interval training, see our guide on Mastering Interval Training: Science-Backed Workouts and How a Smart App Can Personalize Them.
• The session is 1-kilometre repeats at about 3:10-3:15 per km. For Ben, that’s his current 5K race pace, a useful intensity for speed endurance. To nail that speed, see Mastering 5K Speed: Proven Interval Strategies to Cut Minutes off Your Time.
• Warm-up is easy and conversational, about 1 mile of light jogging.
• Rest between repeats stays short (around 2 minutes) to keep it tough but realistic after time away.

Ben uses this for marathon prep, but the benefits carry to shorter distances. K-repeats show up regularly in 10K training. See our guide on Mastering the 10K: Proven Training Plans, Pace Strategies, and How a Smart App Can Elevate Your Performance.

Workout example

1. Warm-up: about 1 mile (about 4 laps) easy jog, HR in zone 1-2.
2. Main set: 6 x 1 km at 3:10-3:15/km with 2 min easy jog recovery between.
3. Cool-down/turnover: 6 x 200 m strides with a brief jog back to the start.

Tip: run 800 m repeats at the same pace if 1 km feels too much. If you’re running faster, aim for 3:00-3:05/km.

Closing note

Try this session and adjust the paces or distances to your fitness. Load the splits into the Pacing app.

References

• MARATHON TRAINING TRACK SESSION - this REALLY hurt after TWO months away!! - YouTube (YouTube Video)