Most first-timers train the components separately: runs on some days, gym on others. Then on race day they discover that running with a heart rate already at 180 and legs that have just pushed a sled is a completely different activity, and that they have never done it.
The one thing to train
Compromised running. Everything else in a preparation block is support for this. If you do nothing else, do this twice a week.
The basic session: run 800 m, do 2–3 minutes of loaded work, run 800 m, repeat. Start with three rounds, build to six. The loads should be close to what your race uses.
The eight-week shape
Weeks 1–2: build the tolerance
- 2 × compromised-running sessions (3 rounds)
- 2 × heavy strength sessions — squat, hinge, carry, press
- 1 × easy long run, 45–60 minutes
- 1 × rest
Weeks 3–5: build the volume
- 2 × compromised running (4–5 rounds)
- 2 × strength, still heavy
- 1 × easy long run, 60–75 minutes
- 1 × station practice — the specific movements your race uses
Weeks 6–7: make it specific
Run at least one full simulation at roughly race distance, in order, with the real loads. Not for a time — for information. You will discover which station is your problem, and you have two weeks to do something about it.
Week 8: taper
Halve the volume, keep the intensity. One short sharp session early in the week, then leave it alone. Fitness is not gained in the last week and can absolutely be lost.
Run a full simulation two weeks out. Not for a time — to find out which station is going to be your problem, while there is still time to fix it.
Practise the sled, specifically
If your race has one, this is the most common wall. A loaded sled on an unfamiliar surface is nothing like anything else in training, and technique — low body position, short steps, constant pressure — makes an enormous difference. If your gym has no sled, heavy carries and hill sprints are a partial substitute; find a sled before race day if you possibly can.
Grip
Carries, machines and anything hanging will find it. Add something to the end of every strength session: a dead hang, a heavy carry, a plate pinch. It is thirty seconds of work and it is the difference between finishing a station and dropping it.
What not to do
- Do not stop running. Aerobic base is your foundation.
- Do not turn every strength session into a metcon. You need force, and force needs rest between sets.
- Do not train the stations you are already good at. Everyone does this and it is why everyone has the same weak station on race day.
- Do not skip the simulation. It is the most informative session in the block.
