How to Build Your Own Mid-Distance Running Program

Every great runner has had a solid running program that prepared them for even the most insignificant race of their career. But how do you make a solid training program? It all depends on your fitness level and where you’re currently at in your career.

In order to get the most out of a training program you need to keep the day to day workout different. It involves speed, strength, endurance, and an efficient work ethic. These workouts were designed for mid- distance running. I consider mid-distance running to be between 3k and 10k, or 2 to 6 miles.

The legs and core are absolute essentials when it comes to strength training. Strength is best trained through lifting weights. Legs can be strengthened through squats and good mornings. The core, being the lower back, abs, and oblique areas can be trained through planks and deadlifts. All of these lifts can be found on many web pages and apps, but it would be better to ask a veteran in the gym or a coach to show you.

Endurance can be trained through distance runs. It is best to practice doing distance at a faster than comfortable pace to build the habit of working hard while you run. Long distance runs for a mid-distance runner would be anywhere from 6-13 miles.

Speed isn’t an absolute must have for mid-distance running like it is for the 100m, but it would be nice to have a solid kick around 400-800m from the finish line in any race. You get faster by practicing being fast.

These are the runs that I incorporate into my running programs for mid-distance:

Fartleks: A somewhat long run where you increase pace every mile or half mile, starting at a comfortable pace and ending with a mind blowing pace for the last mile or half mile.

Tempo Runs: A run of a set time period of fast running followed by a set period of comfortable running. I usually start with a one minute time period in the beginning of my training and move up to three minutes of fast and one minute of slow.

Distance: Distance running is just distance running. You run more mileage than you’re used to so you can constantly increase your physical level. The trick is to run these faster than you feel like you should in order to make the training more worthwhile. It is better to work up to a fast six mile run than it is to run 8 miles slow.

Intervals: Intervals is a set distance run and you try to get a certain time. The work out is multiple sets of multiple reps. A good goal to set for the interval is slightly faster than your race pace goal. So if you want to run a 5k in 20 minutes, then your 1k goal would be 5 minutes, no matter what your current 5k time is. As you get faster, you can make your goal a faster time or just try to beat what you got the time before.

My high school cross country team seemed to favor using a 400m interval for around a month, then an 800m interval for another couple weeks, finally moving to a 1600m interval well before sectionals. It seemed to work, but my favorite interval workout is: 1-1600m, 2-1000m, 4-800m, 8-400m, then 2-200m sprints to practice a strong finish.

Hills: Hill workouts help build running strength that can’t be built through lifting weights. The only way to get used to running on an incline is to run on an incline.

I have not added an actual running program to this article because I don’t know what days you have the most time on, what days it would be impossible for you to run on, and because it’s nearly impossible to jump back into a training program made by date or weeks if you have to take time off for an injury or other reason.

All things about running in this article are of my experience and I may have a different definition of the words like fartlek and tempo run then another runner may have. This isn’t to cause a dispute; it’s just my answer to how to build your own running program for a mid-distance race.