Ever heard the saying: It the journey that counts, not the destination?

This has never been truer than when it comes to marathon training. Race day is only one day, but the preparation, effort and strategic thinking that goes into that one day is a journey to behold.

Training forms a big part of this exciting and sometimes nerve-wrecking journey and knowing how to use varied types of workouts to build your strength, fitness and endurance for race day is the key to a successful and enjoyable race.

After all, enjoyment equals success no matter what level you are racing at.

So what are the types of running training? And why does my training plan consist of a combination of workouts? Why can I not just trot along at the same pace on the same route every day? Let’s delve in and explore the 8 types of running workouts and how they will benefit you on race day.

A training run is a comfortable run that will make up the majority of your training. You should feel energized after completing one of these. A training run is done at a level of comfort where you can still maintain a conversation if you were running with a friend. The pace of the run is steady throughout and you should not feel winded unless you are tackling a hill. Good for you!

Caroline’s Top Tip: If you are unable to sing a song during your base run you are running too fast.

No idea where to even start? Check out this beginner’s guide: How to start running.

Made famous by Ethiopian athletes, this style of training starts at an easy base and works its way up to a tempo run gradually as you progress through the miles. The biggest benefit you will gain from including progressive training in your program is building running stamina. This running training is more suitable for intermediate runners.

You will typically start a progressive run on a 70% of max heart rate (click here for an explanation of maximum heart rate) and then finish your last mile at 80-90%. Progression runs are also great if you take a while to get into your running as it allows the muscle to warm up slowly before you start running flat-taps.

Welcome to the big league. Interval training is a real test!

Intervals are a combination of fast, hard effort runs and recovery jogs in between these bursts. This type of training is essential to improve your VO2 max. Your VO2 max is your ability to take in oxygen and utilize it efficiently.

Intervals are normally run at 5km race pace effort, although longer intervals are at 10km effort. Interval training will make you faster and stronger come race day.

Caroline’s Top Tip: A 10 Minute cool-down jog is essential after a heavy interval session. Include some Dynamic Stretching and you are good to go!

Threshold runs are sometimes called tempo runs and are usually 2/4/6 km runs- 1.4/2.8/3.1 Mi (for beginners) and 5/8/10km runs- 3.1/4.1/6.3 Mi (for intermediate to advanced) that push your lactate threshold. Tempo pace is comfortably hard. You need to feel in control, but also feel that you are working quite hard and putting in more than your usual effort. When running at tempo pace you can still talk, but it will not feel comfortable. The benefit of a tempo run is that it improves your anaerobic threshold, which in turn improves your speed and the length of time you can maintain it.

Have you ever looked at a marathoner’s legs and wondered where the muscles comes from? The answer is hill repeats.

Although hill repeats scare even the most seasoned runners they can actually be a lot of fun and the leg strength you’ll gain from these sessions is well worth the effort. As with intervals, hill repeats improve your VO2 max (your ability to take in oxygen and utilize it efficiently).

Hill repeats are high-intensity runs for short bursts (never more than 90 seconds) and they have almost the same benefits as doing fast intervals on the track. Hill repeats are done at a slower pace than intervals, but your cardiovascular system will be working at the same effort as though you were on the track.

Caroline’s Top Tip: Allow yourself to walk/jog down the hill. This will bring your heart rate down enough for you to tackle the next repeat.

Strides usually form part of an easy effort training run. Strides are short burst sprints at 80% of your maximum heart rate and are usually performed in sets of 10 for 10 seconds with 20 seconds of recovery jogging in between. Strides improve your power and teach your body to vary its’ tempo. They come in handy when you feel the need to overtake someone on race day.

You might shudder at the thought of spending your precious Saturday morning completing your weekly long run, but for most long-distance runners this is the best part of their training. There is nothing that reveals your progress as much as your Saturday morning long run.

Our last type of running training is a recovery run. Recovery runs probably sound the least appealing of all the workouts we mentioned here, but appealing or not they are important. Recovery runs are just that, runs at an easy, comfortable pace. These sessions help your body to recover from the intense workouts and long runs that form part of your program. During a recovery runs you should be able to maintain a full conversation or for those who are doing heartrate based training, you should be running in Zone 1-2.

Caroline’s Top Tip: If you are feeling more fatigued than usual, you can skip this session all together and do a Yoga or Pilates workout that gets you off your legs for a day.

There you have it! The building blocks that make up running training. Following this journey of varied sessions will prepare you for a race day destination that will leave you hungry for more.