7-day micro-cycles: Who said you have to do them?
The conventional training models work around your typical 7-day training cycle. However, that doesn't mean it's necessarily the BEST way to think about training...
WEEKLY WISDOM: WHO SAID YOU HAVE TO DO 7-DAY MICRO-CYCLES?
WHAT IS A TRAINING MICRO-CYCLE?
A training micro-cycle (we’ll call them MCs) is a short period of training whose structure is largely influenced by the number of days; the norm for these MCs is seven days. This is predominantly due to our lives revolving around the weekly timeframe, with work Monday through Friday and the weekend off (for most of us, that is), instilling this mindset to think week by week. It’s the way we live. However, that doesn’t mean thinking in this way is necessarily optimal.
To illustrate a 7-day MC, here is an example with two workouts, a long run, and some easy runs:
Monday: Easy run + 4-6x15-20” strides
Tuesday: Threshold workout - 2x10’ T w/ 90”R, 5’ T
Wednesday: Easy run
Thursday: Easy run + 6-8x8” hill sprints on 2’ cycles
Friday: Aerobic intervals workout - 4x(4x400m at 5k pace w/ 100m jog) w/ 400m jog between sets
Saturday: Easy long run + (OPTIONAL) 3-4x15-20” strides
Sunday: Easy run / off
This probably looks pretty standard to you. You probably didn’t bat an eye to this general layout. That’s because it’s what a large majority of us are doing (lol)!! Let’s discuss the good and the bad…
Pros
It’s intuitive/easier to think in this way for the reason above.
Training stays consistent from week to week which comes with a feeling of stability (e.g., workouts every Monday and Thursday, long runs every Saturday, and easy runs the other days). In addition, your long run, the most time-consuming training run, can fall on the day off from work—which is hopefully the weekend for you.
Cons
It forces you into a narrow timeframe for getting in your workouts and long run, allowing for only three to four easy/easier days throughout—in the case of your traditional two weekly workouts—to recover and adapt. This may not be sufficient depending on how you recover and the week’s training density1, in which case you may have to decrease workout intensity (or otherwise risk injury).
Similar to the above, you are at risk of overdoing it in training whether you force harder workouts without considering training density and/or have the mindset of “I have to get in my two workouts and long run this week or it’s a bad week.”
10-DAY CYCLES: HEAR ME OUT…
A 10-day MC is something that doesn’t work for many, BUT if it works for your schedule, I’d highly consider it… Generally, these cycles would be comprised of three workouts, a long run, and some easy/easier runs. In this structure, you’d be able to have more easy days between the harder days. And yes, you’re hearing me correctly; you would only do one long run every ten days!!! I know it may sound crazy, but despite the golden standard being one long run every week, that’s not necessarily what you HAVE to do and it may not be optimal for you, either.
Here is an example week with three workouts, a long run, a more “gray-zone” run2, and some easy runs:
Monday: Easy run + 4-6x15-20” strides
Tuesday: Threshold workout - 20’ straight
Wednesday: Easy run
Thursday: Easy run + 6x8” hill sprints on 2’ cycles
Friday: Aerobic intervals workout - 3x(4x300m at 3k pace w/ 100m jog) w/ 400m jog between sets
Saturday: Easy run w/ 6x30” surges from 10k down to 5k effort w/ 2:30 jog
Sunday: Easy run + 4-6x15-20” strides
Monday: Alternations workout - 5-6x(800m at 10k pace → 800m at marathon pace)
Tuesday: Easy long run
Wednesday: Easy run
Alternatively, if you wanted to increase training density and have a period of relatively harder, condensed training, you could add a fourth workout into the MC by reducing the number of easy runs and/or doing two workouts back-to-back. The latter is a high-risk, high-reward move that should be done very selectively and with more recovery around such. Here’s what this could look like…
Monday: Easy run + 4-6x15-20” strides
Tuesday: Threshold workout - 20’ straight
Wednesday: Easy run
Thursday: Easy run + 6x8” hill sprints on 2’ cycles
Friday: Aerobic intervals workout - 3x(4x300m at 3k pace w/ 100m jog) w/ 400m jog between sets
Saturday: Threshold workout - 3x10’ T w/ 2’R
Sunday: Easy run
Monday: Easy run + 4-6x15-20” strides
Tuesday: Long intervals workout - 2x(4x800m at 10k pace w/ 75”R) w/ 2:30R between sets, 4x200m at mile pace w/ infield walk
Wednesday: Easy long run
Perhaps these 10-day MCs sound enticing to you, or you’re all around just NOT feeling it. Let’s talk about the pros and cons…
Pros
You can spread out your workouts more, allowing you wiggle room to take an extra day easy as needed to be adequately recovered going into the next session (unless that isn’t desired and you want to ~cautiously~ develop your fatigue-resistance capacity). Alternatively, or in addition, you could do one (or several) of the easy days more in the gray zone, not necessarily running easy (e.g., doing 6x1-minute surges at half marathon down to 10k effort with 2-minute jogs in the middle of an easy run). Adding some gray-zone “easy” runs would ultimately depend on how you’re feeling throughout the MC as well as the cycle’s training density.
It’s easier to hit a wide variety of stimuli given a 10-day MC can have roughly three workouts and a long run versus a 7-day MC where you likely have two workouts and a long run. Or, at the very least, it can help you to think of training in new ways that may help you level up.
In a 7-day MC with two workouts, you might have to squeeze more efforts into one or both of the sessions to hit all your desired efforts on the week. On the other hand, in a 10-day cycle you could be more narrowed in on your efforts from session to session given the additional workout(s).
Cons
It may not be great for the traditional full-time employee, particularly those with an inflexible work life where a long run midweek is a no-can-do. For those of you who are remote, this is probably a whole lot more realistic…
There is less so an element of stability to training given your harder days will not fall on consistent days. For instance, one MC, your workout days may fall on Monday, Thursday, and Sunday with a long run the following Tuesday, whereas the next MC, you may have Friday, Monday, and Wednesday workouts with a Saturday long run. If you die by the monotonous, ol’ reliable 7-day MC, this isn’t for you.
OKAY, FINE. MAYBE YOU CAN’T DO 10. CONSIDER 14…
A 14-day MC is probably your best bet. To give you an idea, here’s an example cycle with four workouts, a middle distance run, a long run, and some easy runs to spread out the training load:
Monday: Easy run + 4-6x15-20” strides
Tuesday: Threshold workout - 3x10’ T w/ 2’R
Wednesday: Easy run
Thursday: Easy run + 6x8” hill sprints on 2’ cycles
Friday: Aerobic intervals workout - 4x(3x200m at mile/mile/800m pace w/ 100m jog) w/ 800m jog between sets
Saturday: Middle-distance run w/ 5’ pickup to threshold effort at the end
No one says you have to do a long run every week. :)
Sunday: Easy run + 4-6x15-20” strides
Monday: Alternations workout - 4-5x(400m at 5k pace → 800m at marathon pace)
Tuesday: Easy run
Wednesday: Easy run + 6x8” hill sprints on 2’ cycles
Thursday: Hill repeats workout - 10-12x30” hill sprints at ~5k effort w/ jog-down recovery
Friday: Easy run
Saturday: Easy run w/ 6x1’ surges from half marathon down to 5k effort w/ 2’ jog
Sunday: Easy long run
Weighing out the pros and cons, here’s some things to consider:
Pros
You get the stability of a 7-day MC with the training flexibility of a 10-day MC. In other words, your harder days can fall on consistent days with the long run(s) on one of your days off from work, AND you can approach training from a wider and (possibly) more nuanced perspective.
To the latter point, the idea is similar to pro #2 from the 10-day MC. For instance, as opposed to a 7-day MC where you might have two workouts—one more aerobic in nature and the other more speed-oriented—to hit all desired efforts, in a 14-day MC you could choose to have three more aerobically-oriented workouts and one more speed-oriented workout in the case of focusing more on aerobic development. This is just a hypothetical, as there are MANY different possibilities. Regardless, it really opens up the possibilities and can make you a stronger runner, so I suggest thinking about training in this structure if 10-day MCs don’t work for you.
Cons
You have to get out of your comfort zone and try thinking about training differently! Ugh… How dare I suggest this PREPOSTEROUS idea?! The audacity…
THE MORAL OF THE STORY
Even if you stick to your ways with the 7-day MCs (as you’re probably doing right now), I challenge you to at least look at your training from a more zoomed-out perspective, chunking up training in two to four week blocks. Think about the bigger picture, rather than just saying, “Okay, let’s do one faster workout and one slower workout,” week after week after week. Training doesn’t have to be complicated, but challenging yourself in this way can help you to develop your skills, taking you—and your athletes if you’re a coach—to the next level.
If you have further questions, please ask me of course! See my contact information at the bottom of this post; I would love to help.
Next up on All Things Running… Flux workouts: Working smarter, not harder.
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Training density, as defined by Jason Fitzgerald here, “reflects the pattern of effort throughout a certain time period. If density is high, the runner is completing a lot of high-quality work (like long runs and faster workouts). If density is low, the overall workload is spread thinner with fewer high-quality training sessions.” The key component to training density is how you spread out the harder days, not just how hard those days are.
Gray zone runs are easier runs with some intensity. This may come in the form of mid-run surges of 30-60 seconds in length, an end-of-run 5-10-minute pickup, or a steadier run that may be 10-20 seconds faster per mile than your typical easy run pace. You could call them a mini-workout, so to speak, while still (generally) promoting recovery.