Experienced runners already know how to prepare for a trail half at altitude, but if you're new to this sort of stuff, you might consider some fartlek workouts at variable paces.
Fartlek Workout: Fartlek is a Swedish word meaning "speed play" -- the idea is you can run fast without caring how fast you run, you can run slow without caring how slow you run.
Find an enjoyable place to run, whether a paved multi-use path, a trail, a track or even a treadmill.
Jog for 10-15 minutes, and take some time to stretch and activate your running muscles.
Now that you're warmed up, run for 1 minute at a pace that feels slightly uncomfortable. This pace is meant to be a bit challenging, but not hard. After you go for 1 minute, slow down and spend another minute at a slow jog pace. Make this "slow" portion as slow as you need -- you can even walk it.
Do this for a total of 10-15 times, for a total of 20-30 minutes of alternating "fast" with "slow."
When you're done with that, then jog for another 10-15 minutes.
This workout will take between 40 and 60 minutes and can be squeezed into a mid-week run.
5k Variable: If you're training for the 5k or pressed for time, you can cut this back to a 20-30 minute overall workout.
Why Do This? The goal is to teach your body to shift gears, playing with speed so that you can vary between running faster-than-comfortable and settling back into at a comfortable recovery pace.
If you can do this once a week for a few weeks in a row, you'll be able to shift gears on the race course.
The terrain on the course lends itself to variable pace running, so this workout will prepare you to take advantage of what the course gives you.
Another Benefit: Prep for Altitude: This type of peppy workout that puts you in cardiorespiratory stress has the advantage of teaching your body to adapt to anaerobic stress-- which may help you with the altitude on race day.
Note for experienced runners: if you're an experienced runner in good shape, you'll be able to extend the speed bouts and do the workout on a trail to simulate race conditions -- and maybe extend variations on your weekend long run.
Consider making this a longer up-and-down ladder.
After the warmup, do something like this: 2 minutes fast, 2 minutes easy; 3 fast, 2 easy; 4 fast, 2 easy; 5 fast, 2 easy; then 10 fast, 2 easy -- and head down the ladder: 5 fast, 2 easy; 4 fast, 2 easy; 3 fast, 2 easy. End with 2 minutes fast, followed by a standard cool down.
This gives you about 40 minutes of faster running -- if you need to build to that, you can do it without the 10-minute stretch at the top of the ladder.
The 2-minute recovery keeps you from going to fast and simulates some the stress of a half-marathon race.
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