Warmup
- 10 minutes easy
- Dynamic drills: leg swings, high knees, A-skips
- 4 x 100m strides, last one finishing on the start line
- 2 minutes rest before the first rep
Main Set
Two ladders of 1200m → 800m → 400m, each rep faster than the last.
Recovery jog: 400m between reps, 800m between ladders.
Ladder 1 — controlled
- 1200m at 10K effort
- 400m jog
- 800m at 5K effort
- 400m jog
- 400m at mile race effort
- 800m jog
Ladder 2 — committed
- 1200m at 10K-to-5K effort (start at 10K, finish at 5K)
- 400m jog
- 800m at 5K-to-3K effort
- 400m jog
- 400m at faster than mile race effort — this is the closer
The second ladder should be measurably faster than the first at every distance. If the 1200 in ladder 2 isn’t faster than the 1200 in ladder 1, the workout didn’t do its job.
Cooldown
- 10 minutes easy
- Stretch: full lower body
Coach’s Notes
This is a race-prep session. Memorial Day weekend is full of road races up and down the Grand Strand and most of you have something on the calendar between now and July 4th. This workout rehearses what a race actually feels like — the slow burn of a 10K opening, the lactate-soaked middle of a 5K, and the closing kick where it all hurts but you go anyway.
The two-ladder structure matters. Ladder 1 is a dress rehearsal — controlled, smooth, paces locked in. Ladder 2 is the race — same structure, more pressure. You’re training the gear-shift, not just the paces.
The 400m jog recoveries are short. They should feel like the breaks between hard miles in a race, not like a real reset. Don’t stop. Don’t lean on the rail. Keep moving and roll into the next rep.
Closing 400 in ladder 2 — go. Whatever you have left, leave it on the track. This is the rep that teaches you what your real finishing kick is.
Scaling
Newer runners: One ladder only — 1200, 800, 400 at 10K / 5K / mile effort. Same recoveries. The single ladder is plenty of stimulus on its own.
Advanced runners: Add a third 400 to the end of ladder 2 — all-out, 200m walk recovery between the two closing 400s. Or hold the two-ladder structure but reduce the inter-rep jog to 200m to crank up the lactate.