Surge Run Deep Dive
Today I’m going to use the context of a specific workout to talk and teach about training in general. The workout that I’m going to use is a surge run. From the mechanics of a specific workout we can synthesize the goals and challenges and methods of training in general.
What is a surge run? A surge run is a more structured version of a fartlek. Surge runs, for me, are typically a form of tempo run.
What’s a fartlek?
A fartlek is an unstructured run where you throw in some pickups when you feel like it, at a pace and effort you feel like. Fartlek’s are supposed to be fun. The word ‘fartlek’ means ‘speed play’. Fartleks are recreational speedwork.
How is a surge run different? Surge runs are more structured in the sense that the intervals or pickups are planned on a defined schedule during the workout and at a prescribed pace or effort level.
For example, yesterday’s workout was a 1:20 surge run. Every 17 minutes I did a three minute pickup at “medium effort”. (Because of my experience you can give me instructions like ‘medium effort’ and I know what to do). If you’re new to structured training your surges may be more prescribed – and I’ll talk about that in a moment, because that’s the good stuff.
When runners talk about training, specifically structured training, workout efforts can typically be classified into three categories. Speed, Tempo, Base. On top of those three there are specialty workouts that tend to be event specific, like altitude or hill workouts.
The first category, speed, is typically described as your 5K race pace – so close to a max effort.
Tempo is at 75-80% effort, (or for me this is the ‘medium’ effort).
Base is the zone-two heart rate effort to build base fitness, or slower work at a lower effort level.
Now that we’ve got the preliminaries and definitions out of the way, let’s talk about the workout.
What is the purpose of a surge run? The primary purpose of this tempo surge run is to train you body to 1) be comfortable with, or ‘get the feel of’ harder efforts, 2) Train your body to be able to do a harder effort mid-workout and recover from it, and 3) build strength and speed on top of your existing base. But these runs can be used additionally as a diagnostic tool, early in your training to assess your race fitness as well.
While you can do tempo training at any time, typically, most coaches and most structured training plans will load the tempo into the middle phase of your training plan. You want to already have some base fitness to take advantage of the tempo. The tempo builds on your base. The middle phase of your training, where you will typically find this tempo work, is where you build the majority of your racing gains.
Think of it this way; base training builds the foundation, tempo training builds the house and race specific speed work is the decoration.
What are the basic mechanics of a surge run?
First, you find a suitable course. For me I like the rail trail because it is mostly flat and has a consistent surface. That minimizes the unknowns so I can focus on the mechanics of the run. But right now I’m targeting a flat-ish-to-downhill road marathon.
You can also do these on the roads or any other course. It depends on what the topography of your target race is. I will do my surge runs in the trails if I’m training for a trail race and on the rolling hill roads around my house if I’m training for a road marathon with hills.
There are really no restrictions, but I try to keep it reasonably race specific to take advantage of, well, ‘specificity’.
Once you have your course you start the workout. It starts with a warm up period where you run at your low-zone-two-effort. For my workout that was 17 minutes, which is about what it takes for my heart to warm up at my age.
Then you hit the first interval. The intervals can be any length depending on what the intent of the surges are. You can do shorter, faster intervals of 30 seconds or a minute. But in a tempo surge run I’m going to target at least two minutes and more likely three minutes.
Why? Because three minutes of elevated effort give you enough time to start to fatigue. And you can practice holding the effort when you are fatigued. You can also practice holding good form when you are fatigued. Both these things are key racing skills.
Mechanically, you can either program the intervals into your watch or just look at your watch and go when the time is close. You can be off by seconds or even minutes. It’s not rocket science. If I remember I’ll hit the ‘lap’ button to start and end the three minutes. That makes the interval show up as a stand-alone event in your data. But, it’s not mandatory, more of a convenience.
What you will find is that three minutes of elevated effort is a long time. Your goal is to hold a consistent effort and a consistent form, evenly, across the interval. This is the race discipline that you are trying to learn and burn in. This is the point of the workout.
Because of this you need to do your warmup and your recovery segments at a lower effort, so you are fresh going into the interval. In this example it’s a full seventeen minutes between intervals so you should not have any problem recovering fully.
The ‘effort’ can be defined by a specific pace or a heart rate level. But, I will usually just do these based on perceived effort.
Like I said, three minutes is a long interval, so you want to ease into it. Really focus on the form. Run tall. Push those hips forward. Have your feet hitting the ground on the forefoot. Have that stride length and cadence right where you want them. Then hold it.
If you do it right you’ll notice it starts getting a little hard when you’re two minutes in. This is where you refocus on your form, cadence, breathing and effort. Stay present in the interval. If you want to get more aggressive towards the end, that’s fine.
It’s all good race training. Especially the last interval which will be the last three minutes of the run. This is a great practice for closing a run at race pace, race effort and race form.
If I look at my data, I’m typically a little bit too aggressive in the first interval, then I’m pretty consistent through to the finish. If you stay in the moment and focus on feeling the interval this is fantastic race simulation. Don’t ‘mail it in’ to check the box. Be present and see how your body is responding.
And this is how you use the surge run as a diagnostic tool.
In my 1:20 out and back on the rail trail I’ll get four surges. I can look at the pace and heart rate data and compare those to my perceived effort. I can also see if they felt too hard in that third minute. Or if the third or final interval felt easy or hard. This will directly tell me what kind of race shape I’m in and what I need to work on.
It’s a good workout because it’s not overwhelmingly difficult like, say, a sixteen mile step-up run. But it is difficult enough to tell you something about your fitness and have a positive impact on your training.
It is also a great example of structured training that is simple and effective. You can work these into your training plan and I guarantee you’ll get stronger, faster and better at managing in-race efforts.