The progression run is a type of training run.
When I was getting ready for the Ironman races, and training endurance in general, there were three types of runs (mostly) that I would do: Long run, tempo run, intervals.
The long run had a second variation – the “progression run.”
This means that say for a 25km run, it would increase in pace. So it would start of steady say for 10km, then increase in pace every 5km until the end.
The progression run became my favourite. Eventually, I would add a progression element to almost all of the runs.
This taught me one thing:
Build, then finish strong
To go out hard or start too fast because you are feeling good and want to be ahead of the competition, was the fastest way to dismantle a potentially good progression run.
When race day did come, the progression run helped to solidify a strong finish.
This became more and more important the longer the race.
This posture of leaning in and building can be applied elsewhere. We can start out, warm into the activity and then slowly wind it up.
Usually, our end result (time, effectiveness, work done…) is higher when we have a negative split, or “progression” element to it.
