Strides
Easy running with short controlled accelerations — 15–20 seconds building to fast, relaxed running.
Also called: accelerations, pickups.
Strides are not a workout and should never feel like one. They are a way to visit fast running regularly enough that your body does not forget how, without incurring any real cost. Build gradually into each one, hold the fast part relaxed, and decelerate gently. If you are breathing hard afterwards, you are sprinting, not striding.
The session
Shown at a 4:00 marathon reference — 39 min total, about 5.7 km, including 3 min of quality work.
Session
- 31 min easy (6:43–7:24/km)
- 8 × 20 s strides, jog back between
Why this session works
In the base phase, speed means strides: 20-second relaxed accelerations that maintain economy and mechanics at near-zero recovery cost, layered onto an easy run.
Source: Barnes & Kilding 2015. Training phase: base.
Run it at your own paces
Open the workout generator and enter a recent race time — every rep length, recovery and target pace is recalculated for your fitness, and the session exports to .fit for a Garmin watch.
Frequently asked questions
What is a strides?
Easy running with short controlled accelerations — 15–20 seconds building to fast, relaxed running. Strides are not a workout and should never feel like one.
How long is this session?
At a 4:00 marathon reference it comes to 39 min and about 5.7 km, of which 3 min is prescribed quality work. The generator scales both to your own paces, so a faster runner covers more ground in the same time.
Who is this workout for?
It is written for the base phase of a marathon build. The distances shown suit a 4:00 marathoner; enter your own recent race time in the generator and every rep length and target pace is recalculated for you.
More speed and mechanics sessions
- Track repetitions — Short, fast repeats with full recovery — for mechanics and speed, not lactate.
- 200 m repeats — Sets of very short, fast reps with generous recovery between them.
- Hill sprints — Maximal 8–15 second efforts up a steep hill with full recovery — strength work disguised as running.
- Speed ladder — Reps that step up and back down in length at repetition pace.