Fast-quality sessions—intervals performed faster than race pace—are a key part of the Support Phase. Their purpose is not just to make you faster in the moment, but to prepare your body for the demands of the Specific Phase, where you will train far more precisely around race pace. To build these adaptations effectively, you must work in a controlled intensity range.
Fast-quality workouts are performed between 106% and 114% of goal race pace.
The faster end (≈114%) is used early in the Support Phase
The slower end (≈106%) is used later as workouts become more race-specific
This is why your fast-quality pace is always faster than race pace—but gradually becomes closer to it over time.
The platform calculates the exact pace range so you can execute these sessions with precision, rather than guessing or drifting into sprinting.
To increase the training stimulus across the Support Phase, progression should occur through three mechanisms:
The most important progression is increasing how much quality work you complete.
This can be done by increasing:
The number of intervals, or
The length of each interval
This is particularly important for half-marathon, marathon, and ultra-marathon athletes, who require high total workloads to prepare for long-duration racing.
As you approach the Specific Phase, your fast-quality pace should gradually slow—moving from far above race pace (114%) toward slightly above race pace (106%).
Even though the pace becomes slower, the specificity increases because the intensity moves closer to actual race demands.
Shorter recoveries place greater stress on metabolic durability, lactate clearance, and heart-rate control—key components of endurance performance. Toward the end of the Support Phase, recovery time becomes a major progression variable.
These three levers—more volume, slower pace, shorter recovery—allow you to progress while maintaining control and avoiding burnout.
Below is a structured example showing how fast-quality sessions evolve:
Short intervals make the session manageable
High intensity but relatively low total volume
Early-support-phase stimulus
Slight increase in interval count → higher volume
Slightly slower pace → increased specificity
Stimulus increases without making the workout excessively hard
Same total volume as Workout 2
Interval length increases → more muscular and metabolic stress
Structured as 2 × (6 × 400 m) with a longer set break
Pace slows slightly to maintain proper intensity
No interval recoveries → metabolic load increases sharply
Pace is much slower but now highly race-specific
Volume remains similar, but intensity distribution changes dramatically
This sequence gradually shifts from fast, short, high-intensity work → longer, steadier, more race-specific work, which is the exact goal of Support Phase training.
Athletes often question why pace gets slower as training progresses:
“Why should my speed work get slower as I get fitter?”
Because the goal of the Support Phase is not raw speed—it is preparing your body for the specific demands of the Specific Phase.
Running too fast:
Reduces total volume
Increases acidosis
Lowers neuromuscular and metabolic quality
Prevents proper workout progression
Going “all-out” on short reps feels gratifying but steals volume from the workout, limiting the training effect.
The correct approach is:
Hit the prescribed pace
Accumulate more productive work
Progress intensity by specificity, not by speed
This approach ensures that when you enter the Specific Phase, you can handle higher workloads at or around race pace with greater efficiency and lower fatigue.
Fast-quality sessions are performed at 106–114% of race pace
Progression should emphasize more volume, slower paces, and shorter recoveries
Paces get slower over time because specificity increases as you move toward race pace
Do not sprint the early fast-quality intervals—control the pace and build total volume
Support Phase fast-quality work prepares you to handle demanding Specific Phase training
Executed properly, these workouts create the exact neuromuscular and metabolic foundation required for peak race performance.