Mo Farah’s 5k/10k Training: 2 Week Blocks / 20 Week Cycles
Mo Farah’s Ex Coach, Albert Salazar prescribes two-week shorter cycles, within 20 week longer cycles.
He believes in 2*20 week cycles per year. Here is a general outline for the majority of the year (more specific in the final 6-7 weeks of each cycle).
1. One short speed session per week year round. In the fall this can be hills and/or 200’s. The key is progression. If Mo wants to run 12×200 in 25.5 in August, he starts in late March/April (double periodisation) with 200’s in 29. Always a 200m jog between. The short speed day obviously gets tailored to the specific needs of the athlete as races approach (can be 400’s or a mix of short intervals)
2. One longer workout per week. This can be long intervals (ex: 6×1600 w/400 jog or 8×1200 w/400 jog) or a 6-8 mile tempo run. Again the key is progression. Moving from say 4:30-25 for mile repeats down to 4:11-4:13 for Galen and Mo. The intervals are faster than 10k race pace, but longer recoveries than most other “elite” runners training. Just an interesting side note.
3. One medium interval workout every other week. Most of the time this is 600’s or 800’s or 600m breakdowns (600,400,300,200). 3 or 4 sets of the breakdowns, or 8×800m.
4. One long run once per week. One week is a slower long run and one week is a harder long run. The hard long run for Mo and Galen would be anywhere from 5:00 to 5:30 depending upon the time of year. Normally 17-20 miles. The last 6-7 weeks before your key race is the hardest training cycle. Notice very little to no racing for Salazar’s athletes in this time period. Normal easy runs are around 5:40-45 for Mo and Galen.
