Renato Canova’s “Special Period” Example Training Sessions
After the conclusion of the fundamental period (2 month period where mileage progresses to it’s peak), the athletes gradually transition into the special period. The special period is focused on developing both the speed and endurance for the event, but never both at the same time. During the special period, which also lasts about two months, the short, middle, and long-distance specialists begin to diverge. All athletes try to maintain their mileage during the special period, so they are in a constant state of training, yet are not too tired for quality workouts.
Athletes compete in races outside of their specialty; everyone but the marathoners competes in longer races, including cross-country. The marathoners compete at shorter distances, typically 10km, half-marathon, or cross-country. Workouts from the fundamental period are not abandoned; they are added to the mix of workout options during the special period.
The middle-distance (800m-5km) runners typically do one of three types of workouts: short, high-speed repeats with long recovery at 105-110% of race pace, long repeats totalling 4-6km at 92-95% of race pace with short recovery, or a continuous fast run at around 90% of race pace for events above 1500m.
The first type of workout builds speed to be able to run at the “specific” pace and the latter two build endurance to hold the “specific” pace for the duration of the race. These two stimuli are not combined until the specific period. The long-distance (10km and up) specialists work at speeds of 102-105% of race pace for their high-speed interval workouts. The percentage is likely closer to race pace because, as the distance of the race increases, extension becomes a bigger factor than speed. Canova recommends the following for
total interval workout volume for each group:
10,000m runners: 10-12km
Half-marathon: 12-15km
Marathon: 20-30km
Marathon and half-marathon runners also do a fast-paced long run as part of their special training (and will continue to do so into the specific period).
As the special period progresses, the two types of workouts (short high-speed and long moderate-speed) begin to converge. Canova describes a funnel, in which “the intensity must be extended, and the extension must become faster.” At the “end” of this funnel, we have now arrived at the specific period. During the specific period, the volume of race-pace workouts, as well as the extension of individual repeats, is of paramount importance to all runners. Canova gives the example of a 1:44 800m runner who, during the special period, progressed to 5x400m in 50 seconds with 5 minutes of recovery. During the specific period, this workout can evolve in two directions, either adding more repeats (6x400m, same recovery) or extending the repeats (4x500m in 63sec, same recovery). True to the overarching philosophy, the race-pace workouts become the sole focus during the specific training. Athletes must be well-rested before and must recover well after. Athletes Canova coaches tend to take two or sometimes three days of easy regeneration running between workouts. These easy days usually involve doubling, but are done at a fairly easy pace—the purpose is not training on these days, but recovering. A typical non-workout day in Moses Mosop’s 2011 Boston Marathon training schedule consisted of 60-80 minutes at an easy to moderate effort in the morning and 40-60 minutes easy in the afternoon.
Canova gives several examples of workouts during the specific period.
800m (1:44 PR)
– 2 sets of 5 x 300m at Race Pace (RP), 1min recovery between repeats, 4min between sets
– 4 x 400m at 102% RP, 5-6min recovery
– 3 x 600m at 101% of RP, 6-8min recovery
– 1000m at 95% RP + 400 at 101% RP + 200 at 106% RP, 8min recovery
1500m (3:30 PR)
– 2 sets of 8 x 300m at 105% RP, 45sec recovery between repeats, 4min between sets
– 8 x 400m at RP, 2min recovery
– 5 x 600m at RP, 3-4min recovery
– 3 x 1000m at RP, 6-8min recovery
– 2000m at 95% RP + 1000 at 99% RP + 600m at RP, 6min recovery
5000m (13:00 PR)
– 15 x 400m at 104% RP, 45sec recovery
– 10 x 600m at 102-104% RP, 1:30-2:00 recovery
– 6 x 1000m at 100-103% RP, 2-3min recovery
– 3 x 2000m at 98-99% RP, 3-4min recovery
– 3000m at 98% RP + 2000 at 98% RP + 1000m at RP, 5-6min recovery
10000m (26:40 PR)
– 15 x 600m at 101-103% RP, 1:30 recovery
– 10 x 1000m at 101-103% RP, 1:30-2:00 recovery
– 4 x 2000m at 102% + 1 x 1000 at 107% RP, 4min recovery
– 3000m at RP + 2 x 2000m at RP + 4 x 1000m in at 103% RP, 3min between 3000 / 2000, 2min between 2000s, 1:30 between 1000s
Half-Marathon (59:47 PR)
– 7 x 2000m at 100-102% RP, 400m recovery in 2min
– 5 x 3000m at 101% RP, 1000m recovery at 85-87% RP
– 3 x 5000m at 99% RP, 1000m recovery at 85% RP
– 15 km long run at 102 % RP
– 25 km long run at 97% RP
Marathon (2:05 PR)
– 6 x 4000m at 102% RP, 1000m recovery at 89% RP
– 5 x 5000m at 101% RP, 1000m recovery at 89% RP
– 4 x 6000m at 101% RP, 1000m recovery at 89% RP
– 4 x 7000m at 99% RP, 1000m recovery at 91% RP
– 5 x 2000m at 105% RP during a 35km (22mi) long run at 91% RP
– 25 km (15.5mi) long run at 102% RP
– 30 km (18.5mi) long run at RP
– 35 km (22mi) long run at 97% RP
– 40 km (25mi) long run at 92% RP
There are two important things to note about these specific workouts. The first is that, especially for the shorter distances, most of the workouts are not extraordinarily challenging when translated to relative paces. For example, Canova prescribes 8x400m at 1500m race pace with two minutes recovery, but ten or even twelve 400s at 1500m race pace is a common high school and college workout—with half the recovery! Likewise, many college distance runners would scoff at “only” six 1km repeats at 5k pace. As with Canova’s philosophy on running close to the aerobic threshold during the fundamental period, it seems that most of the time, middle- and long-distance track specialists are best served by refraining from pushing themselves to their absolute limit in workouts. A notable exception to this is the “specific block” days, in which the difficulty is compounded by the double workouts. This is in line with Canova’s philosophy of increasing modulation—just as there are workouts and easy days, there are harder workouts interspersed among moderate ones. However, these workouts are only examples and as mentioned earlier, fitter, more experienced athletes will do longer and more difficult workouts, as they require a greater stimulus. Moses Mosop, for example, completed two sets of 10x400m in 59-62sec during one workout while training for the 2011 Boston Marathon. Additionally, Canova insists that workouts be continually evolving—so, taking the 8x400m workout as an example, the athlete cannot simply repeat the same workout over and over. The stimulus must change—this can happen by increasing the volume, increasing the duration of the repeat, or decreasing the recovery interval.
The second important aspect is that, in many of the workouts, the athlete is allowed or required to complete workouts at volumes and speeds exceeding the race distance and the athlete’s personal record. Workouts are often done 1-3% faster than the athlete’s current PR and the track runners all have workouts that simulate the beginning, middle, and end of a race, starting with long repetitions at 95-98% of race pace, followed by shorter repetitions at or just below current race pace, and finishing with one to four final repeats at up to 7% faster than race pace. More than any other, this type of workout personifies Canova’s philosophy of building the perfect race from the ground up. Before an athlete flies to Europe or America to set a new personal best, he has already ran that race over and over, not only in his mind, but on the track in his workouts.
[An excerpt from Something New In Training, The Methods Of Renato Canova by Josh Davis.]
To learn more about Renato Canova’s training philosophy (in detail), read Training for a Sub 2:05 Marathon
Other popular articles about Renato Canova’s Training Philosophy:
Renato Canova – Marathon Training (Mileage)
Renato Canova’s “Special Block” Explained
