As a coach, one of my favorite workouts to prescribe—and do myself—is the progression run. It’s simple in concept but incredibly effective in helping runners build endurance, speed, and mental toughness without overcooking their legs.
A progression run starts easy, at a comfortable pace, but gradually picks up speed as you go. Instead of going all-out from the start, you ease in, letting your body warm up before shifting gears. By the end, you’re running strong, finishing faster than you started—just like you want to in a race.
In this guide, we’ll break down everything you need to know about progression runs: what they are, why they’re so beneficial, the different types you can try, and how to incorporate them into your training plan based on your fitness level and race goals.
What Is a Progression Run?
A progression run is a type of workout or a type of training run that gradually increases the running pace over the duration of the run.
There are different types of progression runs, but they all can be considered “fast finish runs,“ or “negative splits” running workouts.
Negative splits is a term often used to describe races where you pick up the pace throughout the race such that the first half is run slower than the second half.
For example, negative splits in a marathon race might look like running the first half marathon in two hours and finishing the marathon in 3:50, meaning that you ran the second half marathon portion of the marathon race in 1:50.
What Are the Benefits?
#1: Build Aerobic Fitness
A progressive run is a continuous training run where you do not stop and take recovery time or rest breaks as you might with interval training on the track.
In this way, progression runs help build endurance and promote the same physiological adaptations to the aerobic system that you would get from any type of distance running workout.
Particularly if you do progression runs for your long runs in marathon training, you will help trigger the various cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and metabolic adaptations to endurance workouts.1Earnest, C. P., Rothschild, J., Harnish, C. R., & Naderi, A. (2018). Metabolic adaptations to endurance training and nutrition strategies influencing performance. Research in Sports Medicine, 27(2), 134–146. https://doi.org/10.1080/15438627.2018.1544134
#2: Helps You Run Faster On Tired Legs
Because the progression run workout has you increasing the running pace as the workout goes on, you have to dig into the hard efforts after you have already been running at a comfortable pace or even goal race pace for some distance or time.
This helps your body and mind adjust to pushing and running fast on tired legs, which can help you improve your performance on race day.
After all, when you are running at race pace, you are likely not “comfortable,“ so if you can run faster even in the last third or last quarter of your race, you can have a strong finish without yielding to the physical discomfort and wanting to slow down.
#3: Efficient Type of Training
When I was training for my second marathon race, I had limited time because I was working full-time and attending graduate school in the evenings.
I had to be efficient with my training and progression runs are a great way to do that. The progression running workout is a hybrid between a good aerobic workout and speedwork.
Particularly for long runs, doing a progression run long run can cut down on the total run distance.
For example, instead of doing a 20 mile-long run in marathon training, I sometimes did a 16 mile progression run, which seemed to equal out the effort level and physiological stimulus to my body.
#4: Adds Variety to Your Training Program
Adding progression runs to your training program is a great way to include more variety in your training.
This will not only trigger different physiological adaptations,2MacInnis, M. J., & Gibala, M. J. (2016). Physiological adaptations to interval training and the role of exercise intensity. The Journal of Physiology, 595(9), 2915–2930. https://doi.org/10.1113/jp273196 but also prevent boredom, challenge your mind and body, and give you confidence for race day.
Progression Run Workouts To Add To Your Training Plan
There are different types of progression runs, but the basic concept is that you build up the speed throughout the duration of the run.
Typically, you start with a warm up at a conversational or comfortable pace and then either gradually increase your running pace or chunk the run into sections and run each section at a faster pace.
For example, a progression run for an experienced 5K runner who is trying to run faster might be 3 miles long.
- The first mile would serve as a warm-up at an easy pace.
- The second mile would be run at goal race pace.
- The last third of the progression run workout would be run 5 to 10 seconds faster than goal pace with the final minute at an all-out to practice kicking in with a fast finish through to the finish line.
You should always do a cool down after any progression run that ends at a fast pace to guide your heart rate back down, reduce soreness, and decrease the risk of injury.
Timed Progression Runs
If you like to run by minutes instead of miles, you can also structure progression runs in time intervals.
For example, here is a 45 minute progression run for someone in the build up phase in a 10K training cycle:
- 10 minute run at an easy pace to warm up
- 10 minutes at marathon pace
- 10 minutes at half-marathon pace
- 10 minutes at goal pace for the 10k
- 5 minute cool down at a conversational pace
Heart Rate Zone Progression Running Workout
You can also use your heart rate to guide the progressive running workout.
For example, here is a progression 45-minute run using heart rate zones:
- 15 minutes as a warm up in heart rate zone 2 (easy pace)
- 15 minutes in heart rate zone 3
- 10 minutes in zone 4
- 2 minutes in zone 5
- Cool down for 3 minutes at an easy pace to bring your heart rate back down
Half Marathon Progression Long Run
Here is a 10-mile progression long run for half marathon training:
- 3 miles easy
- 3 miles at marathon race pace
- 3 miles at goal half marathon race pace
- 1 mile at an easy pace if you’re a beginner, or maintain half-marathon pace to the end if you’re an advanced runner
Marathon Progression Long Run
Here is an 18 mile long run progression workout for marathon training:
- Begin at a easy pace (90-120 seconds slower than goal marathon pace)
- 3-6 miles: 90 seconds per mile slower than goal marathon pace
- 6-9 miles: 60 seconds per mile slower than goal marathon pace
- 9-12 miles: 30 seconds slower per mile than goal marathon pace
- 12-18 miles: goal marathon pace.
- Cool down by walking 5-10 minutes.
Remember that progressive long runs are quite challenging and tiring, so it is crucial to take plenty of recovery days with cross-training, easy recovery runs, or rest days afterward to prevent overtraining3Kreher, J. B., & Schwartz, J. B. (2012). Overtraining Syndrome. Sports Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach, 4(2), 128–138. https://doi.org/10.1177/1941738111434406 and reduce the risk of injury.
For these reasons, you should also not do every long run in your training cycle as a progression run unless you are not ending with a very fast finish and just having a couple of marathon pace miles in the run.
If you are looking for even more long run ideas, check out this next guide.
Dear Katelyn, there’s something that I’ve been wondering for a long time and your opening line touches on it.
As you very well said, the list of possible workouts for us runners is extensive. You listed six and didn’t even include easy runs, which has been repeated over and over that they should make up the bulk of your weekly miles.
Every article that I read explaining any type of run says “you should do these once or twice a week”.
Well, if we are supposed to rest two days a week, how could we possibly incorporate seven types of run in a week, even more so if two out of the five should be easy runs??
Hi Robert,
Thank you so much for your comment.
I know, there are so many options and so many types of workouts that it’s impossible to fit them into just one week. I include one to two specific speed workouts per week, and the rest of my running days are easy. The progression run examples in this article are ideas that you can work into your weekly training, but just one at a time, per week. Schedule them in according to your specific training plan and goals.
Let me know if I can be of more help.