One-Hour Workout: Daniela Bleymehl's Progressive Tempo Run

Germany’s Daniela Bleymehl knows a thing or two about strong running – the five-time Ironman champion is known for backing up her blistering bike splits with solid, can’t-catch-me runs. This year, her two Ironman wins (in South Africa and Germany) were due in large part to her unwavering run pace, clocking a stunningly consistent 3:11 marathon in both events. This earned her a spot on the Kona pier for the Ironman World Championship on October 6, where she’ll try to improve on her 2019 ninth-place performance.

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So what’s Bleymehl’s secret to a stronger triathlon run? “You want to develop a sense of competitive speed, and to feel comfortable running at that pace for as long as possible,” she says. In training, she builds this skill with the use of a progressive tempo run workout.

“In your initial race preparation, you can integrate this training to develop a good feeling for the pace you’re aiming for in the race,” Bleymehl explains. “During the racing season, you’ll use this workout to become comfortable with your race pace.”

The key to this session is to try to hit the pace as accurately as possible, in as many modes as possible. “Do this a as a run-only workout to try to feel in your body how this pace feels,” Bleymehl says. “And then this session can be done as a run off the bike. Again, try to hit the pace as accurately as possible and ‘memorize’ this feeling.” This will help you to rely more on your intuition and less on technology.

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One-Hour Workout: Daniela Bleymehl’s Progressive Tempo Run

Warm-up

10 minutes easy jog

Main set

15 minutes at a pace 5-10 seconds/km slower than race pace

15 minutes target race pace

15 minutes at a pace 5-10 seconds/km slower than race pace

Cooldown

5 minutes easy jog

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