Peak Week Workouts: How to Use Supercompensation Effect in Race Training

A majority of your workouts should leave something in the tank. After all, workouts are not races! However, there are occasions when a workout should push you far outside of your comfort zone. These are peak week workouts — big workouts meant to produce a large adaptation effect, also known as a supercompensation effect. These workouts are deliberately challenging; but as a result of working outside your comfort zone, you receive a significant fitness boost.

The catch? You still have to be able to recover well from these workouts and continue through your taper. You can’t be so exhausted that you have to skip several runs. Peak week workouts involve a fine balance. Here’s how to nail your peak week workouts when race training, plus tips for race pace workouts.

What is Supercompensation Theory?

Supercompensation is a basic theory in exercise science. You apply a significant amount of training stress. Fitness experiences a temporary dip as you are fatigued immediately after the workout. However, if you recover well enough, your fitness then bounces back higher than the previous baseline. 

You do not want to apply too large of training stress. If you did, then your fitness would drop too low and stay low as your body struggles to recover. So, supercompensation workouts should be scaled to the runner’s ability. For the first-time marathoner, a 20-mile long run may be a supercompensation workout. For a skilled marathoner, they may do 20 miles with a large amount of marathon pace pacing in it. 

On a macro scale, supercompensation can occur through weeks of high mileage and/or intensity. Most training plans utilize some degree of supercompensation (think the last 20 miler of marathon training). On a micro-scale, big peak workouts such as these provide a supercompensation effect. 

A supercompensation workout is a running workout that delivers a huge amount of stress to elicit this effect. These are not your basic training workouts. You only want to do these workouts a couple of times in a single training cycle, typically during the peak weeks of training.

Specificity Training: When to Train at Goal Pace

Specificity is a basic principle of exercise science. The body adapts to the specific metabolic, biomechanical, and neuromuscular demands placed on it in training. Broadly speaking, running is a type of specificity. You train for a marathon primarily by running, not soccer or skiing.

Narrowly, goal pace training is a type of specificity. You become the most economical at the paces you train the most at. When you train regularly at race effort, you become more economical at the pace you will race at.

You do not exclusively train at goal pace during an entire race cycle, however. Instead, you begin with a wide array of workouts: lactate threshold training, VO2max workouts, tempo runs, hill repeats, and more. You then start goal pace workouts approximately six to ten weeks prior to your race, and gradually build up to the peak week workouts.

Peak week workouts fall under the category of specific training. Typically, your peak week workouts will be the longest bouts of goal pace training you do during an entire training session.

How to Do Peak Week Workouts

For a supercompensation workout to be fully effective, you must recover properly. The more challenging the workout, the more recovery is required. Recovery begins once you finish the run. Consume adequate amounts of protein and carbohydrates to repair tissue damage and replenish glycogen stores. Get plenty of sleep that night. Program at least two easy running days before your next long run or hard workout. Do not skip your scheduled rest days. If you stop partway through the workout, do not attempt to make it up – instead, recognize your state of fatigue and focus on recovering. 

An ideal peak week is 2-4 weeks prior to your race. This timeframe allows you to be in optimal fitness from training. A few weeks before your race also provides enough time for you to recover and, more importantly, adapt before your race. 

Once you are within two weeks of your race, you should be tapering. If done too close to a race, a peak week workout will leave you more fatigued than fit on race day.

Supercompensation workouts are not magic workouts. One does not replace weeks of hard, deliberate training. In fact, attempting one of these workouts without an appropriate training progression can increase your risk of injury. If you are experiencing high fatigue, injury, or illness, or you skipped a large chunk of training, do not attempt these workouts.

Remember also: training is like laying bricks. You use many small bricks to build a wall, not just a couple of huge ones. Not one single workout – even a supercompensation workout – builds your entire fitness for the season. A smart training plan, which may include a supercompensation workout, will. 

Peak Week Workout Tips

• Warm up and cool down. Race pace workouts should be preceded by a thorough warm-up of 10-20 minutes of easy running and followed by a cooldown of 5-15 minutes of easy running.
• Dial in your fueling strategy. You will want to eat a pre-run snack rich in carbohydrates, hydrate well, and, if the workout exceeds 60 minutes, take in some mid-run fuel. These peak-week workouts are all demanding and require a large number of carbohydrates for energy production. Additionally, if you fuel during, you are will recover better going into your next runs.
• Pacing is key. You do not get extra fitness points if you run too fast on these workouts; you only risk overtraining. These workouts are not always meant to be completed perfectly.
• It’s okay to bow out. These are hard workouts. You may fall off the pace. You may cut them short. And that’s okay! 

Race Pace Workouts for 5K to Marathon

5K Race Pace Workout

2-3 x 5 minutes at 5K pace, 3-min recovery jog, followed by 5 x 1 min hard/1 min easy

This 5K workout looks simple on paper, but you will finish with your hands on your knees. The 5-minute intervals will stress your VO2max and the shorter ones will aid in sharpening a strong finishing kick. Additionally, this workout teaches you how to pace a 5K – both how to not start out too fast, and how to hold on at the end.

10K Race Pace Workout

6-10 x 1K at 10K pace, with a 90-sec jog in between

10K races start off moderate and then quickly crank up in intensity. This workout mimics how a 10K race feels, especially with the short rests. Importantly, you must be cautious not to start out too fast. If you start off too fast, this workout risks digging you into a whole before your race.

Half Marathon Race Pace Workout

3-4 x 2 miles at half marathon effort, with a 4-5 min jog in between. 

For more experienced runners, this half marathon workout occurs in the middle of a long run. Two-mile repeats are long enough that you have to nail your pacing or you will crash. After multiple two-mile repeats at half marathon pace, you have a solid aerobic stimulus and a big confidence boost. 

Marathon Peak Week Workout

90 minutes easy, 70-80 minutes at marathon pace. 

Racing a marathon is all about being able to mentally and physically sustain a moderate pace for a prolonged period of time. Long marathon pace tempos built into long runs prepare you for that; this extra-long marathon pace tempo prepares you for also running on tired legs. If you can do this workout, you can run that pace for the marathon. 

>> Enjoy this article? You may also like the Tread Lightly podcast! Start with this episode on Understanding the Different Types of Running Workouts.