Outside:

1. T1: It's a bit silly having a numbered list for just one item, but hey, I have a thing for consistency of formatting, so silly it is. This is just a time trial, simple as that. Choose a course that mimics to some degree the type of terrain you're hoping to get better at running--if it's a flat race you're training for, a road or track is fine. Mountain marathon? Better include a hill or two. Technical trail? Put something together at your local mountain bike park or run off trail. The ideal course is somewhere between 1 and 2 miles long and should take you between 10 and 15 minutes to finish. You'll want to run hard and practice your mental strategies during this effort. If you find you don't have to use mental strategies, it simply means you're not working hard enough because running fast for this long is undeniably brutal. Sure, it's over quick, but it doesn't feel quick.**

Inside:

1. T2: Basically you're just doing your time trial on the treadmill! This can be a flat course that you simply try to run as fast as you can or a modified course that includes hills--for example you could run 2 min at 0%, 1 at 3%, 1 at 5%, 2 at 0% 1 at 3% 1 at 5% and then 2 more at 0% to create your own 'double hill' time trial. Again the idea is consistency. Treadmills offer the advantage of being constantly aware of and in control of your pace, combined with fine incremental control, meaning you can beat your last effort (and therefore document progress!) simply by running that last minute at a tenth of a mile pace faster. I recommend of course smashing your last effort into as many pieces as possible, but hey, every little bit counts is you're having a rough day.