Matt Sharpe is a 2020 Canadian Olympian, IRONMAN 70.3 champion, and cofounder of The Tempo News. He shared a workout that has become one of his favorites within the last year to give him the strength to power through the run leg of a 70.3 course: a threshold 18K.
“I know I’m ready to go the distance and have that strength endurance to manage through the second half of the run—which is usually where things get real in those long-course races,” he says.
Sharpe likes to perform one or two 18K threshold sessions before a big half-iron distance race. The 5K sets are run at threshold, with the 3K finisher done at a slightly faster pace. He explains, “Last time I did it, I think I was in pretty good shape. The 5Ks were around 3:20 per kilometer, and then the last 3K was about 3:12 or so.”
Judge the cooldown sets by feel. “I’ll do a pretty short cooldown—sometimes I’m pretty tired,” says Sharpe. “You’re just trying to flush whatever’s in the in the blood at that point.”
RELATED WORKOUT: Race Simulation Brick
Workout of the Week: Threshold 18K
Warm-up
15-20 min. jogging with drills or strides
Main set
3 × 5K run @ threshold pace
2 min. rest
3K @ pace slightly above threshold
Cooldown
3-4 sets:
3 min. easy run/1 min. walk
