Your speed work should evolve as race day gets closer!
Coach Sandi Nypaver breaks down a concept used by many coaches—and by runners who coach themselves—is that your training should become more specific as you go.
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For example, if your goal race is a marathon, you might start off (after establishing a good aerobic base) with some easy mileage, strides, and maybe a few fartleks. Then, your first block of structured training could focus more on 5K or 10K–specific work. That means shorter, faster intervals. You might still include tempo runs, but they wouldn’t be the main focus in this phase.
Your next training block would shift toward more lactate threshold work—that’s what I mean by tempo runs. These efforts are around one-hour race pace, or for some runners, even half-marathon–specific workouts.
Finally, in the last block of training—roughly the final six to eight weeks leading up to your marathon—you’d focus on marathon-specific work. Your key workouts would include long runs with segments at or around marathon pace.
That’s the overall concept: your training becomes more specific to your goal race as you progress through each phase.