r/NorwegianSinglesRun

I’m trying to transition into an NSM style protocol, with a current volume around 70 km per week. I typically run my ‘easy runs’ at the zone 2-3 level, so was preparing to lower the intensity on these.

I’m seeing more and more though about not going very easy at this mileage.. a lot of online coaches recommending a higher pace for easy runs at the 70-100 km level. Jakob Ingenbritsen was recently quoted saying the same thing.

Sorry if this is a basic question, and I get it might be more of a preference thing. Anyone with some experience willing to comment?

Thanks

A bit of a sensationalist title but it has really helped me hone in on my personal physiology. This post is mainly to demonstrate how everyone's physiology is different and if you have the chance to use different data sources such as HR,RPE, talk/breathing tests and lactate testing you can hone in more on your personal physiology.

I've been doing NSA for several months now and had just been doing the standard time trial and then using lactrace/bakken calculator to set my paces. I recently got a lactate meter and it has reminded me that these calculators are designed for the general population/as a rough guide and your own physiology may be different.
As an example I had a threshold pace from a time trial of 3:59. Then using sirpocs book and the online calculator a this meant I was doing reps of
3 mins @ ~4:00
6 mins @ ~ 4:07
10 mins @ ~ 4:12
Religiously not going over 3:59 to stay in threshold pace and HR zones on intervals.icu
However I then got a lactate meter and found that my actual lactate values at the end of these sessions was 1.6-1.9 the longer reps especially were landed on the lower end of this. This ties into me feeling like these paces were very comfortable

Since getting my lactate meter I've found that I need to run closer to 3:53, 3:58, 4:02 to get my lactate to ~ 2.4-2.8 mmol. I've discovered that I have a lactate curve that stays quite flat and then rises very steadily and then gets very steep only when I am right under LT2 and I need a longer time very close to my threshold HR/pace for lactate to really rise or accumulate. I also have good lactate clearance between reps.

This isnt to say that the calculators and sirpocs guidance in the book isn't good general advice but for me it meant I was potentially leaving a lot of gains on the table.

This does now leave me with a question of what to put my lactate threshold pace at in intervals.icu . There is clearly a difference between your "normal" lactate threshold pace and interval lactate threshold pace if you are decently aerobically trained. The problem I'm having is if I leave intervals.icu on what my "normal" lactate threshold pace would be. I'm spending a lot of time in Z5 instead of Z4 and also the load calculations give much higher values due to spending time at +100% of lactate threshold pace, which for most people would be meaning they are accumulating too much lactate or going above LT2 and carrying too much fatigue.

Any thoughts?

Hi, I’ve got a friend who’s trying to move towards NSA but she’s struggling to work out a schedule that keeps the bike, especially the Sunday group ride. This is a typical week currently:

Mon easy bike 1h 20, 32k; Tues sub-T run 1h 20, 18k; Wed off Thu wattbike intervals 1h30, 45k; Fri. Swim 2000m 52min; Sat. Sub-T run 1h30, 20k; Sun cycle 3h 50, 115k.

I’d say she’s overtraining and would love her to have a simple NSA structure 1hr /day max everything tightly controlled, but she loves her Sunday ride. I know there’s a lot of people combining bike and run, any suggestions please?

Hey folks,

I’ve been reading this sub for a year or so but this is the first time I’ve tried to follow the plan from the book.

I did a 5K time trial a couple weeks ago in 17:49 and I’m using that for setting paces and configuring intervals.icu, with pace as the priority for calculating load. I’ve also done a Friel test for setting my LTHR. I’m confused about how training load on workout days and easy days seems to be almost the same.

As an example, yesterday I did 4 x 6 min around 6:15 min/mile with 1 min recoveries, and around 5-10 minutes warmup and cool down jog. Total time 43 min, total distance 5.9 miles, training load 52.

Today I did an easy run at 8:12 min/mile, 55 min, 6.7 miles, training load 53. For context, my LTHR is 174 and this run averaged 133 bpm so this was truly easy.

I understand that on my easy run I did a bit more volume, but I would really expect the workout load to be much higher on the workout days than the easy day. If the goal is to increase load safely, it seems way easier and better long term to just run more easy miles rather than trying to do 3 workouts a week. Am I missing something?

Thanks!

Is a 3km time trial okay? Yesterday I tried a 5km TT and was doing pretty well, but around the 3km mark I started to struggle.

I checked my heart rate and was scared because it was too high (actually, analyzing other races, it was just right for the type of effort), so I gave up.

For the future, since I find a 5km TT mentally too challenging, would a 3km TT be enough?

For Context this is my first TT since I started NSM 6 Weeks Ago .

Hey everyone! 👋
I’m new both to this forum and to the app, so I wanted to introduce myself and ask for a bit of advice, because from what I’ve seen this community is incredibly helpful and supportive. I’ve been reading through a lot of posts lately and honestly the amount of knowledge and encouragement here is amazing. 🙌

I’m 35 years old, 1.80 m tall, and around 76 kg. I’ve been running for years, although never in a super structured way. I’ve worked with a coach a couple of times, but only very sporadically. Now I’d really like to start training more consistently and intelligently.

My current PB was set this past Easter in a half marathon, where I ran a 1:32. I entered those stats into the app and I was pleasantly surprised to see it immediately start suggesting workouts and training paces, which I think is awesome.

The issue is that I currently have several very different goals, and I’m not sure how I should configure the app so it works properly for my situation:
In September I have a mountain half marathon with around 2,000 meters of elevation gain, so obviously it’s nothing like a normal road half marathon.

In October I’m doing a relay race where each stage is 10 km, and I expect to run around four stages, so roughly 40 km total in one day.

And on top of that, I’ve always had the idea of eventually training for a full marathon… Maybe next spring?

My main doubt is that, from what I can see, the app seems mostly focused on flat road racing. I haven’t been able to find any way to account for elevation gain or trail-specific effort, and that’s what’s confusing me.

So I’m wondering:
Should I still configure the mountain race as a normal half marathon?
Whitch is the best way to train both?

Does anyone here use the app successfully for trail running or races with a lot of elevation?
Any advice or personal experience would be hugely appreciated, especially from people who combine both road and trail running.
Thanks in advance! 💪🏃

Hey guys.

I have a 10 day window coming up where I can’t exercise. I’ll be able to walk slowly for maybe an hour a day but I can’t run or cross train or anything above that.

In my head this is a disaster whilst training for NSM. I need someone to tell me it will all be okay 😭 Anybody!?

I’d also like some advice in the 7 days both preceding and following, should I do anything different to accommodate this hiatus?

Thanks 🙏

43m, former college runner who spent 20 years post school not really doing much serious running (but still active usually). Got back into consistent running about one year ago. Did a self-crafted traditional training program in January (two workouts and a long run every week). Training block went pretty well! Did an 8k in mid-March, 28:40, at which time I discovered and switched to NSM on March 26th. Suspected LTHR of 180 based on that 8k.

Initially, was pretty shocked at how slow I had to run for a HR below 130 bpm. Whereas most of these easy/recovery days had previously been at about 8:30-9 min/mi pace (averaging 140-150 bpm), my first NSM easy day was at 11:17 pace for 60 minutes of running and even then my average HR for the run was 131 bpm despite slowing tremendously throughout the run (9:54 first mile at 120 bpm, to 12:21 fifth mile at 135 bpm). This has improved quite a bit, I think, in just 7 weeks: yesterday’s 60 minute easy run was at 10:52 pace with an average HR of 125 bpm. Still very slow pace but progress for sure.

Workouts, however, aren’t progressing. Before NSM, for example, I did a 5 mi tempo run in early February at 6:13 pace averaging 171 bpm and topping out at 179. But then an early NSM workout I did (in early April) was 3x10’ (w/90” rest) averaging 6:22 pace with HR topping out at 173, 176, and 174 bpm. And, today, I did 3x10’ (w/2’ rest, even) averaging 6:30 pace and topping out at 173, 177, and 178 bpm. These all have been on similar routes in similar conditions (or at least not extreme heat or cold or wind).

Any thoughts on what’s going on? Seven weeks into NSM and my SubT running is slower despite chopping the work into intervals and adding rest.

In intervals.icu, my Fitness is 30, Fatigue is 38, Form is -8 (grey, trending away from green toward blue), and Ramp is 1.3, which all seem fine. Going back to the end of my “traditional” training period, my training was way riskier, with Form peaking at -28 and Ramp at 8.4 near the last week of March, right before switching to NSM. Could this be fallout from training that occurred 2-3 months ago? The only other thing that comes to mind is a HM I did in April. I used the book taper into and out of that race and while the race seemed relatively successful (1:23 even with 3000 ft higher altitude and 800 ft elevation gain) maybe it took more out of me than I’ve realized?

Would like a week or two of just easy running be smart? Or might this period resolve itself if I just give it time (while continuing to run slower interval paces)? I do not feel overtrained or burned out, and my diet, sleep, and life stress have also been relatively consistent throughout.

TLDR: 36y/male/174cm/ 66kg Huge Sucess with NSM. Very fast comeback to Peakshape after long Phase with different injuries. New PBs. Very good feeling the whole time. Startet at 8h which was way less Training than before and also much slower. Lately more around 9h and some Crosstraining.

Backround

Started serious Running in 2021. Increased the Volume constantly over the years. Ran 5k to HM the first two years. Startet training for Marathon in late 2023. Very good Training in 2024 with a somewhat standard Marathonplan (2 Workouts + 1 Longrun and 110-130km/week). Very bad year 2025 with several Injuries and only one 10km PB early in the year. Never came near Peakshape again until the Start of NSM. Right before the start of NSM i ran a 35:30 10k in January. My PB in the 10k was 33:52 from May 2025 so still worlds away form Peakshape. After the 10k i got injured again. 2 Weeks with nearly no running followed by a slow build up lead to the end of February when i startet NSM.

After four weeks of Vanilla NSM i was very suprisingly back at Peakshape and got a new 10km PB (33:42). From there on i kept getting faster and ran a 5k PB at 16:02 at the beginning of April. Another 10k PB 32:57 at the beginning of May. And HM PB 1:14:32 last Weekend.

Schedule

I started with around 8h and slightly less than 100km/week. From there on i slowly increased the load. Sometimes i added a rep more SubT sometimes i added easy crosstraining or more easy running. Constantly doing 1-2 times Weightlifting for around 30' always on SubT days.

Monday 60' easy (lately began doubling with 45' + 30')

Tuesday 5x6' (Increased to 6x6 after two months) + 1h easy bike after some weeks

Wednesday 60' easy (lately began doubling with 45' + 30')

Thursday 10x3' + 1h easy bike after some weeks

Friday 105-120' easy

Saturday 60' easy

Sunday 3x10' (Increased to 4x10 after three Weeks) + Weighttraining

Workouts

From the beginning of March on i wrote down the Average Pace and Heartrate for all Workouts (Only working reps excluding Pause). I run the Workouts mainly by heartrate knowing that my LTHR is around 165. The Aim was always to run under LTHR but get close to it by the last rep. At the Start i had some Sessions where the Hearrate got slightly to high but after a couple of weeks i had it dialed in. I keep an eye on Pace but for me beeing guided by hearrate feels slightly better.

10' Reps	6' Reps	3' Reps
3:45 151	3:42 151	3:33 152
3:42 154	3:37 154	3:29 152
3:38 151	3:38 158	3:26 150
3:38 154	3:37 155	3:24 151
3:35 152	3:37 155	3:22 151
3:36 155	3:35 155	3:22 152
3:33 154	3:33 154	3:23 153
	3:31 154
	3:32 155
	3:34 153

Easy Runs

The easy runs i ran by Time on feet and Hearrate. The Aim was to be always a good amount blow 70% MaxHr (182). I never cared about Pace in these runs. On my watch i only view Hearrate. The average Heartrate for all easy runs in the phase was between 65% (118) and 68% (124). The average Pace was between 4:48 and 5:15. Most runs were aound 5:00 Pace. While i got faster in the workouts form week to week the easy pace was more around the place. They did not get constantly faster. I ran some runs around 4:55 at the beginning and in the end there was no major change in the paces.

Difference to former Training

The biggest differences in the Training before NSM was the intensity and the duration of the workouts and the duration and the intensity of the easy runs. Monday was often a Temposession which was moderate intensity but farely long (18km). Wednesday was Intervalls where last Reps where most of the time above LT2. Easy runs were by Pace and most of the time between 4:30 and 4:55 Pace and longer 16-20km. Hearrate was around 130-138 for normal runs and 135-145 for long runs. So the Intensity and the volume was much higher. To high for my body to be able to adapt and get better.

What comes next

I enjoy the training very much. I didnt have a single niggle in the three months although i ran several PBs. This is much of an approvement after coming from more that a year with constant niggles, one major and three minor injuries.

I will continue the Training and keep adding a little bit more load here and there. Maybe testing double Treshhold in a couple of weeks.

Havent decided if i run a Marathon in the fall. Aim would probally be to break 2:30.

After my hot, muggy session: I now understand why.

Looking for some advice/review on my marathon training after a disappointing London build and how to approach Berlin.

For London, I worked with a coach for the first time and trained harder than I ever have before. The training itself suggested I was in shape to run well under 2:30, but by the time taper came around I felt completely burnt out and ended up having a really bad race. Looking back, I don’t think I was actually adapting to the training load.

Typical structure looked like:

• Tuesday double threshold: AM: 2x20 mins around 3:25/km PM: 5k/10k pace work
• Friday: 45–60 mins continuous at marathon pace (~3:28–3:30/km)
• Sunday long run: Usually 20–30km of marathon pace quality, sessions like: 4x5k @ MP 3x9k @ MP Final big session was 30km @ MP two weeks out
• Easy running: ~2 hours easy on Mon/Wed/Thurs/Sat

Peak mileage was around 200km weeks.

My PBs are:
5k – 15:27
10k – 31:51
HM – 1:10:36
Marathon – 2:35

I’m now building towards Berlin and really want to break 2:30, because I genuinely think the fitness is there if I can actually absorb the work and arrive fresh on race day.

I’ve recently read the Marius Bakken LT approach book and James's book and the emphasis on intensity control really resonated with me. I’m interested in using that as the foundation of my Berlin block, but I’m unsure how best to adapt that style of training for the marathon specifically.

Has anyone successfully used a these methods as there approach for marathon training? How did you structure marathon-specific work and long runs without drifting back into accumulating too much fatigue?

Would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has gone through something similar.

Should i do Nasal or Mouth Breathing when doing my Sub Threshold Sessions currently i do Nasal Breathing. For Reference i have 3 a week always 18x 2min, 12x 3min, 6x 6min. My HR is always pretty high but my Max HR i normaly do them by feel and feel like i got at least 10min eoth of reps in reserve if i had to. So when i can maintain nasal breathing + Lots of Reps in Reserve this probably says that my effort is to low but my HR says otherwise.

Thanks for help

Working off my (quite old) 5000m PB - 18:30. This is my highest VDOT PB.
Threshold pace is set as 3:57/km. However on all vanilla workouts they are feeling extremely easy.
I am already doing 30 mins worth of SubT per workout session.

My Garmin says my LTHR is 180 but during the workouts my HR doesn’t even get over 165.

Should I increase the pace on workouts?

Hi everyone. I am planning to train over the summer using the NSM approach, but i also want to implement a few other aspects into my training. Some heat training and also some race prep work towards a 10K.

Can anyone speak to the viability of adopting a model with heat training i have named "Hot Norwegian Singles" where i would do 3 workouts per week, and swapping 2-3 of the easy days with heat training (45 minute elliptical or uphill walking). I do ofcourse understand the heat will put more stress on my body, but i dont see any better way of trying to combine the two models. The heat-training will likely be only the last 4 weeks leading into the race, trying to maximize the haemoblogbin and blood-volume effect, while not fatigueing the body for an unnecissarily long period. From my understanding/experience 4 weeks should be sufficient for most of the heat effect to take place.

I've not seen many reports about Ultramarathons using this approach, so here's my contribution!

Background: I have been using the NSM for about 18 months, but after about the first 6 months had stopped seeing improvements due to what I subsequently discovered was a pretty severe iron deficiency. I started taking iron in December, and set my eyes on a 50km with 1800m vert in May.

Training: As it’s not that much further than a marathon, once I was 12 weeks out from the race I started using the special marathon block, I adapted it to include one uphill treadmill session per week, where I would do the 10 or 12 minute intervals at 8% gradient and to HR instead of pace. About 1 month out I switched this to be a stair-stepper session with a weighted vest, to get some race specificity. My easy runs were almost always on the trails, my other Sub Threshold sessions on the road.

I initially planned on extending the long run out to 3 hours, but in the end, barring one 6 hour run that was a bit of a social excursion at easy pace, I kept the rest of my long runs to 2 hours. I felt comfortable doing this as I'm familiar with the distance already, and felt extending them was taking too much out of me for the rest of the week.

I also added strength training twice per week using the Tactical Barbell operator program - this is 2 sessions each covering squat, deadlift, chest press and pull up. I found this to be a good compromise - I knew I needed some strength training so my legs could handle the hilly terrain, but found leg specific sessions too fatiguing when combined with 3 running workouts per week.

Result: Overall, it worked really well. I finished in a bit over 6 hours in the top 15% of women and was able to maintain a decent pace at the end, rather than fading in the second half.

My weakest point was probably the technical descents - not something I can easily practice where I live, but doing some interim fell races would have helped me with that.

I also found some of the long rocky flat-ish sections a bit slow going. In retrospect I’d have kept up the uphill threshold sessions right until the end of the block, and perhaps switched out a flat sub-t for the stair-stepper in the last month instead.

So in summary, although the technical mountain running skills are things which ultimately need practice, the NSM marathon plan worked really well for building up the endurance on the flats and uphills that I needed for a 50k race. The load felt very manageable and I was really happy with the result.

Been doing NSM for 12ish months. Ran a 1:19 half recently, took a full week off running and have been gradually returning to pre half marathon mileage (and yes I know NSM is all about maintaining mileage without breaks but I felt like a break so sue me).

I’ve been sitting around 80ish km per week pre HM typically

M: Rest day
T: 8x1km 3k WU+CD (14km)
W: 60m Easy 11ish km
Th: 3x3km WU+CD (15km)
F: 60m Easy 11ish km
S: 4x2km WU+CD (14km)
Sun: 90m Easy 18km

83km

Typically go to the gym and do heavy legs on Tuesday and Saturday and I also do some easy cycling on Zwift on the easy days.

Based on my HM could potentially run around 2:45 with good weather and no hiccups in the lead up.

Are there any specific adjustments I should make for a marathon build or should I just gradually increase the long run until I can consistently hit 2 hours easy 8 weeks prior to the marathon and maintain this for 8 weeks. Maybe increase the Saturday session to 5x2km too.

Taper wise thinking I’d just drop gym say a week to 10 days out and reduce sub thresh days and easy days slightly eg. 45m easy and sub thresh days 6km of intensity.

Thoughts?

If I run a time trial say once a month, and PR each time, should I be adjusting my SubT paces with every 5K PR?

Hey Everyone,

I have a 5k on Memorial Day, a Monday, seven days from now. I'm looking for advice: how would you structure the week before to accommodate for that? I haven't raced in a month and would like to run fast, so I'd prefer to err on the side of rested rather than cooked.

For reference, I have run the last twenty or so weeks by the book: Tuesday Thursday Saturday is 30 minutes of sub threshold work, Monday Wednesday Friday is 50 minutes easy. Sunday is 80 minutes easy.

Today I ran 50 minutes easy. If you were me, what would you do for the rest of the week?

For those of you who run sub-t workouts primarily by RPE, what rules of thumb do you use to gauge the effort? Here are a few that come to mind:

• 5-6/10
• Bakken talk test
• could run 1-2 more reps if necessary (this one has always confused me, because that answer seems dependent on the rep duration. Also, is it implying that 1-2 more reps could be completed with significant effort, or that 1-2 more reps would be fairly easy?)

Just curious to hear how people approach calibrating sub-t purely by effort.