Running

as I'm meant to be training solely in the endurance zone until my speedwork phase starts next week I've been thinking about the impact of adding in some faster bits towards the end of the run and how that might alter the way your body adapts to the overall session as the changes happen in the recovery period after the run I believe.

so if you push yourself out of the zone you wanted to get the gains in does your body still adapt the changes at the lower intensity for the training you have done or does it just improve the systems that kicked in when you went to the harder stuff?

e.g. would you still reap the low-end benefits of running at endurance pace for 4 miles if you ran at tempo pace for a further 3 miles or would your body just adapt itself at the tempo pace instead as it recovers? or would it diminish the returns somewhat?

http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/index.php/articlePages/article/2

Fast finish long run?