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1. Where It Came From

The Norwegian Singles Method (NSM) is an adaptation of the "Norwegian Double Threshold" training system made famous by Norwegian distance runners like Jakob Ingebrigtsen. The doubles approach involves two threshold sessions per day — manageable for full-time professional athletes, but unrealistic for most of us juggling jobs, families, and early alarm clocks.

James Copeland, a UK-based runner and former time-trial cyclist, recognised that the underlying principle — spending time at sub-threshold intensity — could be restructured into single daily sessions. He posted his ideas on the LetsRun.com forums, where the thread grew to over 8,000 replies. His own results spoke volumes: progressing from an 18-minute 5K to a 15:01 5K and a 2:24 debut marathon at the 2025 London Marathon, all at the age of 41.

The method gained a passionate online community, particularly on the r/NorwegianSinglesRun subreddit, where runners share progress, ask about pacing, and support each other. Copeland, along with co-author Dr Asha Zimmerman and with a foreword by Marius Bakken (one of the original architects of Norwegian threshold training), published everything in the book Norwegian Singles Method: Subthreshold Running Kept Simple.

2. The Core Principles

NSM boils down to three straightforward rules:

1. Easy runs stay genuinely easy. Most of your weekly running should be at a conversational pace — roughly 60–70% of your maximum heart rate. No grey zone.
2. Quality sessions are sub-threshold, not above it. Your hard efforts sit just below your lactate threshold — fast enough to stimulate adaptation, but controlled enough that you can recover and do it again in 48 hours.
3. One quality session per day, three per week. Unlike the professional doubles approach, you run one sub-threshold workout on each quality day, with easy runs on the other days.

3. What Is Sub-Threshold Running?

Your lactate threshold is the intensity above which lactate accumulates in your blood faster than your body can clear it. Running above this threshold is hard — it's the pace that feels "comfortably hard" and can only be sustained for 30–60 minutes in a race.

Sub-threshold running sits deliberately below this line. You're running fast enough to get a strong aerobic training stimulus, but controlled enough that you're not accumulating excessive fatigue. Think of it as training in the "sweet spot" — borrowing a concept from cycling power training.

In practice, sub-threshold pace varies depending on the length of your rep:

• 3-minute reps — roughly your 15K race pace, or about 5–7% slower than 5K pace
• 6-minute reps — roughly your half marathon race pace, or about 8–10% slower than 5K pace
• 10-minute reps — roughly your marathon to 30K race pace, or about 11–14% slower than 5K pace

The key insight is that all three rep types sit in the same physiological zone — below threshold. The shorter reps are faster because you're doing less total work. The longer reps are slower but accumulate more time at the stimulus.

Look Up Your NSM Training Paces

4. How a Typical Week Looks

A standard NSM week for someone running 6–7 hours per week might look like this:

Rest between reps is 60–90 seconds of easy jogging. The warm-up and cool-down are at easy pace. Total weekly quality time is about 90 minutes — roughly 22% of the ~7 hour total.

5. Why It Works for Recreational Runners

Most recreational runners fall into the "moderate intensity rut" — running too hard on easy days and not hard enough on quality days. Everything ends up in a grey zone that's tiring but not optimally stimulating. NSM fixes this by creating clear separation:

• Low injury risk. Sub-threshold efforts are less stressful than traditional intervals or tempo runs at or above threshold. You're running fast, but you're in control. Recovery between sessions is manageable.
• High consistency. Because the sessions are sustainable, you can string together weeks and months of quality training without breaking down. Consistency compounds — and that's where the gains come from.
• Time-efficient. You don't need to run twice a day. A 50-minute session with 30 minutes of quality work is all it takes. Most runners can fit this into a normal schedule.
• Works across distances. The same approach scales from 5K to marathon preparation. The paces change, but the structure stays the same. You might adjust the long run length for marathon training, but the weekday framework is constant.

6. Who Is It Best Suited To?

NSM is designed for what James Copeland calls "the rest of us" — dedicated hobby runners who want to improve but don't have a coach or the time to train like a professional. It works particularly well for:

• Runners who have plateaued. If you've been running the same times for years despite training consistently, the structured intensity separation often breaks through stagnation.
• Masters runners (35+). The controlled intensity and emphasis on recovery is particularly well-suited to older runners who can't bounce back from hard interval sessions as quickly.
• Runners training 5–10 hours per week. The framework assumes you're running most days but not doing 150+ kilometre weeks. It's built for realistic volume.
• People who tend to get injured. If you're injury-prone, the sub-threshold approach reduces the peak stress of individual sessions, which can be gentler on your body.

7. How to Get Started

1. Find your current 5K time. Run a parkrun or a local 5K race at full effort. This is your benchmark for calculating training paces.
2. Look up your paces. Use our NSM pace table to find your 3-min, 6-min, and 10-min rep paces based on your 5K time.
3. Start with two quality sessions per week. If you've been doing unstructured training, jumping straight to three quality days can be a shock. Run two sub-threshold sessions for the first 2–3 weeks, then add the third.
4. Keep easy days genuinely easy. This is the hardest part for most runners. If you're running with others, don't let ego push the pace. Check your heart rate stays below 70% of max.
5. Be patient. NSM is a long-term approach. Expect to see improvements after 8–12 weeks of consistent training. The gains compound over months and years.

8. Building a Race Season with NSM

One of the strengths of NSM is how naturally it fits into a season-long race plan. Because the training is sustainable and not overly taxing, you can race frequently while still progressing. A typical Australian racing year using NSM might look like this:

The sub-threshold sessions don't change dramatically between phases — you're always doing the same types of reps. What changes is the weekly volume (particularly the long run) and which rep type you emphasise as your goal race approaches.

Browse Australian Races Find Your Training Paces

9. Further Reading

This guide covers the essentials, but if you want the full picture — including the science behind lactate dynamics, detailed periodisation, and marathon-specific adaptations — the definitive resource is:

Community resources:

• r/NorwegianSinglesRun — active Reddit community for NSM runners
• norwegiansingles.run — official website