Intervals
Intervals are a distance workout of repetitions with a recovery interval between each one.
1. Start out with doing a good warm-up. This is the phase during which to develop and practice your own pre-race warm-up.
2. Choose a distance or duration that you feel comfortable repeating. For example -
3. In-between each repeat take a recovery jog interval of the same distance OR until your HR comes down to 120~130 range and you feel ready to go again.
4. Stop the workout when
- you start to struggle to hold your pace
- your time starts to fall off
- You cannot hold good form
- Your workout is completed
5. Make sure you finish the workout with a good cool-down – minimum of 15 minutes easy jog. This will aid your recovery.
1. Start out with doing a good warm-up. This is the phase during which to develop and practice your own pre-race warm-up.
2. Choose a distance or duration that you feel comfortable repeating. For example -
| Total Distance | Suggested Workouts |
|---|---|
| Max 7k total (for marathon) |
-7 x 1000m or 7 x 4 minutes -4 x 1 mile or 4 x 6 minutes -12 x 600m or 12 x 2 minutes -2 x 2 miles or 2 x 13 minutes |
| Max 5k total (for 5k) |
-5 x 1000m or 5 x 4 minutes -6 x 800m or 6 x 3 minutes -12 x 400m or 12 x 90 seconds -3 x 1 mile or 3 x 6 minutes |
3. In-between each repeat take a recovery jog interval of the same distance OR until your HR comes down to 120~130 range and you feel ready to go again.
4. Stop the workout when
- you start to struggle to hold your pace
- your time starts to fall off
- You cannot hold good form
- Your workout is completed
5. Make sure you finish the workout with a good cool-down – minimum of 15 minutes easy jog. This will aid your recovery.
1. Never do this type of workout 2 days in a row.
2. Always give yourself at least 48 hours to recover.
3. Check your Recovery Indicators daily. Do not do another interval workout until you have recovered from the previous one.
4. Never run intervals if you feel an infection coming on.
5. Run longer repetitions on Tuesday and the quicker, shorter repetitions on Thursday. For example, if the schedule call for: Tuesday, max 6k total...Thursday, max 4k total; then you may want to structure your workout like this: Tuesday, 6X1km…Thursday, 10X400m...
2. Always give yourself at least 48 hours to recover.
3. Check your Recovery Indicators daily. Do not do another interval workout until you have recovered from the previous one.
4. Never run intervals if you feel an infection coming on.
5. Run longer repetitions on Tuesday and the quicker, shorter repetitions on Thursday. For example, if the schedule call for: Tuesday, max 6k total...Thursday, max 4k total; then you may want to structure your workout like this: Tuesday, 6X1km…Thursday, 10X400m...
Anaerobic glycolysis
Tolerance to oxygen debt & Lactic acid metabolism
Efficiency at faster paces
Tolerance to oxygen debt & Lactic acid metabolism
Efficiency at faster paces
Developing a 'comfort' level to the discomfort of oxygen debt
Pace judgment
Pace judgment
Converting your training times to predict race times. Your times will probably not correlate to race times as yet simply because you have not yet developed your speed to its maximum. The times are not important it is the physiological response of your body to the workout that matters.
Cutting the recovery jog too short. As a result you may have to end the workout prematurely and/or you won’t be able to run the repetition fast enough. For optimal training benefit aim to fulfill the prescribed volume of this workout as best you can. You don’t want to recover completely but you want to be pleasantly stressed.
Squeezing out one more repetition after the signs to quit are evident. This is counter-productive and will mess up your training for the rest of the week. Have the discipline to stop pouring when the glass is full.
Cutting the recovery jog too short. As a result you may have to end the workout prematurely and/or you won’t be able to run the repetition fast enough. For optimal training benefit aim to fulfill the prescribed volume of this workout as best you can. You don’t want to recover completely but you want to be pleasantly stressed.
Squeezing out one more repetition after the signs to quit are evident. This is counter-productive and will mess up your training for the rest of the week. Have the discipline to stop pouring when the glass is full.