Challenge - Interval Sessions for Groups

Murraythree

Would really appreciate some advice/direction on doing interval sessions with a group. Group consists of twenty triathletes and the majority are very well experienced athletes having completed half and full ironman events and also marathons. Fitness levels are quite good. However, for the majority of the group running would be the weakest discipline. All have agreed to allocate one night per week to track work.

Last week we did 4x400m and 1x800m with warm up and cool down. This was well within everyone’s capability. The challenge is to keep the group working together or is this possible? There is a significant difference between the fastest and the slowest runner.

Two questions:

1. Where to from here - 800m repeats and build from there?
2. What is the best way to do repeats with a group? Should we all go off together or stagger according to ability?

All advice gladly appreciated, thank you.

cwgatling

In the group I run with, everyone takes a turn to lead. For example, Runner 1 takes 1x 800. Then he/she drops to the back and Runner 2 takes the next interval.

Works great IMO. It keeps the pace consistent and makes things interesting.

BeepBeep67

Murraythree wrote: »

Would really appreciate some advice/direction on doing interval sessions with a group. Group consists of twenty triathletes and the majority are very well experienced athletes having completed half and full ironman events and also marathons. Fitness levels are quite good. However, for the majority of the group running would be the weakest discipline. All have agreed to allocate one night per week to track work.

Last week we did 4x400m and 1x800m with warm up and cool down. This was well within everyone’s capability. The challenge is to keep the group working together or is this possible? There is a significant difference between the fastest and the slowest runner.

Two questions:

1. Where to from here - 800m repeats and build from there?
2. What is the best way to do repeats with a group? Should we all go off together or stagger according to ability?

All advice gladly appreciated, thank you.

If you're working with a mixed group and the spread of ability is not too great make it a time based interval, such as 4 x 3mins and do the recovery in reverse, so everyone gets to start together again.
If the abilities are > 10% apart you might want to consider 2 groups.

ecoli

Murraythree wrote: »

Would really appreciate some advice/direction on doing interval sessions with a group. Group consists of twenty triathletes and the majority are very well experienced athletes having completed half and full ironman events and also marathons. Fitness levels are quite good. However, for the majority of the group running would be the weakest discipline. All have agreed to allocate one night per week to track work.

Last week we did 4x400m and 1x800m with warm up and cool down. This was well within everyone’s capability. The challenge is to keep the group working together or is this possible? There is a significant difference between the fastest and the slowest runner.

Two questions:

1. Where to from here - 800m repeats and build from there?
2. What is the best way to do repeats with a group? Should we all go off together or stagger according to ability?

All advice gladly appreciated, thank you.

Few solutions could be

1) Fartlek session - have runners sustain the hard efforts at their own pace and once it is finished change direction This allows the group to stay together and faster people will have to try pass slower after they change direction

2) Intervals - Break the group into two groups one starting at the 200m mark and the other at the four hundred metre mark. This will allow every runner to have someone to aim for ahead of them

Someone suggested runners swapping the lead each rep which can work if they are not that varying in there level of ability it makes it a bit harder the wider the level of ability is

tunney

Murraythree wrote: »

Would really appreciate some advice/direction on doing interval sessions with a group. Group consists of twenty triathletes and the majority are very well experienced athletes having completed half and full ironman events and also marathons. Fitness levels are quite good. However, for the majority of the group running would be the weakest discipline. All have agreed to allocate one night per week to track work.

Last week we did 4x400m and 1x800m with warm up and cool down. This was well within everyone’s capability. The challenge is to keep the group working together or is this possible? There is a significant difference between the fastest and the slowest runner.

Two questions:

1. Where to from here - 800m repeats and build from there?
2. What is the best way to do repeats with a group? Should we all go off together or stagger according to ability?

All advice gladly appreciated, thank you.

Whats the relevance of 400s and 800s to middle and long distance triathlon? What are these sessions trying to achieve?

TheRoadRunner

tunney wrote: »

Whats the relevance of 400s and 800s to middle and long distance triathlon? What are these sessions trying to achieve?

I can see the relevance, the quantity may need to increased dramatically however.

Murraythree

tunney wrote: »

Whats the relevance of 400s and 800s to middle and long distance triathlon? What are these sessions trying to achieve?

Just to clarify - I was just giving some background information on participants re long and middle distance events they have completed.
The goal for most participants is to improve 5km and 10km run times in sprint and olympic events.

ecoli

Murraythree wrote: »

Just to clarify - I was just giving some background information on participants re long and middle distance events they have completed.
The goal for most participants is to improve 5km and 10km run times in sprint and olympic events.

Would suggest tempo running would yield alot of benefits with these times