Track Sessions

RubyK

I'm hoping to start doing one track session a week in an attempt to get some speed into my legs.

I have two (probably really stupid sounding) questions

1. Are regular road runners (mizuno wave 6) ok to use, or are there special "track" runners that I will need to get in the future?

2. What should I expect from these track sessions? Is it usually just repeated sprints? I have visions of myself heaving/passing out on the side lines

dna_leri

Good luck with the speed sessions, I presume you are doing them with a group/club - they can be tough going on your own.

Regular road runners are fine, if you have racing flats then you may want to use them, but most people will use their usual training runners. There are special track runners - spikes, but theyare really for people who want to race on the track.

Track sessions will generally be intervals or repeats. For distance runners anything from 300m upwards. An 800m session (2 laps of a standard track) would be a good starting point. Distance runners will do very little all out sprinting (too much injury risk) but you will probably find it an intense workout. Start steady until you find your level, plan an easy day before and after, and try to enjoy it.

menoscemo

RubyK wrote: »

I'm hoping to start doing one track session a week in an attempt to get some speed into my legs.

I have two (probably really stupid sounding) questions

1. Are regular road runners (mizuno wave 6) ok to use, or are there special "track" runners that I will need to get in the future?

2. What should I expect from these track sessions? Is it usually just repeated sprints? I have visions of myself heaving/passing out on the side lines

If you are around UCD track in the evenings a few of us usually do a little group track session once a week. We generally do 10 x 400m or 6 x 800m. Don't worry about pace, we have varying speeds and take a little rest after each rep (1-2 minutes depending on the length of the interval).
Keep an eye on the group training sessions thread for details.

Normal runners are fine for a track. If you have a few pairs, I would pick the least cushioned pair. Personally i find the track quite 'bouncy' compared to road running so cushioned runners on a cushioned track feels uncomfortable at times.

RubyK

Thanks for the info dna_leri Yes it will be a group session. I can't say I'm looking forward to it, but will give it a go!

Edited to say thank you to menoscemo too! I'll take into account what you said about the cushioning. I have a pair of mizuno's that have gone pretty flat since DCM, so I'll use those. Thanks for the training invite, but I'm not based in Dublin ;-)

haggis_mccloud

I was interested in using the UCD track myself for some speed sets. Does anyone know if there is there a particular time on weekday evenings when the track is free for public use? Or do you have to book an appointment?

ecoli

Track sessions can be a useful tool in a training plan but should not be seen as the solution but rather one piece of the puzzle.

Regarding shoes. It is generally recommended to use your trainers or flats. Spikes by they very nature are very light weight and designed for racing in as such they do not provide your legs with much support or cushioning, for this reason it is not advised to do distance repetitions on a continual basis in spikes as it can increase the risk of injury

There is a common misconception that intervals develop speed. False they can however develop you running economy to make you be able to sustain higher levels of effort for longer periods

The main thing about track work is you need to know the outcome and benefits of the training you are doing. Through this you will be able to devise sessions which fit in with your overall training plan

Cruise intervals
These can be used to develop your lactate threshold and are often used as a substitution for tempo running. These are running intervals off a very short recovery at roughly HMP (Half Marathon pace).

Here are a few examples of cruise interval sessions
6x400m @ HMP w/ 15-45 secs recovery
3x800m @ HMP w/ 30-60 secs recovery
4 x 1200m @ HMP w/ 1 min recovery
3 x 1 mile @ HMP w/ 60-90 secs recovery

This type of session can be great for building strength and can be relatively low injury risk

Speed Endurance intervals

This is high end work which works on muscle co-ordination. It involves short top end efforts with longer recoveries more so used in middle distance (800m/1500m) style runners but have there place for long distance runners also in the weeks coming up to goal race. Not to be done that often as can be very high risk of injury because of the top end speeds being aimed for

Here are a few examples of sessions based on 800m runner but can be altered for longer distance runners:

Pyramids - 200m, 300m, 400m, 300m, 200m (400/600 race pace) equal or longer recovery

Up the clock - 600m, 700m, 800m @ mile pace with distance jog recovery

Down the clock - 800m, 700m, 600m @ mile pace with distance jog recovery

Differentials - 4 x 400m (1st 200m + 2 secs of 800m pace, 2nd 200m - 2 secs of 800m pace) w/2-3 min recovery

Over distance - 4 x 1200m @ mile race pace w/ equal recovery

Under distance - 2 x (3 x 400m) @ 400-600m race pace

Quality - 3 x 600m @ 800m race pace w/ equal or longer recovery


VO2 max intervals

These are the more traditional view of "speed work" effectively trying to develop the amount of oxygen your blood can pump to the muscles which has an influence on your speed and stamina. There are a wide range of sessions which can come under this bracket

Here are a list of a few sessions:

10x400m @ 5 k pace w/ 1 min - 90 seconds recovery

6x800m @ 5k pace with 2-3 min recovery

3-5 x 1k @ 5k pace w/ 3-5 min recovery


Hope these help you make yourself decide on how to utilize sessions. Just remember to keep them part of balanced schedule and remember your easy running and mileage to allow you to get the most out of these sessions

RubyK

Wow, thanks for all the info ecoli!

Hoping to get my first session tomorrow, nervous about it all, but sure I'll give it a go

Thanks again for all the advice.

woodchopper

ecoli wrote: »

Track sessions can be a useful tool in a training plan but should not be seen as the solution but rather one piece of the puzzle.

Regarding shoes. It is generally recommended to use your trainers or flats. Spikes by they very nature are very light weight and designed for racing in as such they do not provide your legs with much support or cushioning, for this reason it is not advised to do distance repetitions on a continual basis in spikes as it can increase the risk of injury

There is a common misconception that intervals develop speed. False they can however develop you running economy to make you be able to sustain higher levels of effort for longer periods

The main thing about track work is you need to know the outcome and benefits of the training you are doing. Through this you will be able to devise sessions which fit in with your overall training plan

Cruise intervals
These can be used to develop your lactate threshold and are often used as a substitution for tempo running. These are running intervals off a very short recovery at roughly HMP (Half Marathon pace).

Here are a few examples of cruise interval sessions
6x400m @ HMP w/ 15-45 secs recovery
3x800m @ HMP w/ 30-60 secs recovery
4 x 1200m @ HMP w/ 1 min recovery
3 x 1 mile @ HMP w/ 60-90 secs recovery

This type of session can be great for building strength and can be relatively low injury risk

Speed Endurance intervals

This is high end work which works on muscle co-ordination. It involves short top end efforts with longer recoveries more so used in middle distance (800m/1500m) style runners but have there place for long distance runners also in the weeks coming up to goal race. Not to be done that often as can be very high risk of injury because of the top end speeds being aimed for

Here are a few examples of sessions based on 800m runner but can be altered for longer distance runners:

Pyramids - 200m, 300m, 400m, 300m, 200m (400/600 race pace) equal or longer recovery

Up the clock - 600m, 700m, 800m @ mile pace with distance jog recovery

Down the clock - 800m, 700m, 600m @ mile pace with distance jog recovery

Differentials - 4 x 400m (1st 200m + 2 secs of 800m pace, 2nd 200m - 2 secs of 800m pace) w/2-3 min recovery

Over distance - 4 x 1200m @ mile race pace w/ equal recovery

Under distance - 2 x (3 x 400m) @ 400-600m race pace

Quality - 3 x 600m @ 800m race pace w/ equal or longer recovery


VO2 max intervals

These are the more traditional view of "speed work" effectively trying to develop the amount of oxygen your blood can pump to the muscles which has an influence on your speed and stamina. There are a wide range of sessions which can come under this bracket

Here are a list of a few sessions:

10x400m @ 5 k pace w/ 1 min - 90 seconds recovery

6x800m @ 5k pace with 2-3 min recovery

3-5 x 1k @ 5k pace w/ 3-5 min recovery


Hope these help you make yourself decide on how to utilize sessions. Just remember to keep them part of balanced schedule and remember your easy running and mileage to allow you to get the most out of these sessions

Whilst I applaud the effort made some of these intervals are designed for disaster. Firstly 6 by 400 metres at half marathon pace? This is not a workout to develop ones aerobic threshold. Six by a mile at half marathon pace with a 200 jog is a relatively easy workout regardless of ability. Remember workouts are not supposed to be easier than a normal run, 2 miles worth of training at half marathon pace seems ridiculous, stick to at least five or six miles worth of training.

Now from one extreme to the other, perhaps there was a misquote but 4 by 1200 at MILE Pace is CRAZY no matter who the athlete is.It is not a session that I think can be completed. I heard of Stephen Cherono doing four by a mile in under 4 minutes but his mile shape according to this workout is about 3.46 meaning the 4 minute miles were closer to his 3k pace. Again 6 by 400 at 400-600 race pace is another one of these impossible workouts.

For example would it be possible for David Gillick to run 6 by 400m in training at 44 seconds regardless of recovery. Even if the session was completed at 600 race pace could it be even possible for him to run 6 400s in 48 seconds. If these world class athletes do not attempt such sessions then what hope does anyone else.

5 by 600m at 3k pace with a 200 jog is a much more sensible workout or 10 by 400 at 5k working down towards 3k pace with a minute recovery.

Again 5 minute recoveries for 1k reps is too long to gain any real benefit if one is running at 5k pace. With the 5 minute recovery an athlete would nearly be able to run at 3k pace but that is what the 5 by 600 with short recovery is there for.

I dont mean to sound like a negative poster but people are looking for good advice and I just thought some of the advice is a little bit misguided. No offense is meant to the poster

Regards
Woodchopper

ecoli

woodchopper wrote: »

Whilst I applaud the effort made some of these intervals are designed for disaster. Firstly 6 by 400 metres at half marathon pace? This is not a workout to develop ones aerobic threshold. Six by a mile at half marathon pace with a 200 jog is a relatively easy workout regardless of ability. Remember workouts are not supposed to be easier than a normal run, 2 miles worth of training at half marathon pace seems ridiculous, stick to at least five or six miles worth of training.

Now from one extreme to the other, perhaps there was a misquote but 4 by 1200 at MILE Pace is CRAZY no matter who the athlete is.It is not a session that I think can be completed. I heard of Stephen Cherono doing four by a mile in under 4 minutes but his mile shape according to this workout is about 3.46 meaning the 4 minute miles were closer to his 3k pace. Again 6 by 400 at 400-600 race pace is another one of these impossible workouts.

For example would it be possible for David Gillick to run 6 by 400m in training at 44 seconds regardless of recovery. Even if the session was completed at 600 race pace could it be even possible for him to run 6 400s in 48 seconds. If these world class athletes do not attempt such sessions then what hope does anyone else.

5 by 600m at 3k pace with a 200 jog is a much more sensible workout or 10 by 400 at 5k working down towards 3k pace with a minute recovery.

Again 5 minute recoveries for 1k reps is too long to gain any real benefit if one is running at 5k pace. With the 5 minute recovery an athlete would nearly be able to run at 3k pace but that is what the 5 by 600 with short recovery is there for.

I dont mean to sound like a negative poster but people are looking for good advice and I just thought some of the advice is a little bit misguided. No offense is meant to the poster

Regards
Woodchopper

Good spot on the Mile pace that was supposed to read mile pace - 3k to provide a range. Regarding the Gillick reference I know some sub 50 runners who would do these sort of sessions of 4-6 x 400m @ 600 m pace

As for the rest these were posted as example sessions and as such my figures were an attempt to show a spectrum of sessions for varying ability. Your view that the cruise intervals may be too easy is a good point in a well trained athlete who has been training for a while, I certainly would say that session is not enough, but if a person who does low mileage and is not used to track work was looking to introduce these i would say that this could be a good introductory sessions. Also very few posters would be "jogging" 200 in sub 45 so it is not exactly 200m recovery
If a person is only doing maybe 20mpw then five or six miles @ HMP would not be viable. Yes your sessions should be harder than your easy runs but you must take into account the level of the runner.

Regarding the 1k reps i put a range of 3-5 min again this was as an example for someone who is not used to running sessions.

These "example" sessions were used to attempt to highlight the principles behind the types of sessions in order to try and show posters that they do not have to stick rigidly to the example sessions but rather design sessions based on the outcomes they are looking for from their session be it , AT development, muscle co ordination, anaerobic conditioning etc. The sessions listed above were an attempt to provide a spectrum covering a wide variety of abilities of the athletes.

Its like the old saying " Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime"


Hope this clarifies the angle in which i was coming from and apologies for the error of pace in the 1200 session

RayCun

Throwing in my own 2c
The 5k programme I'm following at the moment is fairly simple - VO2 work one week, LT work the next, and some strides thrown in to one of the other runs each week.
VO2 work is
600/800/1k repeats at current 5k pace/close to target 5k pace/target 5k pace
Longer distances and/or faster paces as you go through the training. Jogging intervals for 50/90% of the time each running interval took.

LT work is
2 x 1.5/2 mile at half marathon pace, 2/3 miles at HMP, that kind of thing.

The VO2 stuff is much harder than the LT stuff, but I ran a lot of slooow miles last year

woodchopper

ecoli wrote: »

Good spot on the Mile pace that was supposed to read mile pace - 3k to provide a range. Regarding the Gillick reference I know some sub 50 runners who would do these sort of sessions of 4-6 x 400m @ 600 m pace

As for the rest these were posted as example sessions and as such my figures were an attempt to show a spectrum of sessions for varying ability. Your view that the cruise intervals may be too easy is a good point in a well trained athlete who has been training for a while, I certainly would say that session is not enough, but if a person who does low mileage and is not used to track work was looking to introduce these i would say that this could be a good introductory sessions. Also very few posters would be "jogging" 200 in sub 45 so it is not exactly 200m recovery
If a person is only doing maybe 20mpw then five or six miles @ HMP would not be viable. Yes your sessions should be harder than your easy runs but you must take into account the level of the runner.

Regarding the 1k reps i put a range of 3-5 min again this was as an example for someone who is not used to running sessions.

These "example" sessions were used to attempt to highlight the principles behind the types of sessions in order to try and show posters that they do not have to stick rigidly to the example sessions but rather design sessions based on the outcomes they are looking for from their session be it , AT development, muscle co ordination, anaerobic conditioning etc. The sessions listed above were an attempt to provide a spectrum covering a wide variety of abilities of the athletes.

Its like the old saying " Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime"


Hope this clarifies the angle in which i was coming from and apologies for the error of pace in the 1200 session

Fair enough with regards to the novice athletes, but those sub 50 guys are probably running at around 800 metre pace which 4 by 400 is a difficult yet worthwhile session. I still find it hard to believe guys are running to their true 600m potential in training, maybe my athletes are just soft. With regards to 200 jog its not meant to be covered in 45 seconds, I didnt post that anywhere in my above post, a minute plus 10 seconds is suffice for the recovery.

Regards
Woodchopper

ecoli

woodchopper wrote: »

Fair enough with regards to the novice athletes, but those sub 50 guys are probably running at around 800 metre pace which 4 by 400 is a difficult yet worthwhile session. I still find it hard to believe guys are running to their true 600m potential in training, maybe my athletes are just soft. With regards to 200 jog its not meant to be covered in 45 seconds, I didnt post that anywhere in my above post, a minute plus 10 seconds is suffice for the recovery.

Regards
Woodchopper

Perhaps you are right and they guys have soft 600m times, perhaps they are strength based runners and this sort of session suits them remember the original session was not 6 x 400m but rather 2 sets of three which changes the dynamics of the session. Again training should be personalized to suit the athlete and not just done for the sake of it

The 45 seconds was in relation to my original post looking back i misread your post and your proposed alternative session. Perhaps i scanned over your post little too quick:o

While i know the "soft" comment was flippant i think that it brings up a great danger of interval work. Many people get too focused on the specifics of one session and don't stop to take it in context of the overall plan. This was my reason for posting such a large list of example sessions and at such a wide variety so that rather than just taking these sessions i would home people would look to the common elements to gain an understanding of the basic principles and specific outcomes of these sorts of training that rather "Oh if i do interval work i will get faster" not taking into account why they are doing a session or even if it is optimizing training for the area in which you want to develop