Interval Training

pistol_75

Hi guys,

Just looking for some advice on interval training and how to get best results from it. So tonight I have to do 9x400m intervals at 5K pace. Have my garmin set up for the workout so will be easy to manage from that point of view.

How long of a warm up/warm down do you normally include?

Is 30 seconds rest/slow down after each interval acceptable or should it be longer?

Do you include the intervals as part of a normal run you do or would you do a specific lap somewhere for each of the intervals? I'm not in a position to do them on a track but was thinking of a grassy area I can use.

Any other comments or suggestions would be great.

RayCun

I'm far from an expert, but my warm-up is usually a jog of a couple of miles up to a park, and warmdown is the couple of miles back. I go to a park so I'll have a clear run without roads.
afaik your recovery time should be 50-90% of your interval time

Brianderunner

I'd do 10 x 400m with 100 seconds in between one week, then take 10 seconds off the recovery the next week and so on. I would try to keep the interval times the same week by week as the recovery shortens. Always finish the session as if you could do a couple more.

pistol_75

RayCun wrote: »

I'm far from an expert, but my warm-up is usually a jog of a couple of miles up to a park, and warmdown is the couple of miles back. I go to a park so I'll have a clear run without roads.
afaik your recovery time should be 50-90% of your interval time

Thanks Raycun.

I'm thinking it is easier to have a clear route as well. Do you stop between each interval or just slow down to a very slow jog?

RayCun

pistol_75 wrote: »

Do you stop between each interval or just slow down to a very slow jog?

Depends on how wrecked I am! Usually just slow down, but sometimes I'd come to a complete stop before starting to jog again as the next rep gets closer

opus

pistol_75 wrote: »

Do you stop between each interval or just slow down to a very slow jog?

Slow jog for me as well & it can't be too slow either! First time I did an interval session I didn't realise this and almost died towards the end while my times tailed off dramatically.

JinkyJ

pistol_75 wrote: »

Hi guys,

Just looking for some advice on interval training and how to get best results from it. So tonight I have to do 9x400m intervals at 5K pace. Have my garmin set up for the workout so will be easy to manage from that point of view.

How long of a warm up/warm down do you normally include?

Is 30 seconds rest/slow down after each interval acceptable or should it be longer?

Do you include the intervals as part of a normal run you do or would you do a specific lap somewhere for each of the intervals? I'm not in a position to do them on a track but was thinking of a grassy area I can use.

Any other comments or suggestions would be great.

I done some 10 x 400 intervals in the park last nignt with my club...

1/2 mile warm up - 10 minutes streching - 1/2 mile cool down after intervals.

We stopped for 50 seconds rest approx between each interval

pistol_75

Thanks for all the feedback guys. Below see link to the run I did last night.

http://http://connect.garmin.com/dashboard?cid=499598

Happy enough with times not being too varied. stuck with 30 seconds rest between each because had it set on watch but found it a bit short. All in all definitly think will see the benefit in the long run with these type of runs.

krankykitty

Sorry for thread resurrection...

Just wondering if anyone can advise me about intervals - have recently got back into trying to run, after about 6 months of doing little exercise. Am at the stage where I can jog for 20/25 mins but the lungs are in a jock at that stage. I'm pretty slow too, probably around 11:00 min/mile or a little less.

Would intervals help with the aerobic fitness? At my level, how many mins would you reckon I should burst it for, and then how long should recovery be? Unfortunately don't have a garmin to help with it at the moment!

Krusty_Clown

krankykitty wrote: »

Sorry for thread resurrection...

Just wondering if anyone can advise me about intervals - have recently got back into trying to run, after about 6 months of doing little exercise. Am at the stage where I can jog for 20/25 mins but the lungs are in a jock at that stage. I'm pretty slow too, probably around 11:00 min/mile or a little less.

Would intervals help with the aerobic fitness? At my level, how many mins would you reckon I should burst it for, and then how long should recovery be? Unfortunately don't have a garmin to help with it at the moment!

Hi krankykitty, if you're just returning to running, then intervals will probably not provide any significant benefit and may do the opposite, i.e. pose an injury risk. You might be better of aiming for consistent running and mileage, to improve your lung capacity and speed. Remember, there are no instant results in running. It's a long road, made even longer by prolonged breaks.

You would be better off aiming to include fartleks or strides in your running, whereby you pick a point in the distance (100-200m) and while focussing on maintaining good running form, accelerate to near full speed, paying careful attention to form and breathing, until you reach the point you had picked out, before returning to easy pace.

When you are running good consistent mileage then perhaps investigate a training plan that takes you from your current level to the next level (which may or may not include intervals).

aero2k

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Remember, there are no instant results in running. It's a long road, made even longer by prolonged breaks.

OP, great words of wisdom here - we'd all do well to remind ourselves of this from time to time.

krankykitty

Cheers for the advice Krusty. I guess I'll just keep trying to keep going consistently and hopefully the aerobic fitness will come. Its weird, some days I am nearly dying lung wise after about 5 minutes, and others I can happily go to 20 mins, so was just hoping for a quick fix :-D (or rather, a fix I could be working on). You're right there is no quick road, especially for those of us who did feck all sport all their 20s!

I also find sometimes i come in after my 25 mins and am wrecked but could probably go back out again after a half hour. Would this sort of training be any use, ie having a rest during it and then returning to it?

Will try the fartleks too. Appreciate the advice.

huskerdu

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Hi krankykitty, if you're just returning to running, then intervals will probably not provide any significant benefit and may do the opposite, i.e. pose an injury risk. You might be better of aiming for consistent running and mileage, to improve your lung capacity and speed. Remember, there are no instant results in running. It's a long road, made even longer by prolonged breaks.

You would be better off aiming to include fartleks or strides in your running, whereby you pick a point in the distance (100-200m) and while focussing on maintaining good running form, accelerate to near full speed, paying careful attention to form and breathing, until you reach the point you had picked out, before returning to easy pace.

When you are running good consistent mileage then perhaps investigate a training plan that takes you from your current level to the next level (which may or may not include intervals).

I have personal experience that this is very good advice.

I tried interval training too early and died out there. It hurt, it was no fun and it almost put me off running for ever.

Now that I have a much better base, and have many more kms on my legs, I am happily doing my interval training and I feel great benefits from it. It's like doing your homework, its not much fun, but it is very very useful.

For the moment, keep running and your strength will build.

If you are doing a run that hurts, just slow down and keep running.

If you are feeling good, try some random sprints like krusty suggested.

T runner

pistol_75 wrote: »

Hi guys,

Just looking for some advice on interval training and how to get best results from it. So tonight I have to do 9x400m intervals at 5K pace. Have my garmin set up for the workout so will be easy to manage from that point of view.

How long of a warm up/warm down do you normally include?

Is 30 seconds rest/slow down after each interval acceptable or should it be longer?

Do you include the intervals as part of a normal run you do or would you do a specific lap somewhere for each of the intervals? I'm not in a position to do them on a track but was thinking of a grassy area I can use.

Any other comments or suggestions would be great.

Get yourself very strong fit first as sugegsted with aerobic running with strides, fartlek, long intervals, tempos etc incorporate strides and afster aerobic running from teh go.

when yorue ready for 5k specific training:

Im doing 400's myself at the moment. Ive got advice from a very prominent 5k road runner. He says 5k race pace, 1 min rest between.

Run at current 5k race pace.

Add 2 reps per week (take an easy week every month or less).

The session should challenge you but you shouldnt be banjacksed either.

In 3 weeks a session of 15 should feel like the first session of 9.

It hard wires 5k rythm and speed endurance into your system (as well as increasing aerobic capacity).

This all from tahtbhorses moutha nd i trust him by his consistant 5k results.

Raighne

Always ask yourself what the purpose of doing anything is, including warm-ups. There's two objectives of doing a warmup:

1. Warming and loosening up your muscles
2. Bringing your heart rate up to easy running intensity gently

Once you have achieved those two objectives, you are ready to do a hard session and a race but as you can see there's no clear-cut answer on how to best do this.

In general, on a temperate day, 15 minutes of warm-up starting with easy jogging will do. Don't take a break after as this will bring your heart rate down again. This is particularly important for racing where sometimes the shock of "going from 0 to 100 in a few seconds" blows you up early and then you catch a second wind. Bring your heart rate up into your comfortable running range (probably 120-150 for most) and then get started and you'll have a nice transition into it. On a warm day, do less. On a cold day do more, and perhaps wear more clothing.

If you session is fast and you are very stiff, some dynamic stretches and movements (classics such as butt-kicks, leg-swings and much else that team sports players will be familiar with) can be a great help during these 15 minutes. Strides is a favourite of athletic's clubs everywhere and there's a reason for this. It's relaxing and enjoyable and if new science is to be believed helps "warmup" the neuromuscular system.

With a coach's assistance you can incorporate some light drills to work on related skills such a coordination, agility, balance and quickness which will add some fun-factor to your warmups. This usually means a significantly longer session, however, and some drills are light plyometric so beginner's would need to ease into them.

macinalli

T runner wrote: »

It hard wires 5k rythm and speed endurance into your system (as well as increasing aerobic capacity).

+1 for this. I had an interesting conversation last week with a guy from our running group. He has loads of experience of running v fast times and says that the purpose of running intervals is not training to go faster, but training to hold your race pace for longer. We would do similarly paced 400's with a 50 sec rest period. The idea is that you're not quite fully recovered when you start the next rep which is supposed to simulate race conditions. It's also important to finish the session without burying yourself - if you're wiped out, then you won't benefit from it.