Advice on interval training

elvis jones

Hi all,

Looking to up my fitness and times. Working on triathlons and half marathons.

I've been told to do some interval training and am looking for some advice on if it should be a specific session or infloved in every session and as 13.1 is my longest race are there specific distances i should focus on as well.

ecoli

Here are just a few sessions which will see you come on leaps and bounds in your training

Cruise intervals and threshold training These are basically tempos and tempo based session. These should be a regular session throughout your training plan

examples of sessions:
3,4,5,6 mile tempos
6-10 x 800m @ tempo pace w/ 1 min recovery
3-5 x 1 mile @ tempo pace

Hills Should me mid length to long reps. These should not be all out but rather comfortably hard. This should be about 8-10 reps of hills from 1-3 min in duration

Long run Important to get in once a week 90 min - 2 hours max

10k paced intervals again comfortably hard with short recoveries.Roughly 4:1 in terms of rep to recovery so if you run 400m reps @ 10k pace should be 100m jog.These should also have a good bit of volume (12+ depending on your overall mileage)

elvis jones

Long run and hills are fine.

What i'm thinking of is intervals during a 5 or 6 miler ? Should this be done the whole way through or in a certain part of the workut.

I have done a half marathon and tri already but want to push it and get some PB now.

ecoli

elvis jones wrote: »

Long run and hills are fine.

What i'm thinking of is intervals during a 5 or 6 miler ? Should this be done the whole way through or in a certain part of the workut.

I have done a half marathon and tri already but want to push it and get some PB now.

My advice is intervals are on separate days dont try to fit it all into one day. If you are worried about your mileage being compromised 2-3 mile warm up and cool down. You should design your week to have 1-2 days for sessions, 1 long run and the rest if the days are just easy running. Your body needs time to recover and adapt from these sessions. ITs only in the recovery that we get better. The sessions are to stress the body enough to be able to adapt in the recovery period

elvis jones

ecoli wrote: »

My advice is intervals are on separate days dont try to fit it all into one day. If you are worried about your mileage being compromised 2-3 mile warm up and cool down.

Its not mileage, its time management !

i thought seperate days was the best idea so i'll go with that once a week and use a specific route that i could i can really push it on without getting in the way of others.

So warm up, 800M, jog for a min, 800m jog etc and warm down ???

I have 2 routes with good hills i can use and at the mo i do 10KM at lunch twice a week with a long run at the weekend so i'll throw my interval session in the middle of that somewhere.

catweazle

I might push in on this thread Elvis if you dont mind

Ecoli my main goal is a 1/2 Ironman in July, I totally blew the run last year so I am wondering how i should formulate a plan this year.

My PB for a 1/2 marathon is 1.44 but I am only really hoping to get in just under 2 hours at the 1.2 Ironman, should I be training as if to improve my half marathon pb time or should I be doing tempos, intervals etc based on holding a 5.30ish pace during the 1/2 Ironman

ecoli

elvis jones wrote: »

Its not mileage, its time management !

i thought seperate days was the best idea so i'll go with that once a week and use a specific route that i could i can really push it on without getting in the way of others.

So warm up, 800M, jog for a min, 800m jog etc and warm down ???

Thats exactly right doing it this way means you are not wasting any time just remember to keep the efforts right doing cruise intervals too fast ruins the dynamics of the session and the benefits

I might push in on this thread Elvis if you dont mind

Ecoli my main goal is a 1/2 Ironman in July, I totally blew the run last year so I am wondering how i should formulate a plan this year.

My PB for a 1/2 marathon is 1.44 but I am only really hoping to get in just under 2 hours at the 1.2 Ironman, should I be training as if to improve my half marathon pb time or should I be doing tempos, intervals etc based on holding a 5.30ish pace during the 1/2 Ironman

If any of the tri guys want to jump in here feel free as I am not from that kinda background so they may disagree with what I say here.

Regardless whether you coming off the bike or not in training unless you are doing brick sessions you should be training at your current HMP (not PB but relative to your current fitness)

The idea is you are getting the heart rate high enough to develop your lactate threshold. This is only on your tempo sessions/cruise intervals however. These sessions are to bring on your fitness levels to allow your body to maintain these paces rather than making your body become accustom to the paces if you get me?

My advice would be to perhaps work off the same principles of a marathon training plan as you will need more strength than a half marathon plan is designed to give you simply because you are starting your running tired

Hope that makes sense?