new interval training...

clubcard

anyone heard about this before or tried it...http://www.newintervaltraining.com/new-interval-training.php

Larry Brent

Do you mean has anyone tried rolling recoveries?

I would almost always have used a short jog recovery following interval efforts, but this would have been pretty slow, shuffling the feet really, just keeping moving while getting back to the start line. This summer when training for 5000m the coach had me do rolling recoveries on some of the sessions - i.e. for sessions at 3k or 5k pace, where the rep was relatively short, e.g.

14 x 300m @ 3k pace with 100m jog recovery in 30s

10 x 400m @ 3k pace with 200m jog recovery in 60s

So the rolling recovery was 8 min mile pace, roughly easy run pace.

When doing longer reps the recovery would have been slower (so probably not technically 'rolling')

e.g. 6 x 800 @ 5k pace with 200 jog recovery in 90s (12min pace)
3 x 1mile @ 5k pace with 400 jog recovery in 3mins (12min pace)

And when doing reps at 1500 pace the recovery would have been slower also
e.g. 14 x 200 @ 1500 pace with 100 jog recovery in 45s (12min pace)
8 x 400 at 1500m pace with 200 walk/jog recovery in 2mins (16min mile pace). If I was training for 1500 maybe rolling sessions would have been incorporated at that pace also, but these were just for 'speed'.

That's just to put in context. I found the rolling recoveries very beneficial. The session seemed to replicate a race more, you were running at race pace and then not allowing as much recovery as normal, so while the first few reps were fine, once you get to the last few you're starting to work. And in races I think it made race pace seem more comfortable for longer in the race. So I'd definitely recommend them and use them again, but a bit of thought probably needs to go in to how the sessions fit in with the overall plan.

As as aside, there was a very interesting thread on letsrun.com a few years ago discussing different training needed for slow-twitch and fast-twitch runners (a discussion between Hadd and Cabraal). It goes through this in some detail a very rough summary being that slow-twitch runners will often need to do fast reps with complete recovery (standing, for as long as it takes) whereas fast-twitch runners may be better served with rolling recoveries. The reasoning being something along the lines of slow-twitchers cannot generate much lactate or run fast so they need to work hard on improving speed, while fast-twitchers generate loads of lactate so they need to be stopped from doing the reps too fast, but to do them a tad slower, so as not to build too much lactate, but then not allow full recovery so they get used to dealing with this lactate efficiently. You'll get a much clearer and more accurate explanation on the thread - http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=2375989

I think this is a key area where people fall down - they don't train to their individual needs (i.e. slow-twitchers may need different training to fast-twitchers), particularly when training in groups.

pconn062

Great post Larry, just one question. When you for example did a 200 recovery jog in 90s (12min pace) after an 800 repeat at 5k pace, which did you go by? I mean did you aim for the distance (200) at what felt like a very slow pace, 12min, or did you go by the pace on your watch for the 90s. Which was more important to you, the recovery distance or the recovery pace (or both)?

Larry Brent

pconn062 wrote: »

Great post Larry, just one question. When you for example did a 200 recovery jog in 90s (12min pace) after an 800 repeat at 5k pace, which did you go by? I mean did you aim for the distance (200) at what felt like a very slow pace, 12min, or did you go by the pace on your watch for the 90s. Which was more important to you, the recovery distance or the recovery pace (or both)?

I think in that case the time was the important aspect. But we were on a track so needed to get to the 200 or 400 start anyhow. So immediately after the rep, you'd keep jogging but it would be very very slow, then by 100m or so you'd be at a more normal pace. Definitely didn't look at pace on a watch. (Edit - tonight is the first time I ever thought of this recovery as 12 min mile pace - only wrote it down to point out how slow it was, but this was never implicitly prescribed, like the coach didn't say 'do the recoveries at 12 min mile pace', it would be more a case of 'keep the recovery to around 90s'). It was just convenient to get to the 200m or 400m start line in that time. If you can't get there in the prescribed time, jog the diagonal across the track, or go up and down the straight or something to keep moving for the duration. But these are not really 'rolling' as such. More complete recovery was needed to so that all of the 800s could be completed at the race pace. Perhaps if I was fitter, or as a progression this recovery time would go down and so pace would go up.

The 'rolling' ones, when jogging 200m in 60s I think the key there was not slowing down too much, so you kept cruising so that you wouldn't allow the lactic levels to drop too far back towards resting levels so you were getting used to running at higher lactate levels as will happen in a 3 or 5k race. (Edit in this case the coach would make very clear that we have to jog 200m in 60s, can't be more than a second or two out, this was as important as nailing the rep time on the interval) Again the 200m was probably convenient as it got us back to a starting point for the next rep. I really enjoyed these sessions. They were 'sneakily' tough, i.e. after 5 or 6 (of 14 300s) you're thinking, this is too easy, by 10 you realise you're doing a session, by 12 you want them to be over.