Best way to approach an interval session?

Fiona44

Quick question for the experienced runners here - how would you approach an interval session in terms of pacing yourself?

I have always tried to go out steady & finish strong, but I am at the slow end of my training group & always end up going out slower than everyone else & running on my own for the first half of the session.
After a few reps a few of the others in my group always end up running out of steam and slowing down a good bit, and I always finish the session ahead of them.

My coach has said I need to speed up and stick with the group from the start instead of running on my own but I think if I did that I'd end up slowing down.

So is it better to stick with the group no matter what or try and maintain a steady pace throughout the session?
What's the best approach to pacing for an interval session?

Ceepo

Fiona44 wrote: »

Quick question for the experienced runners here - how would you approach an interval session in terms of pacing yourself?

I have always tried to go out steady & finish strong, but I am at the slow end of my training group & always end up going out slower than everyone else & running on my own for the first half of the session.
After a few reps a few of the others in my group always end up running out of steam and slowing down a good bit, and I always finish the session ahead of them.

My coach has said I need to speed up and stick with the group from the start instead of running on my own but I think if I did that I'd end up slowing down.

So is it better to stick with the group no matter what or try and maintain a steady pace throughout the session?
What's the best approach to pacing for an interval session?

What type to distance are the reps and what distance are you training for ?
What would be interesting is to time yourself on the reps. Then you would know if you are keeping them consistent.
There is no harm in going out a bit hard on some of them to get a feel for that way of running.
Everyone will run differently some like going out hard others like to come through towards the end. You need to run them to your strengths not to other people's strength.
Personally I would try to keep the consistent, eg 400m within 2/3 seconds between fastest/slowest.
That's not to say I will change it up from time to time, sometimes putting in a surge at different points.

RayCun

an interval session will usually have a specific pace at which the intervals should be run - mile pace, 3k pace, 5k pace, tempo pace... sometimes different reps at different paces.
If you're running at that pace, you're doing it right.
If you're running slower than that pace, you need to speed up.
Your clubmates blowing up are definitely doing it wrong.

Fiona44

Ceepo wrote: »

What type to distance are the reps and what distance are you training for ?

It ranges from 400 - 1200m reps depending on the session, training for 5 - 10k distance mostly.

Generally it isn't specified what pace we should be going at. We're split into 3 groups and the general vibe in the slowest group that I'm in is to run as hard as you can & try to hang on for as long as you can!

Maybe I could push harder but I'm also afraid of leaving it all behind in training and have nothing left for races so I generally don't go flat out in training.

Is there a general rule that I should be doing say 400m reps at 1 mile race pace or something like that?

RayCun

it largely depends on how many reps you are doing, and what your recovery is between them - but also what phase in your training you are at, and the general purpose of the session

very roughly, the shorter the total distance of the session, the faster you should be running. If you were doing 6 x 400 and recovering for about as long as the rep took, then yeah, maybe mile pace. If you're doing 4 with 4/5 minutes recovery they'd be faster. If you're doing 10x400 you'd have to be slower.

Fiona44

Ok thanks for the advice!