3 x 3 miles at Half marathon pace with 2 min rest.

3 x 2 miles.

Done this workout a number of times, it's a b/tch, but a good one. More of a fitness test than an workout though. That's a lot of work at tempo pace. Also, if you can't complete the last set, don't freak out.

4 x 2 miles is a good HM predictor

3 x 3 miles at HM pace is not a workout, that's a race.

Stick with sessions like 3 x 2 miles, 2 x 3 miles, 4 x 2 miles, or 5-6 mile straight tempo. With 3 x 3 miles, you're going to be going into race effort range by the end of the third one. Could you do it? Probably, but it wouldn't benefit you much because the point of these workouts is to practice running at HM pace and staying relaxed while doing it. If you cross the red line, you defeat the purpose, and with 9 miles of quality broken up into 3 mile chunks, you're very likely to cross that line.

I prefer 4x 2 miles at half marathon pace. I go up to 5x 2 miles in marathon training but that is a scary workout and not worth the toll in half marathon training. I feel like 5x 2 or 3x 3 miles will sort of leave it in the workout.

As someone who overperforms in the marathon, I stick with 3 x 2 miles (at 12-15K effort) with half recovery, or 6 x mile at 10K effort with half recovery.

I don't get people doing these hard-ass workouts with little recovery, like 3 x 3 miles w/2 min. recovery (really?), 10-12 x mile w/ 1 min. rec, 18 miles at marathon pace, etc.. You don't need this much- never done it, and I always overperform in peak marathon efforts.

I know what you're doing... Trying to drum up comments about yourself. Sad.

3-2-1 mile with a half mile recovery is a workout.

You essentially did a 15k time trial. Which 4 weeks out isn't bad.

ish wrote:

3 x 3 miles at HM pace is not a workout, that's a race.

Stick with sessions like 3 x 2 miles, 2 x 3 miles, 4 x 2 miles, or 5-6 mile straight tempo. With 3 x 3 miles, you're going to be going into race effort range by the end of the third one. Could you do it? Probably, but it wouldn't benefit you much because the point of these workouts is to practice running at HM pace and staying relaxed while doing it. If you cross the red line, you defeat the purpose, and with 9 miles of quality broken up into 3 mile chunks, you're very likely to cross that line.

Definitely agree, but it's interesting to me how difficult that workout is runningwise...but get on a bike and it's no big deal. 2x20 and 3x15 @ hour race power are standard cycling workouts and not exceptionally challenging ones either.

sheeple wrote:

Done this workout a number of times, it's a b/tch, but a good one. More of a fitness test than an workout though. That's a lot of work at tempo pace. Also, if you can't complete the last set, don't freak out.

If you can't complete the last set, then it was a bad idea.

You wont have nearly as much adrenaline on a workout day rather than a race. and he wouldnt taper for the workout, and he would for the race

TannerD22 wrote:

You wont have nearly as much adrenaline on a workout day rather than a race. and he wouldnt taper for the workout, and he would for the race

Recall that the previous poster said "More of a fitness test than an workout ". That means if you couldn't complete it, you've failed the test. Think, son.

The OP would be better off finding a 10k race. Tried and true marathoner has the right idea.

I don't know who all is posting, but this workout isn't really that tough for a developed athlete. Sure it takes a long time. If you're in college this is probably a tough workout if you're not used to high volume workouts. If you're 28 years old and you've run a bunch of half marathons, it's not hard.

But half marathon pace IS NOT HARD. It is threshold pace. If you only ever run 20min thresholds, and treat them like 20min time trials, then yes, doing that would be extremely hard for 3x3mi. Or, if you go off of goal time or your PR from a better season or something, you get yourself into similar trouble.

I've done this workout almost exactly several times and have felt tired afterward, but never felt during the workout that I really wasn't looking forward to the next rep. Legs just got heavier and heavier.

Think about this: A 10k is tough. Gut wrenching. But scale the workout to 10k and it's 3x1.5miles @ 10k with 2min rest. That's tough but I've coached and run much harder workouts.

Half marathon isn't so long that you shouldn't be used to completing comparable volumes of work to the race itself.

My advice: Do the workout ONLY IF YOUR TRAINING LEADING UP MAKES THIS WORKOUT MAKE SENSE. If your hardest workout so far was 3x2mi, this is a brutal and unnecessary progression from where you are, and you don't need it to get better. Also, if you do it don't overestimate your fitness. Start off a little conservatively on the first rep so that if you're feeling bad you can adjust and not get in over your head. 10sec/mile makes a huge difference in this workout.

For those thinking 2min is so short, I quite disagree. You aren't running a high VO2 rep, and you're not going to be breathing that hard by the end of 3 miles. Your breathing and heart rate will both be down in 2 minutes unless you're over running.

Lastly, think about racing a half marathon. Mile 9 is starting to get hard, but it's not what I think of when I think of the brutal part of a half.

Depends what kind of time range you're in...yeah if you run a 1:20 to 1:30+ half that might be a pretty doable workout. If you're a 1:05 half guy that workout is gut wrenching. Heck I'd have trouble doing that workout at Marathon Goal pace right now. It sounds to me like you haven't raced to your potential in the half if you've done that as a workout. Scrap the 2-minute rest....make it 5 minutes! Still a great LT workout. If you if go with a 2-minute rest you might as well do a 8-10 mile negative split run from around marathon pace down to closing with a 10km-15km race pace mile (that is also quite hard). The thing to think is this: The higher the level you get in the sport, the closer your LT velocity/pace is to your Vo2max velocity/pace. 5-10sec a mile pace difference can make or break you (as will a 2minute rest vs.. a 5-minute rest). The kicker is also that in that 5-minute rest a lot of more advanced runners can easily jog a half mile (and should) between reps.

Yeah, I second this... Everyone that talks "half marathon pace is easy" or who is able to do 3 x 3 miles at pace in practice is running nowhere near

Pikachu wrote:

Yeah, I second this... Everyone that talks \\\"half marathon pace is easy\\\" or who is able to do 3 x 3 miles at pace in practice is running nowhere near 5min./mile or could race much faster. Taper, other people you race and race day adrenaline should really give you a push.

Your workouts are not what you think they are. 6x1 mile at 10k pace with big recoveries is a half assed vo2max session NOT CRUISE. Look into Daniels' stuff, might give you some light on the subject.

tried and true marathoner wrote:

As someone who overperforms in the marathon, I stick with 3 x 2 miles (at 12-15K effort) with half recovery, or 6 x mile at 10K effort with half recovery.

I don't get people doing these hard-ass workouts with little recovery, like 3 x 3 miles w/2 min. recovery (really?), 10-12 x mile w/ 1 min. rec, 18 miles at marathon pace, etc.. You don't need this much- never done it, and I always overperform in peak marathon efforts.

I do that workout, but with 4 minutes rest.

He never said 6 x mile at 10k effort with half recovery was a "Cruise interval " workout though. It's a darn good workout!Again, if you run at a pretty high level, your 5km and 10km pace get pretty close and doing mile repeats (esp 6) still at 92-95% of max HR is a great stimulus. Much better than blasting 5 by 1 mile at faster than 5km pace (i.e. most college runners), calling it a great Vo2max session, flooding the system with lactate and then underperforming in your race.Also, if you note the guy is a marathoner. Marathoners don't need to blast that many hard Vo2max sessions...they need quality long runs and LT work.

justsomeoldcoach wrote:

Your workouts are not what you think they are. 6x1 mile at 10k pace with big recoveries is a half assed vo2max session NOT CRUISE. Look into Daniels' stuff, might give you some light on the subject.

tried and true marathoner wrote:

As someone who overperforms in the marathon, I stick with 3 x 2 miles (at 12-15K effort) with half recovery, or 6 x mile at 10K effort with half recovery.

I don't get people doing these hard-ass workouts with little recovery, like 3 x 3 miles w/2 min. recovery (really?), 10-12 x mile w/ 1 min. rec, 18 miles at marathon pace, etc.. You don't need this much- never done it, and I always overperform in peak marathon efforts.

On the contrary, his workouts are just what he thinks they are. You're the one attempting to fit them into someone else's categories. Since you cited Daniels -- if you can run a 65 min HM, then a 4 mile run at HM pace would be a tempo workout a la Daniels. Given that, 3 x 3 miles seems excessive.

justsomeoldcoach wrote:

Your workouts are not what you think they are. 6x1 mile at 10k pace with big recoveries is a half assed vo2max session NOT CRUISE. Look into Daniels' stuff, might give you some light on the subject.

tried and true marathoner wrote:

As someone who overperforms in the marathon, I stick with 3 x 2 miles (at 12-15K effort) with half recovery, or 6 x mile at 10K effort with half recovery.

I don't get people doing these hard-ass workouts with little recovery, like 3 x 3 miles w/2 min. recovery (really?), 10-12 x mile w/ 1 min. rec, 18 miles at marathon pace, etc.. You don't need this much- never done it, and I always overperform in peak marathon efforts.