Pfitzinger vo2max marathon workouts

You could consider trying to do the VO2 max workouts based off HR or HRR%. i.e. 80-88% of HRR. The most likely explanation is that you are over-estimating your 5k pace at the moment. When was the last time that you ran one?

Yep, the 5k is old BUT the 10k is from 2 weeks ago, so I think the 5k is reasonable estimate. I'm really having massive training vs racing performance gaps on this schedule. The fast workouts outside of races are extremely difficult for me

I would recommend trying to do them off HR and see how that goes. Do you own a HRM? Alternatively, do them on effort rather than time. It is far more beneficial to run these intervals too slowly than to burn yourself out trying to do them. The VO2 max work is really just the icing on the cake. The key element of your training is the aerobic conditioning. Some people just don't respond all that well to V02 max training. Undertrain rather than overtrain (especially when it comes to V02 max workouts for a marathon).

Marathoner fits wrote:

Yep, the 5k is old BUT the 10k is from 2 weeks ago, so I think the 5k is reasonable estimate. I'm really having massive training vs racing performance gaps on this schedule. The fast workouts outside of races are extremely difficult for me

Honestly this is pretty normal. Most (trained) people are able to go above and beyond workout paces in their races. At least a couple factors come in to play: You're usually more rested during a race and the race atmosphere just can't be duplicated in practice. It's typical to see someone run a 5x1k workout with 90 seconds rest one week and 2 weeks later run the same pace for a 5k.

I don't follow pfitzinger, my training is closest to daniels, but I feel the same way with a lot of workouts.

I don't follow pfitz but is it possible that you have too much "quality" in one week? I'm running 70mpw currently but I only have to psych myself up for one intense session per week. Are the other runs easy?

thanks for the replies. I dont have HR monitor but did manually take reading @ end of the 5*600 workout (2mins rest) and it was roughly 170. According to some info out there thats likely to be about 93% of max. So I was pushing hard but not quite all out i guess.

The idea of having too much quality in the week is a hard one for me to know. Like lots of guys out there I run a 10k club race on sat, so I end up ditching the LT run for that. I also run all my mileage slow. But i do 1 or 2 decent cross training sess/wk also. So its a mixed bag.

I think the idea of having to psyche oneself up is an interesting one. Clearly I do a bit of it for the race. Maybe that saps my energy. Because I can run fast in races but cant hold a candle to it in workouts that seems to fit. For me, doing 2, 3, 4...workouts/race in a week is very hard mentally. I love running but its a tough gig i think to be able to push so hard. This is all in a context of running more miles than i ever have too.

So, to summarise, the 6*600 workout was v hard and i only got close on the second attempt. The 5*1200 seems well out of reach. I have virtually no track experience.....is 5*1200@5k pace with 2mins rest what you guys would consider an extremely tough workout (during marathon training) or is it something that hard but you guys could knock off? Anyway, good luck to you all.

Just two quick thoughts:

1) if your races outperform your workouts, then you're doing something very right. I really wouldn't stress about not hitting the workout times in your case.

2) your 5K time indicates that you have more than enough speed for 2:58, so even less of a reason to worry about the speed aspect. Prioritize the volume, and use the speedwork just as an opportunity to get your legs turning over.

I think in your case, not being able to hit the interval times is NOT something to worry about. Worry about hitting marathon pace during those runs; don't sweat the short track stuff.