And which one would be better for predicting mile fitness?
And which one would be better for predicting mile fitness?
Fletcher2005 wrote:
And which one would be better for predicting mile fitness?
10 x 400 with only one minute rest seems too hard to me. Maybe it is because ive only ever done 400 repeats at altitude.
8 x 400 with 90 seconds rest at 5000 feet at race pace is a good mile fitness indicator for me.
we always did this about halfway through the season, the first 6 would be at current pace from a race and the last 4 would be at goal pace. this would be a really good indicator of mile fitness. this was our last hard workout as well, and doing them all within 1s of goal pace typically indicated you could run the goal pace.
in terms of a harder workout, I would say the 6x500 could be harder even with the lower volume, purely because that extra 15-20s of hard running that doesn't get a similar level of proportionate rest will accumulate and feel a lot worse. By the 4th 500 you'd feel about as bad as you would on the 7th/8th 400.
10*400 with 1 minute rest is the most brutal workout I run, especially when truly run at or under mile race pace. I couldnt imagine I workout being much worse and being able to finish it on pace, and it is probably the best workout Ive run for predicting fitness. You usually can go at or a little faster than the pace ran in this workout. This is from a slowtwitcher though, so take my word with a grain of salt. Mile pace feels like sprinting to me, so that probably changes my viewpoint of it.
It has been a few years, but I last did 8 x 500m @ 1500m pace with jog recovery of (90 to 120) seconds. Physically stressful but psychologically easier doing 500s. Eight is less than ten.
I do not recall any top miler with a PB of 3:48 doing something like 10x400 @57 with 60 seconds recovery. Ryun? Scott? Walker? Even Coe who was reputed to do some killer track sessions. And to be accurate each 400 would need to be sub 57 to Bannister's key session was 10x440 @ 60 with 440 jog in 2 minutes recovery.