It's not like you will not be better for doing the workout, you just aren't getting the max effect of the workout. But compared to not doing anything, or just going out jogging, you are still getting a better affect than that.
If you're actually running threshold mile repeats with 3min rest it should feel incredibly easy but you won't be getting the desired stimulus because you're not training the body to roll that pace on short rest. More likely, you're overcooking the repeats since you have more rest which, as a result, might just turn it into a more normal workout depending on the volume. If you're doing 5-6 x mile w./ 3min rest you might end up hitting 8k/10k pace. Problems arise if you're doing 7+ reps & then you run the risk of doing too much quality. 3min is kind of a lot of rest for mile repeats in general. 3-4 x mile @ 5k w./ 3min is ~right. Anything more than that & the speed + rest is coming down.
Why does it have 90 seconds? Three minutes with faster paces is just as good a workout.
The OP is doing mile repeats as a threshold session. It doesn’t have to be 90 secs, it could be 60 secs, etc.
Either one is a good workout. 90 seconds splits the difference between intervals and a tempo run. I guess it’s because of Strava watches, but such precision in paces makes no difference.
Say I am doing mile repeats at threshold pace and instead of taking 90 seconds rest I take 3 minutes?
First, a duck will fall out of the sky, Spike Jones’s band will strike up “Fine and Dandy,” a flight of Blue Angel jets will scream by, and a parade will start in Cincinnati.
Yes. I could see needing 2:00 on 1600 repeats if you're tired or the day is hot, but otherwise it's not your threshold pace. Remember, the point of a threshold workout is never to see how fast you can tell yourself your threshold pace is, it's to get the big benefits that you get by running at something close to 60-minute race pace. So if you're exhausted after a mile, it's not that pace.
If you're actually running threshold mile repeats with 3min rest it should feel incredibly easy but you won't be getting the desired stimulus because you're not training the body to roll that pace on short rest. More likely, you're overcooking the repeats since you have more rest which, as a result, might just turn it into a more normal workout depending on the volume. If you're doing 5-6 x mile w./ 3min rest you might end up hitting 8k/10k pace. Problems arise if you're doing 7+ reps & then you run the risk of doing too much quality. 3min is kind of a lot of rest for mile repeats in general. 3-4 x mile @ 5k w./ 3min is ~right. Anything more than that & the speed + rest is coming down.
I agree with NERunner and others who have said it's too much rest for a real threshold work, which makes it less effective. However, I think it could be a decent workout in certain circumstances. For example, if you have a good idea what your threshold pace is and are able to stick to it (even if it feels easy), miles w/ 3 min rest could be a good first workout back (say, for someone transitioning from track to summer training). Also, if you're in the middle of a heat wave, it would be better to complete the workout with long rest than to DNF because of the temp.
If you're actually running threshold mile repeats with 3min rest it should feel incredibly easy but you won't be getting the desired stimulus because you're not training the body to roll that pace on short rest. More likely, you're overcooking the repeats since you have more rest which, as a result, might just turn it into a more normal workout depending on the volume. If you're doing 5-6 x mile w./ 3min rest you might end up hitting 8k/10k pace. Problems arise if you're doing 7+ reps & then you run the risk of doing too much quality. 3min is kind of a lot of rest for mile repeats in general. 3-4 x mile @ 5k w./ 3min is ~right. Anything more than that & the speed + rest is coming down.
This thread is great because we're getting tons of feedback. In the real world, a lot of factors matter; weather, warmup quality, recent workouts, sleep, workload, and more. But not many mention the most important question: what do you actually want from the workout? If you've hit 5 x 1 mile at 5:05 pace with 3 minutes rest and are trying to go faster, but find yourself hitting 5:08, 5:10, 5:12, it might be better to call it a day and come back stronger next week.
If you're actually running threshold mile repeats with 3min rest it should feel incredibly easy but you won't be getting the desired stimulus because you're not training the body to roll that pace on short rest. More likely, you're overcooking the repeats since you have more rest which, as a result, might just turn it into a more normal workout depending on the volume. If you're doing 5-6 x mile w./ 3min rest you might end up hitting 8k/10k pace. Problems arise if you're doing 7+ reps & then you run the risk of doing too much quality. 3min is kind of a lot of rest for mile repeats in general. 3-4 x mile @ 5k w./ 3min is ~right. Anything more than that & the speed + rest is coming down.
This thread is great because we're getting tons of feedback. In the real world, a lot of factors matter; weather, warmup quality, recent workouts, sleep, workload, and more. But not many mention the most important question: what do you actually want from the workout? If you've hit 5 x 1 mile at 5:05 pace with 3 minutes rest and are trying to go faster, but find yourself hitting 5:08, 5:10, 5:12, it might be better to call it a day and come back stronger next week.
No, might as well grab a pint of Rum Raisin and stay on the couch binging Cheers. You need to ask yourself if you really want this or you're just going through the motions. Trade the Tracksmith in for some xxxl sweats from WalMart (or waddle on over to Lululemon). Absolutely pitiful, 90 seconds means 90 seconds.
The idea is to spend time at a certain effort for your body to make adaptations to the stress. If your body isn't feel stressed enough - it wont make the adaptions. But honestly - probably better to do it this way than go on the deep end by taking too little rest.
Taking 3 min rest at threshold pace is pointless. you won't make any gains. you must take risks and suffer. try 5xmile at threshold with no more than 60 sec rest, then eventually 45 sec rest.
You’ll leave the physiological state of threshold.
Ideally in a threshold interval workout, your lactate levels would be reaching close to LT2 by the end of the rep; the rest interval would then allow those levels to drop back down close to LT1 (but not below it) and then you would continue this pattern of staying between LT1 and LT2 for the entirety of the workout (rests included).
It’s not the worst thing in the world, but if the rest is too long, you’re not spending as much time in a state of threshold as you otherwise would or could.
The rest from one rep affects the next. This is easiest to see in the really short tests where if you are doing 60/30s the oxygen consumption stays high for 90d after the first couple. Do like 60/60s and the consumption drops a lot during the last 20s of the rest and first 20s of the next rep.
same thing happens with longer reps but the effect isn’t as profound. Longer rests means it make take you 90s instead of 30s. You will end up with less volume in your training zone unless you do more rep
You’ll leave the physiological state of threshold.
Ideally in a threshold interval workout, your lactate levels would be reaching close to LT2 by the end of the rep; the rest interval would then allow those levels to drop back down close to LT1 (but not below it) and then you would continue this pattern of staying between LT1 and LT2 for the entirety of the workout (rests included).
It’s not the worst thing in the world, but if the rest is too long, you’re not spending as much time in a state of threshold as you otherwise would or could.
+1 ... Think of a threshold/LT workout like a bucket with a small hole in the bottom and a garden hose. You want to optimize the level of water in the bucket so that it stays at a level that is 1-2" inches of the top of the bucket (your LT zone). AND you want to conserve water (energy) for the next time.
Running each rep is turning on the hose, filling the bucket. Rest is turning off the hose, and water drains through the hole. For the best training response, you need to accumulate ~20 minutes with the water at a level 1-2" from the top of the bucket.
If you overflow the bucket (run too fast), you waste water (energy) and get tired. You also don't accumulate time in the zone. AND you have less water for tomorrow.
If you rest for too long, more water drains out of the bucket, and it's going to take more water (hard running) to get the water to the 1-2" level. So you're spending time & extra effort to get back to the 1-2" level (LT zone).
So for a 6 minute rep with 60s rest, the first one is basically going to be filling the empty bucket. You might get 60-90s in the zone. The second one, you start with a bucket at least half full, so you only spend the first minute filling the bucket and accumulate 5 minutes in the zone, etc. You'll probably get enough LT time in 4-5 reps.
When you rest 3 minutes, the bucket is empty again at the beginning of each rep, and you spend 4-5 minutes filling it each time, yielding very little time with the water at the correct level. AND you've wasted a lot of extra water filling the bucket each time. You might need 8-9 reps to get enough time at LT.