Your opinion on weekly 20x400 with longer recoveries

No , no , no, JS . The purpose of the interval reps is to train the body to convert your mitocondria into aerobic energy with high lactate . This is what happens in race situations. The more mitochondrian that can be converted the better. And the more lactate the better , too . You of all people should know this.

Coach BS ¥€ ¥$ &¥ wrote:

The more mitochondrian that can be converted the better.

The only true religion.

Seems like no-one can spell mitochondrion. 20x400 is a classic session that lots of runners (myself included) loved for it's simplicity and effectiveness. People keep trying to re-invent the wheel. Forget the pseudo scientific babble. This session is to get you used to running at 5k race pace.

You should be doing them all 77-79. Doing the last ones fast is hard to resist, but might do more harm than good.

Recoveries should be shorter than you are doing. I would start with 1 min walk/jog but as the season progressed that might be down to 30 secs or less. Not much point in long recoveries - you might just as well go for a steady run.

Do this for 3 months once a week, maybe get a bit faster as you get fitter, in a group if possible, and a faster half/5k is guaranteed or your money back.

Looks quite good ackack . You have come close to the very best way to handle them. Now you just have to switch

the way of handling the recovery between the reps. Instead of start with 1 min walk/jog the best way is to let the heart decide

the recovery. This way the body and heart gives "automatically" the very best rest at every workout and after every rep.

I definitely disagree with this approach.

First, it does very little to effectuate any vo2nmx adaptation. I know, I know, science be damned!

Second, to the extent that it effectuates a vo2max adaptation, the benefits of that adaptation. whatever little adaptation it may be, will be achieved within 4-6 weeks of starting the cycle. There is no real benefit to doing the same style of workout for 3 straight months.

Finally, even if you want to do the same style of workout for 3 straight months for some reason (as compared to doing it for say 6 weeks and then coming back to it occasionally for some basic maintenance), why would you ever do the same exact workout over and over and over again? Even if you tweak the rest - and with what you are suggesting, those tweaks will be marginal - this would not only be a mind-numbing approach to doing vo2max workouts, but it would also tempt you to start racing your workouts as you will inevitably compare your efforts week after week.

Is there something to doing this workout on occasion so as to get used to 5k race pace? Sure. It should be a relatively low stress way to lock in race pace, so do it toward the end of your training cycle (preferably at a lower volume than 5 miles worth of work) once you have already locked in the lion's share of the benefit associated with training at vo2max by doing intervals (sorry UK) of 3 to 5 minutes of length, or do it relatively early in the cycle to introduce yourself to the pace in a low stress way. But even the goal of locking in race pace can be effectively accomplished by way of 1000s, 1200s and 1600s at 5k pace, which will also yield better results (and will have the benefit of forcing you to lock in and focus on race pace while feeling more taxed throughout the workout).

If you’re going to do it weekly, OP, and don’t want to be too taxed by it, I would do 16 x 400m @ 76-77 with 60s recovery. If you want to work on surges, you can do #5 and #10 in 71-72. And in my book, if you’re not feeling too taxed and it’s not race week, you’re always allowed to hammer the last one; it can be a nice confidence boost.

But as I said above, I wouldn’t be wedded to 400s. The total volume of 800s I proposed shouldn’t leave you wiped, and if it does you can still up the recovery a little bit (up to 1:1 workbout:recovery, even). Or, a distance I always loved when struggling to do VO2 work on my own was 600s. 8 x 600 in 1:54-1:55 gets you the same total volume as 6 x 800 but keeps each work out under 2 minutes (which may mean you’re not maximizing benefits, but may also mean it doesn’t tax you as much while still keeping you in touch with this kind of work).

You can also pick which type of recovery works best for you on this workout. You can do standing/stretching/walking recovery (60-90s), or if you want to make it tougher (and maybe a little more tailored for a HM guy) you can do a 200m recovery and keep each 200 solidly under a minute (52-55s).

Thank you. I think you mean midichlorian not mitochondrian. You are right that midichloridan are the foundation of all training, even for fastest Kenyans born and raised at altitude but training at sea level. I have performed many blood tests on my athletes to determine the force levels and found that they can be increased by specificity of training!!! Not to go too fast before the athlete is ready but to use a ressistence and special resisting method. Not to manipulate the midichlorians, some idoit fantasty which can only cause harm to fabric which creates force in the athlete.

The only correct thing you said here is that you shouldn’t repeat the same workout for 3 months.

You have gone way too far down the Daniels rabitt hole. Instead of focusing on how much time you spend at V02max, focus on extending SPECIFIC ENDURANCE.

Begin with short reps at race pace and as the season progresses, reduce the recovery. Keep the recovery segment at a steady clip and you’ll notice over time how speed and strength meet.

I also disagree with "ack ack", but only the part about the very best way of recovery.

"There is no real benefit to doing the same style of workout for 3 straight months." ,you say.

My system ,science, famous coaches and runners threw history, proves that you are wrong in that statement.

There is actually a great real benefit of doing the same style of workout year around , not only for 3 straight months.

One of the benefits is that it`s easy for the runner/coach to exact follow up the improvement . When done for some time the body adapts to the correct stimuli and answer with shorter recovery time and more easy feeling at the pace. Then it`s time for next level of pace. The recovery is not forced to be shorter, it comes naturally. Enough pressure - enough recovery , the well known rule of training.