Currently following Daniels 5km>15km plan. As per VDOT my R pace is 3:06 per km (5:00 min mile). I find this very challenging.
Q1 workouts are a variation of 200m, 400m and 800m reps at this pace which equals 37 secs for 200, 74 secs for 400 and 2:29 for 800. Most of the time I’m hitting 39 secs for the 200m and around 77 for the 400m and 2:39 for the 800m.
I appreciate I’m not way off here but the book says these shouldn’t be too taxing as they’re to work on running economy and you get full recovery (equal to rep distance). I however find them very taxing and am longing for the recovery jog. Should I slow them down or is Daniels idea of ‘not too taxing’ and mine very different?
Also, I find the tempo cruise intervals, and continuous tempo runs paces to be bang on and usually feel great during these. And also previously on a slightly lower vdot have found the interval pace to be ok as well.
This is my first time doing ‘speedwork’. I pretty much dread the workout but am happy to do them as I see their benefit. And I think they help a lot with making the tempo pace feel so much smoother.
I also like the whole ‘train don’t strain’ philosophy but pretty much strain my bollucks off during the R pace workouts so I dunno what’s best?!
30 year old male, 16:58 5km runner averaging 60 miles per week. Any advice would be appreciated...