Mile repeats with 30 seconds rest

Your workouts seem more impressive than the mile TT imho. Do you do speed work? Shorter repeats like 200s with full recovery? Short hill sprints with 2 minutes or more recovery? I only ask because back in my day I did not know about that stuff so I did not do it, and even now it seems like it does not get discussed much.

sanka wrote:

Your workouts seem more impressive than the mile TT imho. Do you do speed work? Shorter repeats like 200s with full recovery? Short hill sprints with 2 minutes or more recovery? I only ask because back in my day I did not know about that stuff so I did not do it, and even now it seems like it does not get discussed much.

I’ll do more of that for pre-outdoor seasoning. I’ve done 1 session of 2x10x200 in 33-34 w/ 1 min/5 min rest

Also. I mentioned in that post not as an excuse but it was very windy for that mile TT I came through 800 in 2:25 kinda doubted myself on the 3rd lap and had a solid last lap but it was gusting bad out there most of our guys ran way slower than their Pb and that was a 12 sec Pb for me.

friztek wrote:

My coach had me do these the other day and they were HARD! Felt like it would have been better to just run a straight tempo. I ran 5:39-5:38-5:42-5:47-5:38. It was very mentally challenging. How fit am I right now say if I raced a 5k?

Interesting workout. I did a 5 mile road race in 27:54 (5:35 pace), about 2 months later I did 17:05 for 5k xc.

You should be around 17 minutes.

4000m in the neighborhood of 800 pace? Were you relaxed? Ha that's a joke. Did you feel good in the days after that? That workout would be the end of me. For me, speed means only 4 or 5 200s with at least 2 minutes recovery.

Mile repeats on 30 seconds - that’s an unusual and perhaps dubious workout.

Most every workout has benefit - but each workout should propel a known and appropriate adaptation - and presumably be more efficacious than alternatives.

For masochists who run this, the bouts would typically be at tempo pace - you can extrapolate from that.

30 seconds is almost equivalent to no recovery at all physiologically. It might clear some lactate but given that you ran a 4:58 mile, I doubt you're building up too much by running 5:40. It's looks like the 30 second break was something your coach thought you needed psychologically to complete the workout

It's a tempo with very short breaks. I do the same sort of workout.

...although I think I would do it a bit slower.

also known as cruise intervals

I would say sub 17 for sure. Hard to go much faster than tempo pace with 30sec rest in my opinion.

citius5000 wrote:

I would say sub 17 for sure. Hard to go much faster than tempo pace with 30sec rest in my opinion.

My coach said the goal was to increase volume. I had did a 4 mile tempo around the same average a few weeks back so the 30 sec breaks were to be able to get an extra mile at tempo effort without making it a race effort but like I said only difference was the strong winds and I still stubbornly wanted to run the same

Paces as my 4 mile tempo with no wind. As some said due to the conditions I may have ran too fast. I wasn’t overly exerting myself but It was hard. I do not think we will do this type of workout again from what he told me

friztek wrote:

citius5000 wrote:

I would say sub 17 for sure. Hard to go much faster than tempo pace with 30sec rest in my opinion.

My coach said the goal was to increase volume. I had did a 4 mile tempo around the same average a few weeks back so the 30 sec breaks were to be able to get an extra mile at tempo effort without making it a race effort but like I said only difference was the strong winds and I still stubbornly wanted to run the same

Paces as my 4 mile tempo with no wind. As some said due to the conditions I may have ran too fast. I wasn’t overly exerting myself but It was hard. I do not think we will do this type of workout again from what he told me

I think it is also important to remember the purpose of the workout. A tempo run should not feel that hard. It seems like due to the conditions you ran that workout more like race effort. On a truly windy day, I'd back off 8-10 seconds per mile.

I’ll do more of that for pre-outdoor seasoning. I’ve done 1 session of 2x10x200 in 33-34 w/ 1 min/5 min rest[/quote]

Sorry to bug you again about speed, but that is not a speed workout. Speed workout is much shorter/fewer reps and much longer rest. I only bring it up, because I went from non-runner 56 sec 400 to trained distance runner 60 sec 400 in 4 years, by neglecting true speed work. I suspect it limited my 5k-10k times.

Part of the problem here is in the labels being applied to the workouts.

A lot of people use the term speedwork or speed workouts for almost any interval workout with reps of 400 or less. That's wrong and confusing, has been for a long time, but it's not going away.

What you're talking about is more accurately described as speed development. That usually means reps of less than 200, often way less, with longer full recoveries of multiple minutes.

You're no doubt correct that completely neglecting any of that for an extended period of time did limit your 5k and 10k performances, especially 5k.

You're also probably correct that the OP is having, or is at least susceptible to, the same limitations. Her times and workouts don't exactly match up.

Another key factor in all this is age -- both chronological age and running/training age. A lot of the literature and science says that speed development has a finite window during which it can substantially be improved. It would make a difference whether OP is high school, college, or post collegiate.

Yes, this is a somewhat separate issue from the repeat miles workout and what it indicates. But it's very relevant to what the OP is capable of.

I’m a 22 yr old college senior, could you explain examples of what speed development I should be doing and how would that be structured into my training week

Maybe labels will reply later, but for now I will venture a post:

Pure speed workout for distance/middle distance runner might be once a week, 4x100m (with flying start) with 3 or more minutes in between each 100. It's good if you can time yourself and record your times. A good warmup before this, of course. You could do it on easy day and still have an easy run. It should not be tiring so you probably don't have to alter your schedule. Similar to how short (gentle) hill sprints with long recovery can leave you feeling strong and bouncy and fast in the days following.

I hope others give more advice. A sprint coach might give best advice.

The troll is drunk.