6 x 800m 2 mins recovery

That's a very hard session at 3k pace. I would use 3-4 minutes, jogging for the first minute.

You really have to be in top shape to do it properly, it's a peaking session.

6x800 slightly faster than 5k pace with 1-2 minutes is more of a general conditioner when you are approching peak form.

Actually it really depends on how fast you're doing them.

If I race a 5k at about 5:50 pace should a workout of 6x's 800 at 5:30 pace with 2:30 rest be too tough? I struggled with that workout and wondered why.

?????? wrote:

Actually it really depends on how fast you're doing them.

Actually, I already made that point.

rainbow wrote:

If I race a 5k at about 5:50 pace should a workout of 6x's 800 at 5:30 pace with 2:30 rest be too tough? I struggled with that workout and wondered why.

Yes, too hard.

rainbow wrote:

If I race a 5k at about 5:50 pace should a workout of 6x's 800 at 5:30 pace with 2:30 rest be too tough? I struggled with that workout and wondered why.

We recently did 10 x 800 at similar pacing with similar rest. It's challenging, but certainly very doable and beneficial.

rainbow wrote:

If I race a 5k at about 5:50 pace should a workout of 6x\'s 800 at 5:30 pace with 2:30 rest be too tough? I struggled with that workout and wondered why.

If you\'re racing 5k at 5:50 your mile p.r. should not be much better than 5:10. No wonder you struggled with 800\'s at faster than mile pace! Your 800 reps should be slightly faster than current 5k pace,ie., 2:50 or so with 2-3 min. rest,(jogging).

faster than mile pace? what?

Dont do repeats in 2:35 its too fast and is your mile pace. Run them at 2:45 -50. i think thats what he means.

furtherfaster wrote:

?????? wrote:

Actually it really depends on how fast you're doing them.

Actually, I already made that point.

actually you didn't make that point. You made a point of changing the entire workout by doubling the rest and slowing down the pace. Doing those two those things is not nessesity for this work out. You should be able to run 3 miles at your 3K pace if you get a 2 minute break every half mile. In fact, the first 3 should be pretty comfortable the next 2 you should be feeling it making the last one difficult.

Joe Shmoe wrote:

Dont do repeats in 2:35 its too fast and is your mile pace. Run them at 2:45 -50. i think thats what he means.

He did the repeats at 5:30 pace, so 2:45. Not too fast. Its a tough workout though, and sometimes I find that the first time I do 800 repeats, I have a hard time keeping the pace that I want, but after a couple sessions the times really drop. Last spring I wanted to run an 8:50 3k, and thought I should be doing 800's in 2:22 at the beginning of the season with equal rest. No way I could've done more than a few of those. So I started out doing 2:24-2:25, and by the end of the season I did 4 x 800 averaging 2:21.

mel wrote:

If you're racing 5k at 5:50 your mile p.r. should not be much better than 5:10. No wonder you struggled with 800's at faster than mile pace! Your 800 reps should be slightly faster than current 5k pace,ie., 2:50 or so with 2-3 min. rest,(jogging).

okay mr i suck balls at sprinting. there are lots of people that are not aerobically developed and will have a MUCH faster mile time (4:30-4:40) with similiar 5k prs. before i put in high mileage i could run a 4:27 mile but only be able to hold 5:40 pace for a 5k. Im still aerobically underdeveloped running 16:20-16:30 but for some people 800s at that pace would be comfortable enough with the jog. im not saying thats the case, but you cant classify everyone as a pure distance runner.

I realize this is an ancient thread, but I wanted to check something as I did this exact workout on the road a couple days ago:

2.5 mi w/u

1 mi @ 5:55 pace (about 10k pace to extend the warm up)

1 min jog

6 x 800 "I" intervals in 2:43, 2:40, 2:43, 2:43, 2:42, 2:42 with 2:30 jog in between

4 x 200 "R" intervals in 37, 37, 37, 39 (first three I may have had wind in my back, headwind in last) with 1 min jog in between

My question is: were the 800s too fast? I recently ran a rolling 4-miler in 23:03 (5:46 pace) which leads me to believe I am in ~ 17:39 5k shape, give or take. I had my math wrong on the 800s and had targeted 2:45s but even that may be too fast for me?

I realize this is a VO2max workout given the long recoveries (2:30) so perhaps about right (more like 3k race pace than 5k).

Similarly I did 10 x 1000 in 3:34-3:38 with only 1 min rest recently (total 36:03 for 10k) so it looks like 10k pace is near 5:50.

Do these workout look about right for 17:30ish 5k, 36ish 10k? My near-term goal is sub 36 10k, mid-term goal sub 1:20 half, long term goal sub 2:50 marathon. Been doing 60-65 mpw. Will bump to 70-75mpw in next training cycle.

I'm new to interval training. Ran 2:56 off 60-65 mpw with long runs with good chunks at MP and tempo intervals at 6:05-6:15. The speedwork I've been doing recently (1 session a week, or sometimes only 1 every two weeks) seems to lead to massive improvements already...

I could run with you on that 4-miler and the workouts you list would probably take me 5 days of easy running in order to feel like myself again. In other words, your workouts are harder than an actual race. I like the structure and the effort levels you are targeting, but you might want to reduce them by at least a third. Remember, you are training to race, and should not be killing yourself in workouts (or trying to prove anything to yourself or others).

5-6x800m starting at 5k pace and working down to 3k pace with 2:30-3 min rest is one of my favorites.

Thank you jman1 and 800man69. This confirms my thoughts that it may have been a bit too hard (particularly the 800s).

The 4 miler in 23:03 was on rolling hills, and I don't think I ran hard enough (i.e. after training for longer distances for a while, I forgot how to run hard in shorter races). I think I can do slightly better, perhaps low 17s for a flat 5k. But again I haven't done it, and we shouldn't play guessing games!

I'll dial back to 2:45-2:50 for 800s, perhaps as 800man says, run them progressive with the last one in low 2:40s. My main goal isn't the 5k/10k but a winter half and spring full marathon. Dream goal is sub 1:20 and sub 2:50 hence trying to make it "easier" by getting a bit faster first before starting hard long runs.

I only do 1 workout a week, plus 1 quick long run (16-18 mi starting just sub 8:00 and finishing in 6:40s, averaging about 7:05-7:15). I'm normally not a workout hero though, so I need to find a balance between hard enough to force adaptation, and risk overdoing it.

I mix it up every week with things like (from slowest to fastest);

4 mi tempo @ 6:10

2 x 2 mi tempo @ 6:00-6:05 w/ 2' jg

3 x 10' tempo intervals @ 5:55-6:05 w/ 1' jg

4 x 1 mi cruise intervals @ 5:45 w/ 1' jg

10 x 1000 in 3:36ish w/ 1' jg (an outlier, that was a peak workout before race)

6 x 800 in 2:40-2:45 w/ 2:30 jg (an outlier as well, I ran too fast as stated)

With a bunch of 200s in 36-38 usually after the intervals

If my long term goal is 2:50 for the marahton, should I just stop what I am doing now (to minimize injury risk) and just switch back to marathon training (with some tempo intervals at or around 6:00 and some long runs with MP) or is it worth sprinkling some of the above in my training (perhaps alternate tempo one week, 3k-5k pace the next week) to get a bit faster?

When I ran 2:56 I was only doing some tempo intervals at about 6:15 (e.g. 3 x 10'). Nothing faster. I felt like to get better I had to add some of these faster-paced intervals. Thanks in advance for any suggestion!

I just did 10x800 w/ 1 min rest in 2:41-2:42 average for each. What does that mean for my 5k?

15:47 wrote:

when people say 6 x 800m with 2 mins recovery, do they mean jog recovery or a complete 2 min rest?

thanks...i want to use this for 3k session

For pretty much any track intervals I've run, recoveries were active... jog of a prescribed distance between bouts... but fast enough you'd still be hurting for the next one. Time all recoveries and pick it up if the workout calls for a set or maximum rest time.

For 6 or so 800 repeats, this would usually be on a 200 or 400 honest jog between.

Ernest wrote:

15:47 wrote:

when people say 6 x 800m with 2 mins recovery, do they mean jog recovery or a complete 2 min rest?

thanks...i want to use this for 3k session

For pretty much any track intervals I've run, recoveries were active... jog of a prescribed distance between bouts... but fast enough you'd still be hurting for the next one. Time all recoveries and pick it up if the workout calls for a set or maximum rest time.

For 6 or so 800 repeats, this would usually be on a 200 or 400 honest jog between.

You are responding to a 15 year old post.