Lately I've been going through the bizzare process of prepping (sort of) for a mile race this coming weekend, in the midst of my base training (averaging 80-83mpw).
I completed the following workout, with the idea being to accustom myself neuromuscularly to the demands of mile racing. What do you guys think about its applicability to mile preparation during the base period?
2x200, 1x1000, 2x300 all with 2:30 rest.
33-32-2:38-50-45
I would certainly consider cutting the rest down on those intervals, unless they were run signifcantly under race pace.
I find that taking 30-45 seconds between 200s is fine, and 1:15-1:30 for a 300 is also great. It's enough to get the heart rate back down and also allows you to catch your breath.
Honestly, though, if you're in your base phase and runnign a mile race so soon, your best bet might be to just do some striders or some 200s at race pace jsut to get accustomed to the pace. Your body isn't going to adapt/benifit within the next 3-4 days to any workouts you're doing this week. Striders and a little pace work, on the other hand, will at least give you a feel (mentally and physically) of what that mile pace is like. Plus, you don't want to screw with your base mileage for one week just for a (I assume) a small road mile.
I actually did the session yesteday and was curious about people's thoughts. I kept the rest long because I was looking to use most of the workout (200s and 300s really) as basically strides for pace like you said, and the 1000 to get used to running goal pace for a distance on the order of the race distance.
I'd expect a sub 4:30 clocking.