HotPanOliveOil wrote:When you suggested this workout, did you mean for it to be "all out"? If that was the case I could have done the repeats a bit faster....
...When you say this kind of work should be done occasionally, what do you mean by this? Once a week while preparing for competition? Or occasionally throughout the entire training cycle? Thanks
Not "all out" per se... fast but controlled, aiming for the last repeat to be very very hard. The way you've described the last couple of repeats (doubled over) is how I'd see you finish the session on the 5th rep.
Occasionally meaning maybe once in 2-4 weeks, but would not be needed if you are racing frequently, and not within less than maybe 7-10 days of a race, assuming you want to be able to show your best in the race. I'm not much for using races as training runs... every race should be an all out effort testing your capabilities, so you should be rested/tapered for every one. I like a moderate session early in the week of a weekend race, and maybe some strides on the Thursday. Nothing "HARD" in race week. Not everyone shares this philosopy though - some people (most people?) will continue a normal training load in race weeks.