What's a good workout for a distance runner to prepare for a 3K indoors race early season?

addtl info: ive been doing 75mpw or so and im a mid16s 5k guy.

1 x 3000

thanks, that helps a great deal =)

What do your coach think and how old are you?

i am self-coached this wk. my coach is out of town

I would do a pair of workouts:

mile repeats at 5k pace and 24 x 200 at 3k pace.

The first workout would get you used to running at a solid pace for an extended time, and the second would get you comfortable running really fast again

agip wrote:

I would do a pair of workouts:

mile repeats at 5k pace and 24 x 200 at 3k pace.

The first workout would get you used to running at a solid pace for an extended time, and the second would get you comfortable running really fast again

I'd combine those workouts into 1, then run 10 miles at race effort 3 times during the week.

Thanks I was thinking of trying to hit like 80-85 this week and then do one workout of like mile repeats @ 5k type effort since it's early season, then maybe a long run with tempo worked in as the 2nd workout, what do you think?

Neumann J wrote:

Thanks I was thinking of trying to hit like 80-85 this week and then do one workout of like mile repeats @ 5k type effort since it's early season, then maybe a long run with tempo worked in as the 2nd workout, what do you think?

Mile repeats we agree on

as for the long run - how is your speed? Do you feel comfortable running at 3k pace? I know I need some raw speedwork or 3k pace feels insane. So if you are like me, I would do the 200s. If you think your speed is ok but need more aerobic development, I would do the long run/tempo.

what about like 3 sets of 600-400-200 @ 3k pace w/ rest of 1:30ish

No sense in doing 200s at 3K pace. Stuff that short is all about improving your efficiency, so I would do more like 15 x 300 at current mile pace (if you aren't sure what you could cut right now, I would say 4:40 pace or 52-53 for the 300s). Recovery is just the 100m walk/jog, enough to run the next interval efficiently and controlled.

As for your aerobic workout, I'd keep each interval under 5:00. Since your 5K pace is probably 5:15-5:20, I would say to do repeat 1200s at around 3:50-3:55.

Nothing is more important than just running every day though, twice if you can handle it. Go for it.

thanks i think i have good aerobic work in already but need something more like the 300s you've suggested. the thing is that i dont want to exhaust myself and peak too early. im guessing i could manage a mid to high 4:40s mile now

so maybe bunch of 300s in 53-54 w/ 100m jog?

I wouldn't worry about peaking too early - one or two speed workouts don't turn the tide.

Sometimes you have a gut feel that a particular workout is what you need - do you have any intuition?

thanks yeah im thinking something closer to 3k pace is what I need but I've found from experience that doing the mile repeats plus the 300s would be too much in 1 week

therefore i think maybe the 300s workout midweek and a long run incl. tempo for strength on Sunday might be the better bet, unless you'd suggest otherwise

3 x 1k