Thanks. Interesting questions.1/This Summer training, it´s easier to what some might think. However this is one program to improve your condition the way you can compete with success.You see, in the past, many people on this board says that I just comment the other training without show my own. This summer training it´s an attempt to define my training with accuracy and some criteria. I said once and I want torepeat. This my training is not made in stone. EVERTHING MIGHT BE RUN PROGRESSIVELY and changed to adjust to different training need. You don´t need to follow very accurate paces. You might do the adjustment to turn it easier if you realize that you can´t stand such program. I have one plan, this is what is the meaning of train to compete. Training to compete is organized stimulus with the competition target goal. Training it´s not jog runs or fun runs.If you think this is hard, tuff, you can skip some workouts, you change to easy down. For example, if you think that 10X300m at 3k pace it´s tuff, then run it for your 5k or 10k pace in the early stage of this training program. If you think that the tempo workout at 90-95% your race pace it´s tuff and you can´t resist, then easy down and run at 85%-90%.I guess that this training it´s not fun training. However it´s more aerobic that some imagine. You have 5 days of easy training during everty week period and only 2 days of workouts.
2/I don´t agree with the principle that the interval recovery shall be reduced in length while the season goes further. In my opinion the interval recovery shall be OPENED (done with long length recovery) as far as the distance of the sets goes longer and the season goes further.
Example how i think that shoould be done:
Early phase (Phase 1): 12X400m/10k pace rec=100m jog ahead in 35-45secs
Next phase (Phase 2): 6X800m/10k pace rec= 200m jog ahead in about 1:40
Late phase (Phase 3): 3X1600m (mile)/10k pace rec=5minutes/stand and walk or not time the recovery length
This your idea to intercalate (to insert) one interval workout faster than race pace with long recovery length with the suggested short intervals kind with short recovery it´s not bad.
I ask your attention that most of the short type workouts that I schedule are faster than race pace either. Remember that by instance if we think in 5000m run event 10X300m 3k pace and 10X400m at 4k pace both is faster than race pace, or for 10000m/cross/10k road events to run 10X400m 4k pace and 10X500m at 5k pace is faster than race pace either !
However if you want to run short intervals with long recovery I suggest that you run it in the phase 3 instead of phase 2, and then the Phase 3 goes as follows:
Phase 3 alternative (every week)
Workout 1 – short intervals with long recovery instead of short recovery
Workout 2- long intervals with long recovery
My original intention to build this Summer of Antonio training it´s to profit from one debate in other thread about short intervals with short recovery. Therefore if this Summer training is changed the way the short interval recovery is missed or little usage, then it´s no more the Summer training that I suggest, but something hybrid to the original training program.
One last comment about your intervals faster than race pace. You see, many people think about speed, speed, the need of speed variable as a way to approach middle of long distance training. But specificity is about speed as well as endurance. The main element of distance training is resistance or strength endurance . Resistance is speed versus endurance or if you prefer resistance is pace versus distance (time length of the run). Most of the interval workouts do provide speed, but not many provide endurance. If you want to build and improve your resistance, your strength endurance, specificity (specific training) is the key, to run for periods of time and distance at race pace. But this will tired you up. The must of specific training is to run the distance run event at your best pace. This would be good, but it´s impossible to run one competition every workout. This is why the interval training does exist. The main goal of run intervals it´s to easy down the workout and take it longer while you maintain the race pace target. It´s easy down by the interval recovery use. But when you run with interval recovery, you can run a bit faster than race pace due to the periods of recovery between the sets. To run faster than race pace it´s what is named SPEED ENDURANCE or SPEED RESISTANCE if you prefer one different terminology. To run intervals some 5% to 10% faster than race pace it´s what is SPEED ENDURANCE/RESISTANCE. This is the must of specific training. When the runner is in good shape condition, build good aerobic condition, did special workouts (fartelek, hills, LT runs or tempo runs whatever is SPECIAL workouts) and he did move to the SPECIFIC workout training (race pace intervals – short and long ones) eventually he can run some SPEED ENDURANCE workouts like those faster than race pace. However in no part/period of the process he can´t decay or miss the aerobic condition training.
Well, this my last paragraphs about Specific training and Speed endurance training is not just Summer of Antonio precisely, since goes out of the simplicity of Antonio´s Summer training.