I believe that the goal of intervals is to work on the neuromuscular adaptation at fast paces, teach relaxation at race pace or faster and work on the anaerobic system. Am I right?
But how do I know how many I should do and at what pace should I be doing them?
I mean, which is the difference between 4x200 and 3x300 or 5x2000 and 10x1000? And how do I know how much time do I need to rest?
I am interested in interval training for middle and long distances.
Thanks
No, you aren't right (at least not completely). But the purpose of a 4 x 200 would be very different than a 5 x 2000. One could be more neuromuscular and anaerobic, while the other would be entirely aerobic.
Thanks
Bump
Anybody?
One last bump
A worthy topic for discussion.
I've done short fast repeats with a longer rest to help develop speed for racing a mile. Something like 8 x 200 at faster than mile pace with 3 minute rest.
For a marathon workout I will do something like 4 x 2 mile at just a little faster than marathon pace with about 3 minutes rest.
Two interval workouts for two entirely different races.
What that guy is retarded intervals from 200-2000m are not aerobic they are all anaerobic unless ur doing it slower than your lactate there's hold or tempo pace which would be retarded and pointless because u can do a tempo straight for like 15-30 min at least. Intervals are done at a pace that your acidic lactate levels rise quicker then your body can use up.
Intervals wrote:
What that guy is retarded intervals from 200-2000m are not aerobic they are all anaerobic unless ur doing it slower than your lactate there's hold or tempo pace which would be retarded and pointless because u can do a tempo straight for like 15-30 min at least. Intervals are done at a pace that your acidic lactate levels rise quicker then your body can use up.
Huh?
First I can create a workout involving 200s that is highly AEROBIC. Every one you do after the first one becomes more and more AEROBIC actually. Anything lasting longer than 90 seconds is going to be primarily AEROBIC--yes, there will be some anaerobic contribution, but still aerobic.
I train with a club of strong runners and we do intervals twice per week. In the summer we run on grass or trails and in the winter, bike paths (where I live we have 6 months of winter, unfortunately.)
We have all kinds of interval workouts. Generally, the shorter they are, the faster we run. We measure by time, not distance, although we usually get from 10-12 miles each workout including w.u./c.d.
One of the hardest ones we did was 30x 1 min. with 1 min. slow jog in between. I know it sounds easy but after about 12 of those your legs are freaking tired (we use very hilly routes). This week we did 3 min x 3 (with 2 min jog in between) followed by six 30 sec. hill sprints, then 3 min. x3 back. It was absolutley brutal. Our coach tells us we are usually doing them too fast but when you get a group of competetive people out there, it's hard not to. Last weekend we did 5 min/10 min/15 min/10 min/5 min; it was tough.
Our coach is an elite ultra runner who gets a lot of his ideas from that Italian coach Canova (they met at a marathon in Europe and are in regular contact ever since). The workouts are super tough but they work!!!
This article from McMillan's website does a good job of explaining the different types of interval workouts and their purpose.
I feel that to do interval training properly you need to spend a great deal more time studying. I have done 5 years of interval training with Coach Fred Foot and 20 months with Coach Mihaly Igloi. I would never train by using intervals without a hands on experienced coach and will not coach. I wanted to run/race and obtain the results of a good interval training without thinking or responsibility.
I found that with the background I had, I could then achieve at least equal results at the longer distances by just plain running with a little fartlek and by racing often to develop speed.
A good interval program requires much studying and hard work.
I suggest that you use google to find workouts devised by Igloi, Tabori, Schul and the other successful interval advocates.