SlipperyPete1340 wrote:
I'm miffed as to why people think that 5x1k w/1 minute rest is such an insane workout. As people have said, how do you expect to run 5x1k w/0 minutes rest if you can't hold that pace with a break in between?
Lots of reasons.
1. You want to be able to the 5 k's in a row with no rest in a race environment. Every runner knows how different it feels to go run a k at 5k pace by yourself on a lonely track someplace than to do it from a gun in a race with lots of adrenaline and lots of other people around you. There is no comparison.
2. You want to be able to do the 5 k's in a row with no rest when you are tapered and in peak condition. Unless you're tapering for a workout, that's not the case when you head to the track for repeat k's. Doing these on a full training load is pretty different from doing them when you're peaked and rested.
3. When you race, you want to go all out. Not so in training. Maybe you could do 5 x k at 5k pace with one minute rest, but it's not a good idea because it will leave you tanked and not ready to go for your next scheduled session. The idea of training is not to see how hard you can work, it's to stress your body and then allow it to recover.
The overarching point here is that in training, most of the time we are not trying to TEST fitness but to IMPROVE it. So could a runner, who has tapered, and who has a mental disposition that allows him to really get after it in workouts, complete 5 x 1k at 5k goal pace with one minute rest? Maybe. I couldn't, and I'm a pretty good runner. But even if one could do this, is it a good idea? Almost never! If you're going to work that hard, you might as well go run a race. A much better workout is 6-7 x 1k at 5k goal pace with 2-3 minutes jogging rest. This will nail your VO2 max as well as work speed and muscular endurance in a race specific manner.