My coach gave me this workout today and it was fvcking hard, I didn't really hit any of my times except for the 400.
Ladder workout
400
800
1000
1200
1200
1000
800
400
They were all done at 73 second pace for each 400, so the 400 would be 73, the 800 would be 2:26, etc....
We didn't have to do the second 1200 thankfully because the coach was forgiving :)
I have a 16:30 5k PR on a hilly course.
Is my coach crazy or was I just having an off day?
Ah this is the classic pyramid session which is great for speed as well as speed endurance with the longer reps. It's also great for shocking your body but this is better if you were to run quicker on the shorter reps - 400m @ 64, 800m @ ~ 2:15.
canthitmytimes wrote:
I have a 16:30 5k PR on a hilly course.
Is my coach crazy or was I just having an off day?
That is a flawed workout for your ability level.
Realistically you should be running 74 second pace for 800m bouts maximum.
Max volume at that pace should be around 2 miles, MAYBE 3 miles total when all is tallied up.
The workout your coach prescribed should have been run at around 1:18 per 400m with about equal to half recovery as a VO2 effort.
He got the paces wrong. Doing your speed development pace for that much volume is just bad. Not even a "manmaker" workout either, just incorrect pacing/volume.
Your coach, like so many HS coaches, is a dumb ass. Ask him what the purpose of the workout was, I bet he can't explain.
It's definitely not a speed development workout, speed is developed with short fast reps and plenty of rest.
This was too fast for your ability to be a VO2 max session, the reps too long to be running economy session... just all around wrong.
Most of these pyramid sessions are silly and usually inappropriate. Sorry you had to go through that crap.
One last thing, training this time of year (late in XC season I assume) should not be hard. Fast, yes - hard, no. Save that for teh races.