3xMile, Full Recovery: why would my coach assign this?

What does full recovery mean? No time limit, or just longer than you're used to?

What was the goal pace (relative to your PRs)?

3 X 1600 at a VO2 with 1:1 recovery is a great workout for HS and beyond. Fast pace, manageable but doesn't break you down.

Try to go sub 5 on all 3...

Confused HSer wrote:

What was the purpose of this workout?

To make your body work hard. That's the general purpose of training. Don't make it complicated.

Letscoach.com wrote:

3 X 1600 at a VO2 with 1:1 recovery is a great workout for HS and beyond. Fast pace, manageable but doesn't break you down.

Try to go sub 5 on all 3...

Without knowing his fitness level you can't tell him what times to hit, moron. You also don't know whether it was VO2 max pace, 5k pace, 10k pace, etc.

Letscoach.com wrote:

3 X 1600 at a VO2 with 1:1 recovery is a great workout for HS and beyond. Fast pace, manageable but doesn't break you down.

Try to go sub 5 on all 3...

Bad post.

1:1 is too much for recovery with VO2max mile reps. 3:00-4:00 should be PLENTY. Literally by 5:00 you will be fully recovered, and the first minute of the next rep isn't going to have the impact it should.

As well, how the heck can you tell him to go sub-5?? You don't know if that is his 5k pace, his mile pace, or his 10k pace!

Confused HSer wrote:

My coach gave out this workout today. We don't really do a peak for indoors so I guess you could say this is part of base building for outdoor track. What was the purpose of this workout?

Is there some reason you can't just ask your coach?

Speaker of Hard Truths wrote:

Letscoach.com wrote:

3 X 1600 at a VO2 with 1:1 recovery is a great workout for HS and beyond. Fast pace, manageable but doesn't break you down.

Try to go sub 5 on all 3...

Without knowing his fitness level you can't tell him what times to hit, moron. You also don't know whether it was VO2 max pace, 5k pace, 10k pace, etc.

What do you think with a 1/1 recovery....

Maybe it's a 2 mile indicator, what times did you hit and what are your PR's?

I went to a d3 school, we used to do this every year near the end of the XC season. We took five minutes rest, with the idea being to run them hard, like 10 seconds faster than 5k pace. Some of the other kids thought it was kind of dumb, but I always liked it. It felt more like it was about getting sharp and building confidence than developing aerobic capacity or whatever. But I agree with the comment not to overthink it - your coach probably has more idea what he's doing than we do, probably a good idea to buy in and believe in the training if you can.

Could be a girl :)

Daniels recommends 1:1 time recovery on 5k pace reps. FYI.

I think for mile repeats 1:1 is ok if you plan on running them at your vo2max pace. So, if you are a 9 minute two miler, you should run them in 4:30.

you will be fine wrote:

I think for mile repeats 1:1 is ok if you plan on running them at your vo2max pace. So, if you are a 9 minute two miler, you should run them in 4:30.

In what world does 2 miles = vo2max? Most consider it to be 5k pace.

kid history wrote:

you will be fine wrote:

I think for mile repeats 1:1 is ok if you plan on running them at your vo2max pace. So, if you are a 9 minute two miler, you should run them in 4:30.

In what world does 2 miles = vo2max? Most consider it to be 5k pace.

Not unless you're running your 5k in 10-11min. But that's besides the point.

For a 5k specialist 3x1 at goal 5k pace is a great workout.

Alan

kid history wrote:

you will be fine wrote:

I think for mile repeats 1:1 is ok if you plan on running them at your vo2max pace. So, if you are a 9 minute two miler, you should run them in 4:30.

In what world does 2 miles = vo2max? Most consider it to be 5k pace.

I always have considered it 3K pace, so two mile time sounds right.

If the goal is to run the reps well, then 1:1 is perfect boss.

grain of salt optional wrote:

Letscoach.com wrote:

3 X 1600 at a VO2 with 1:1 recovery is a great workout for HS and beyond. Fast pace, manageable but doesn't break you down.

Try to go sub 5 on all 3...

Bad post.

1:1 is too much for recovery with VO2max mile reps. 3:00-4:00 should be PLENTY. Literally by 5:00 you will be fully recovered, and the first minute of the next rep isn't going to have the impact it should.

As well, how the heck can you tell him to go sub-5?? You don't know if that is his 5k pace, his mile pace, or his 10k pace!

No he doesn't. 50-90% recovery on 3k-5k pace work, 1:1 recovery on mile pace work.

hey coach! wrote:

Confused HSer wrote:

My coach gave out this workout today. We don't really do a peak for indoors so I guess you could say this is part of base building for outdoor track. What was the purpose of this workout?

Is there some reason you can't just ask your coach?

This. Communicate.

grain of salt optional wrote:

1:1 is too much for recovery with VO2max mile reps. 3:00-4:00 should be PLENTY. Literally by 5:00 you will be fully recovered, and the first minute of the next rep isn't going to have the impact it should.

As well, how the heck can you tell him to go sub-5?? You don't know if that is his 5k pace, his mile pace, or his 10k pace!

This is incorrect. 1:1 recovery is what is necessary to achieve vO2 max pace if you are doing consecutive repeats.

Typically you want a repeat length that will take between 3-5 minutes with equal (1:1) rest. So for most collegiate/serious runners this would mean reps that are between 1k and 1mile in length done at a pace that is somewhere between 3k-5k pace, depending on how fast the athlete is and what they are training for.

For example, during XC our college team would be assigned vO2 miles/5 min rest for the distance men, and vO2 1200s/4 min rest for the distance women. The men would run theirs ~5k pace and the women would run theirs ~3k pace. This provided a similar "faster than race pace" stimulus for each group.