Do mile repeats have any place for half marathon training?

I like to start with 7x1mi around hm pace, then move to 3-4x2mi, 3x3mi, etc. 1 min recoveries more or less.

Two of our best marathoners ever - Ryan Hall and Khalid Khannouchi used to rock 1k repeats - links are below. Yes, a mile repeat will help you prepare for a half marathon. Goal is to focus on pace and of course limit rest between the intervals.

https://www.runnersworld.com/races-places/a20836868/a-brief-chat-with-ryan-hall-3/

https://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/21/sports/running-chicago-marathon-khannouchi-took-shortcut-to-long-race.html

My HM PR (1:13) was set off of 10k training which of course included 6x1mile.

If doing mile repeats early in HM training, what should be the pace you use? Goal HM pace or current fitness HM pace based off VDOT or any of the calculators

marathon training is long runs plus 2 days quality at marathon pace or under

so repeat miles fit the bill for the quality days.

Bruin1996 wrote:

I did a 2x10K workout on the track with a 10 minute slow job recovery as Marathon late race fatigue simulator. Supposedly the 2nd 10K should simulate running on fatigued legs after the 10 minute recovery jog. I ran the first 10K in Zoom Fly Flyknit and the 2nd 10K in Vaporfly 4% so my second 10K was actually faster (5:39 pace for the 2nd 10K vs 5:50 for the 1st 10K)

You listed your 10k PR in another thread at 5:37 pace. Are you saying you almost PR'd on the 2nd 10k of your workout?

non gender specific muffin person wrote:

Bruin1996 wrote:

I did a 2x10K workout on the track with a 10 minute slow job recovery as Marathon late race fatigue simulator. Supposedly the 2nd 10K should simulate running on fatigued legs after the 10 minute recovery jog. I ran the first 10K in Zoom Fly Flyknit and the 2nd 10K in Vaporfly 4% so my second 10K was actually faster (5:39 pace for the 2nd 10K vs 5:50 for the 1st 10K)

You listed your 10k PR in another thread at 5:37 pace. Are you saying you almost PR'd on the 2nd 10k of your workout?

Reminds of Lydiard talking about a ultra marathoner who couldn't run that fast for the marathon. But he could run two marathons at the same pace as his marathon pace. Some people can't run fast, but they can sustain the same for a long period of time.

TheBanaman wrote:

I did 8 x 1 mile at 5-10 seconds faster than half marathon pace W/1:00 steady jogs before I did 2 mile and 3 mile intervals. I thought it was a good workout. I would do it again for another half.

Problem with your workout is that LT intervals are maximized at about 10-15 seconds faster than your 15k-10mile pace assuming you're a decent (sub 16 5k for sure) runner. So your intervals should have been about 20 s per mile faster than what you did them at.

Endless endurance wrote:

Reminds of Lydiard talking about a ultra marathoner who couldn't run that fast for the marathon. But he could run two marathons at the same pace as his marathon pace. Some people can't run fast, but they can sustain the same for a long period of time.

But if his 5k pace is 20s/mile faster than 10k pace, that really doesn't seem to be the case.

Right now I have my two key 'workouts' a week. One of them is mid week long run which is usually at a faster clip often right around tempo pace for about 70% of the run. The other is my long run which is faster than my easy runs but still not as fast as my mid week long runs. All my other runs in the week are just easy or a super slow recovery if I feel like I need it. I'm about 10 weeks out from goal race, so I was thinking of starting up some lighter more HM specific workouts. The one mile reps at HM pace is a good intro for the next two weeks as I transition into two mile reps and eventually three mile reps. I just wasn't sure if I should have just started off doing two mile reps from the start.

Yes.. the road 10K I raced had a pretty sizeable hill in the middle of course while this 2nd 10K repeat was on a flat/fast track.

I've seen many college runners doing 6x1600 faster than 5k pace, because they do nothing above 2k repeats and hence do not have the ability to hold their mile repeat pace beyond 3k. Many run sub 5s in workouts and only one or none per year break 15:30, while most of them run 15:50s to 16:45. You need something transitional like quick tempos or 2-3M repeats at a good pace to translate the mile repeat pace to actual 5k-5M races.

North Lake wrote:

I would imagine that doing mile repeats or cruise intervals at lactate threshold be beneficial, but what if someone is doing something like 6x1, or 8x1 at HM pace with one min jobs between them. I know most opt to do 3k to 3mile repeats at HM pace, but curious if doing one mile repeats at HM is a waste since it falls into a gray area of easy/hard.

Great question. I just went back to check my Garmin Training Center data from the year I set my grandmasters HM PR, which was 1:31 low, or 6:55 pace.

The race itself was on December 5. On November 22, two weeks before, I ran a 12-mile workout. It consisted of a 3 mile warmup, then 6 x mile @ HM pace with 90 second jogs. The miles:

6:55

6:56

6:54

6:55

6:53

6:41

The workout wasn't particularly hard. It was on a stretch of flat paved road. It was mostly about getting very grooved into the pace I hoped to run. I ran the last mile harder than the others, precisely because the workout wasn't a killer.

In the race itself, I ran the first three miles around 7:02 and then slowly opened it up. The last three miles averaged around 6:50.

So yes: repeat miles, done as you suggested, can be a part of a winning formula.

TheBanaman wrote:

I did 8 x 1 mile at 5-10 seconds faster than half marathon pace W/1:00 steady jogs before I did 2 mile and 3 mile intervals. I thought it was a good workout. I would do it again for another half.

Great post.

I like to mix in 6-8xMile with 4x2Mile, 3x3Mile, and 4-6Mile tempo runs.

I do the straight tempos at 'date' tempo/HM pace effort, which is slower than HM pace early in the build, but gets quicker over the weeks, say starting at 6:20 and getting to 6:00 pace over a few months for a 1:18 half marathoner.

The intervals I would do faster, usually at goal HM pace from early season onward, ingraining the pace and efficiency at that pace and shortening the recovery as fitness improves. Getting to 1:00 rest for miles and 2:00 rest for 2-3 miles is a good sign. Naturally one would start with the shorter intervals; I like to cycle through the three examples I gave above.

try 3 or 4 hard mile repeats up a fairly steep hill with 5 minute recovery.

you will hurt a lot, and you will recover fast,

this is anti burnout type workout, fast adaptation.

race pace won't be a shock.

of course after the hard day, you have a couple of easy days. once the adaptation takes place, hit it again.

this is called building up. vs. long drawn out workouts and improper rest phase, which is the mistake of distance training schemes. you only do enough to adapt and shut it down.

I do 7-8 x mile repeats for hm

Start at marathon pace, work down to about 10k pace.

60 seconds rest

Great confidence builder and makes you strong. Definitely work into it and the workout will be more valuable. The difficulty will come on rep 6 and you’ll know you’re only going to continue to get faster.

If you’re feeling awesome, go all out the last half mile of the last rep.

Bruin1996 wrote:

I have a 6x1600 Track workout planned for this week. I am planning to do the repeats at 5K (5:20)pace and take a 600 Recovery (3 minutes or so). Would it be better to run the intervals slower at 10K(5:35) CV pace and take shorter recoveries(like 2 minutes/400 m)? I hope to finish the last repeat fast somewhere between 5K and mile pace (4:55-5:20) if I am feeling strong. I am currently training for a half in February and a marathon in March.

I have a 6 x 1600 Track workout planned for this week. I am planning to do the repeats at 5K (4:18)pace and take a 600 recovery (2 minutes or so). If I am feeling strong I might run the intervals at 4:10 pace with 200 recoveries (1 minute or so). I also like to finish with a couple of 100m in 10.5 or so.

Warrior1998 wrote:

Bruin1996 wrote:

I have a 6x1600 Track workout planned for this week. I am planning to do the repeats at 5K (5:20)pace and take a 600 Recovery (3 minutes or so). Would it be better to run the intervals slower at 10K(5:35) CV pace and take shorter recoveries(like 2 minutes/400 m)? I hope to finish the last repeat fast somewhere between 5K and mile pace (4:55-5:20) if I am feeling strong. I am currently training for a half in February and a marathon in March.

I have a 6 x 1600 Track workout planned for this week. I am planning to do the repeats at 5K (4:18)pace and take a 600 recovery (2 minutes or so). If I am feeling strong I might run the intervals at 4:10 pace with 200 recoveries (1 minute or so). I also like to finish with a couple of 100m in 10.5 or so.

Your 5k pr is sub 13:20?