So sometimes I do solo sessions like 2x800, 1x400 1x800. Tomorrow I might do 1x400 1x1000m. Is it ok to call them interval sessions in my training diary?
Supposing I just do 1x800 ('flying 800m')?
So sometimes I do solo sessions like 2x800, 1x400 1x800. Tomorrow I might do 1x400 1x1000m. Is it ok to call them interval sessions in my training diary?
Supposing I just do 1x800 ('flying 800m')?
Those are repetition workouts.
Intervals are large numbers of the same thing.
A very subtle difference though.
An interval is actually the rest period between reps. So 2X800 is an interval workout because there is a rest period between the reps, but 1X800 isn't because there is no rest period.
Terminology wrote:
Those are repetition workouts.
Intervals are large numbers of the same thing.
A very subtle difference though.
Pretty sure reps and intervals are the same thing.
Lydiard might even call it a time trial.
Alan
reps = intervals wrote:
Terminology wrote:
Those are repetition workouts.
Intervals are large numbers of the same thing.
A very subtle difference though.
Pretty sure reps and intervals are the same thing.
Not when you look at their purpose more closely. Certainly the two words don't refer to the same thing but I'll let that technicality pass.
First things first: Technically speaking, any exercise session with periods of rest/lower intensity qualifies as an interval session. And yes, "interval" refers to the rest periods, not the workbouts. THAT SAID:
In classic cardiovascular interval training, such as that used by Gerschler and Reindell to train Harbig (WRs 1:46.6 and 46.0 in 1939!), *the key is the interval* between workbouts, and it is the combination of the two that produces the training effect. Workbouts were generally brief (typically 100-200m, though occasionally longer). More at
http://www.newintervaltraining.com/old-interval-training.php
OTOH with longer workbouts we're often looking to stimulate conditioning changes *within the work segments themselves*. So repeat 800s, miles, kilos, whatever, will typically have rest intervals that are sufficiently long to permit quality efforts in each workbout. And because this kind of workout focuses on what's happening within each repetition, it's often called a repetition workout.
as can be seen from the number of different replies this question has received, different folk have very different ideas about what interval, repetition and so forth mean. as a coach of some years I admit that I often found it very difficult talking online to other coaches and athletes due to this confusion over the terminology. this also occurred in books where coaches tried to explain their methods with folk like Peter Coe first having to explain what simple words mean before he can tell you how to go training.
it was a mess. and everyone knew it was a mess, but no one seemed capable of compromising and so it remained a mess.
then along came Jack Daniels and he gave the words a whole new set of meanings and I personally found them very sensible and easily understood. his vocabulary is sensibly based on the purpose of the training session. and, what's more, a lot of other folk had read his books and they too started using that vocabulary and things started to get a whole lot better. but this thread says that everyone has forgotten Daniels and we are back in the confusing dark ages again.
according to Daniels (ATD) the words interval and repetition define training intensities (how fast you run). if you are running at or very close to your VO2max pace, then it is interval training. running faster than that is repetition training.
interval - at or close to VO2max pace. work bouts of between 3 - 5 minutes (they can also be less than 3 minutes). recoveries start at around twice the length of the work bout and go down to around 50% the length of the work bout.
repetition - faster than VO2max pace. work bouts of up to 2 minutes. recoveries should 2 - 3 times longer than the work bouts.
ATD, the answer to the OP's question would therefore depend not on how far you run, or how many work bouts you do, or whether or not there is a recovery between them, but on how fast you are running. and he didn't tell us, so we can't answer his question.
cheers.
Way to make it as clear as mud.
the interval is the rest wrote:
An interval is actually the rest period between reps. So 2X800 is an interval workout because there is a rest period between the reps, but 1X800 isn't because there is no rest period.
Interval USED to refer to the rest period. Most people don't use that terminology now.
I was thinking the term time trail.
I used to do sessions just like that. 2 flat out 800m in the middle of a run and i felt they helped me run sub 16:30 5k for the first time.
Workout.
Reps = part that is hard
Intervals = rest between the reps
Don't know why this is hard for people to comprehend.
JohnMorris wrote:
I was thinking the term time trail.
I used to do sessions just like that. 2 flat out 800m in the middle of a run and i felt they helped me run sub 16:30 5k for the first time.
You've just reminded me of Ron Hill's 2x400m session, I think he did it once a week. Didn't he call those 'flying 400s'? maybe not.
So there - I'm training twice as hard as Ron Hill :-)
I do something similar but throw the efforts into the middle of a run and just put it in the diary as a fartlek. For example a 25 minute run with a hard 1k in the middle and a hard 400m at the end. You could call it 1x1000 & 1x400
Odds are nobody will look at your training diary other than you, so just mark these workouts in a way that you're sure that future you will know what you meant. As long as you write what you actually did in the session, it won't matter at all what title you give it. Personally, I'd just write something like "4 miles easy. 2x800 (2:20, 2:15) w/ full recovery." Maybe consider classifying the total effort level for the day as well (for example: recovery, easy, moderate, hard, or very hard). This will help you to get context when looking back on it.
Don't get too caught up in the semantics of training. Every training system has different definitions, and anybody who claims to have defined a definite set is simply adding another standard on top of the many. As long as you know the definitions that the resource you're reading is using, that's what's important. Also, discussing interval-like sessions is easy in this regard - try getting a group of runners to agree on when to use tempo, threshold, lactic threshold, aerobic threshold, or anaerobic threshold.
When I started coaching we used to do things like 2 sets of 400, 800, 1200, 1600, 1200, 800, 400 and there would always be a 200 jog between. (We would run 3 miles before and after the sets.) Yes, this was high school! I stopped that after after I had a brain operation or something.)
But after reading and listening to Lydiard and other coaches, I felt that limiting your kids to only 2 X 400 the first week
of practice is okay. This is especially true if they are beginners.
Too many coaches think that their kids have to run 10 X 400 in 70 or they are worthless.
That is not even close to true. Stamina through long distance running is limitless. Running
without air (anaerobic system) can only be developed according to how much stamina the kid
has. Speed should be worked on all the time. But convincing coaches that running 5 X 80 with
3 minutes rest is like getting them to the dentist for a root canal.
By the way this is an example of a great thread!
Please people do more of this rather than telling us how much you hate Galen Rupp or Jordan Hasay!
- Frank Short
They do 2x800 in Running with the Buffaloes.