I have 5 weeks to peak for my first ever 1500m race (indoors) what workouts should I do?

Hey,

I am about to start training for my indoor season too. The following workouts have been suggested to me:

8-10 x 400m @ race pace with 2 minutes rest OR 2 x 4 x 400 @ race pace with 90s and 3 minutes rest

10-16 x 200m @ faster than race pace with 90s rest

5 x 600m @ race pace with 2-3 minutes rest

4-6 x 400m FAST (at least 4 seconds quicker per lap than race pace) with 3-4 minute rest

10-12 x 300m @ race pace with 45s rest

2-3 x 1k @race pace with 5-10 minutes rest

4-5 x 800m @ race pace with 4 minutes rest

Tempo runs are also really important. Keep those up.

4:30 sounds like a reasonable goal to me

Good luck

Heya. Thanks for the response.

So I think over the next four weeks I’ll do something like a broken tempo session one day each week and then 300s the first week, 200s the next, 400s the week after and then 200s again for my 2nd workout of the week.

I’ll report my results here.

I also have a 10k cross county race and a 10k road race before this 1500m so I think those two weeks I’ll drop the long run for those races. That shouldn’t hit my endurance too much. Especially considering my long run is normally 8-10 miles anyway and a 10k race + warm up and cool down is nearly the same distance on feet with added intensity.

Hey

I personally try to alter my tempo runs one week broken tempo, one week solid tempo. Eg 4 x tempo mile with 30s rest one week, then a straight 4 mile tempo the next, then maybe 3 x 9 minutes with 1 minute the next, followed by a 5 mile straight tempo etc. I find that straight tempos are really great for my confidence, and it also helps me keep the tempo repeats in check (that is I'm not running them too fast because I have the fact I need to run at that pace straight the net week).

If I had to pick four workouts, I'd probably recommend the 10x200 to start to get you moving, then the 5x600m, then the 1ks and finally the 400s. I have been told that whatever you can hold for 8-10x400 is approximately equal to what you should be able to hold in a race so it'd be nice to that before the race to give you an idea of what' s reasonable.

That sounds alright if you're running such low mileage.

Good luck

Those intervals are a little short to get the callousing effect you want for 1500m-specific race prep. (That might not be entirely true as there are ways to do short, hard intervals hat will get certain types of runners ready, but the background you gave is one for which those workouts will be relatively easy and also not the best way to prepare you.)

Assuming you’re doing a tempo or cruise intervals and a long (or medium-long, which is appropriate for middle distance training during the race prep phase) run each week until the week before your goal race, something like this might work for your 1500m-specific workout each week:

W1: 2 x 1000m @ current 3k pace (400m jog recovery), 4 x 400m @ goal 1500m pace (100m walk/jog recovery)

W2: 2 x 1000m @ current 3k pace (400m jog recovery), 2 x 500m @ goal 1500m pace (100m walk/jog recovery), 2 x 200m hard (200m walk/jog recovery)

W3: 1000m @ current 3k pace (400m jog recovery), 2 x 500m @ goal 1500m pace (200m walk/jog recovery), 400m/200m/200m hard (all w/ 200m walk/jog recovery)

W4: 1 x 800m @ goal mile pace (400m walk/jog recovery), 4 x 400m @ goal mile pace (200m walk/jog recover), 400m hard

W5: 500-400-300-200 @ goal mile pace (all w/ 200 walk/jog recovery)

There are definitely other ways to skin this cat, but there’s some additional food for thought!

As the above posters have said keep that tempo run alternating with cruise intervals once a week. End this workout with something quick like 150s or 200s or hill sprints. You pick. For the mile specific work normally I would vary the workouts a little but i would suggest this.

Wk1: 8x400(2:00) at 70-72sec is my guess for you. Finish with 4x200(200m jog) at 800 pace.

Wk2: 5x600(3:00) finish with 4x200(200m jog) same paces

Wk3: 4 sets of 600(1:00)-200(3-4:00). 600s at that 70-72 pace and hammer the 200.

Wk4: 800(5:00)-600(4:00)-3x400(3:00)-2x300(2:00) start at mile pace and try and run faster as the workout drops down in distance.

Wk5: 4x400(5:00) 2-3sec faster than mile goal pace. Make sure your tempo this week is short. Assuming your peaking this meet.

So I did my first speed workout today in ages. I decided to do my own session and I think it really benefited me. I was very eager to feel what different paces were like as I haven't been at the track in sooo long and rarely do middle distance paces on a measured course. I do 30s fast on the grass and uphill etc so I've stayed in touch with my speed but this was fun and informative.

I decided to do 4x400 at 5k pace (actually did 5 for some reason!), 4x300 at 1500m pace, 4x200 at 800m pace and then 4x100 quick but controlled.

I did everything off 1 min rest but changed into my unused spikes for the 200s and 100s just to get a feel for wearing them so that rest was a bit longer. They feel amazing! So light and fast, I loved it. I haven't worn spikes at the track before only in XC (you can tell how new to this I am).

Results:

5x400 (average = 82.1)

84.2

81.8

82.1

81

81.4

4x300 (average = 56.5)

57.8

55.2

54.8

58.1

4x200 (average = 34.8)

33.8

34.4

35.5

35.7

4x100 (average = 15.3)

16

15.5

15.2

14.2

In the next three weeks I shall do 10x300, then 10x400 and lastly 10x200.

For my other weekly workout, would Vo2 Max style intervals help me peak more than maintaining my 6k sustained tempos and broken tempo reps to 8k volume? I feel like mixing up the longer intervals and doing some longer stuff at 5k and 3k race pace. Also because two weeks after the 1500m, I'm racing a 5k on the road and would like to PR there.