Forums >General Running>How many intervals do you do?
Just curious. I normally do about 3-4 miles, with intervals mixed with regular running.
Also, when you do hills, how do you do those?
I normally run up a hill ( a big one ) like 10 times in a row.
Hills are not too easy to come by where I live. Or I have to run far to get to a good one.
- Anya
Feeling the growl again
If you are in decent shape, I usually tell people to start with 3 miles' worth of intervals (400s perhaps a bit less). Then work up. 4 miles' worth is a good standard. Five...well....tell Galen I said hi.
But seriously, five miles of them is quite a bit and for the very fit....or you'll have to run them slow.
"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand
I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills
Totally depends on how fast you're doing them.
5x200 at near max with full recoveries is a hard workout. Tends to help your 1500m time
5x1200 at half marathon race pace is a pretty good workout too. Daniels prescribes it in his marathon plans.
Yeah, I kind of assumed the most common 5K paced type.
3-4X600 at 800m race pace is a killer.
So is 3X3mile at a bit slower than 10K pace...
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3x3mi at MP goal isn't a killer, but tires me out. I doubt I'm brave enough to try them at "just slower than 10K".
It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.
Someone here did. I was impressed. I will wait until I am really in shape to try that.
Well, someone on here ran 750 miles in the last 30 days. People do some really lunatic things. Some of them probably should not be imitated.
Yes that made my 550 look amateur. This is why one must always compete against themselves, one usually does not have to look awfully far to be put in their place.
Queen of 3rd Place
OK, I don't want to seem stupid, but is it good to mix these up? For example, sometimes do shorter intervals - say 100m , sometimes medium - 200, 400, 800m and sometimes long - mile or longer? And the decision to stop is by feel?
Ex runner
Yeah, I kind of assumed the most common 5K paced type. 3-4X600 at 800m race pace is a killer. So is 3X3mile at a bit slower than 10K pace...
3-4x600m sounds pretty darn brutal even if you took a good 4-5 minutes of recovery between them.
For the 3x3 Mile on how much is "a bit" in this case. It kinda sounds similar to three short tempo runs with some sort of brief break between them.
They say golf is like life, but don't believe them. Golf is more complicated than that. "If I am still standing at the end of the race, hit me with a Board and knock me down, because that means I didn't run hard enough" If a lot of people gripped a knife and fork the way they do a golf club, they'd starve to death. "Don't fear moving slowly forward...fear standing still."
I mix it up quite a bit...otherwise I get bored. I'll do anything from interval 200s to interval 3200s, often in various combinations and at different speeds. No idea if that's "good" training or "bad" training, but I enjoy it.
Just do them. Ever since I started running intervals, my 5K pace improved and my easy pace dropped quite substantially. Haven't raced recently but I can feel that I am in better shape.
On 20-25 MPW, I may not do 4 miles worth though. 8-10 X 400, or 6 X 800 would probably be my limit, i.e about 2.5-3 miles worth, a good workout for me a week out from a 5k-10K would be 4 X 5 Min.
No Talent Drips
I mix in different distances, but always come back to Yasso 800s as a benchmark workout. I dunno how valid it is as a predictor, it just seems a reasonable workout for me (building to 10 to 12...typically at or around 3:00/800). Not too fast, plenty long.
Dei Gratia
Kalsarikännit
They are a good treadmill workout. Plus those recoveries just feel endless (I'm a 3:30).
I want to do it because I want to do it. -Amelia Earhart
Especially when 10k pace is something like 5:20/mile.