Rest between mile intervals? (Read 1396 times)

JuliaSugarbaker, you're running two days a week and I see "Interval", "Fartlek", "Long" sessions! I think you're WAY ahead of yourself here. I'd work on just trying to run, say, 3 days a week. Then 4 days. etc

The OP said she was going to do 3x1 mile at 5K to 10K pace. I guess this is where my mental block kicks in. Is it really necessary to run as fast as 5K pace when training for a HM? When I was training for my half earlier this year I thought of including intervals but couldn't figure out the details (how fast, how many, recovery). I ended up just sticking with tempos, since I was familiar and comfortable with those. I was doing 6 mile tempos at a little under HM pace (for me about 45 mins) with about 20 minutes of easy running before and after. This provided me with a nice midweek run. I was very pleased with the way the race went, but I am wondering if there is an interval session that could have helped me more? Thoughts?

As race approaches, it is nice to do more race specific work. I think if you are not an extremely high mileage runner, there is no need to do much work faster than 10K pace. One of your quality sessions per week can be half marathon paced reps - like 4-6 X 1 mile followed by quick striders and the next week you can do 5-7 X 1K at current 10K pace followed by quick striders. If doing another quality day per week focus on longer slower tempos like 40-50 min at marathon pace. HM pace for 45 min is a bit tough if lower miles I believe unless very experienced. It would be a good work out as race approaches or building up to it to add confidence to the race.

The OP said she was going to do 3x1 mile at 5K to 10K pace. I guess this is where my mental block kicks in. Is it really necessary to run as fast as 5K pace when training for a HM?

Yes.

When I was training for my half earlier this year I thought of including intervals but couldn't figure out the details (how fast, how many, recovery). I ended up just sticking with tempos, since I was familiar and comfortable with those. I was doing 6 mile tempos at a little under HM pace (for me about 45 mins) with about 20 minutes of easy running before and after. This provided me with a nice midweek run. I was very pleased with the way the race went, but I am wondering if there is an interval session that could have helped me more? Thoughts?

Depends. I have done a grand total of two interval sessions in the last 3 years. One was three days before a marathon. I don't like them, so I don't do them. That may or may not change, and I really don't much care. You never have to do intervals. I think the majority of people on this site would be better served by increasing mileage than worrying about things like intervals. I'm willing to bet that, for most of us, we're better served by working on increasing volume and frequency throughout the year, and giving ourselves a few years of solid running, than by worrying about what pace to run intervals at or how much rest to take between them.

Depends. I have done a grand total of two interval sessions in the last 3 years. One was three days before a marathon. I don't like them, so I don't do them. That may or may not change, and I really don't much care. You never have to do intervals. I think the majority of people on this site would be better served by increasing mileage than worrying about things like intervals. I'm willing to bet that, for most of us, we're better served by working on increasing volume and frequency throughout the year, and giving ourselves a few years of solid running, than by worrying about what pace to run intervals at or how much rest to take between them.

This has been my line of thinking the past year or so. I have been focusing on keeping the mileage up year 'round (I always scaled back in the winter), and have made it a point to get out for a ~2 hour run every weekend. This has made a big difference. I like how you mention a few solid years of running, and am starting to see how beneficial that is now. My eyes really opened when I ran a 5 mile race in May. I ran all 5 miles under 7 minutes, when I hadn't run 1 mile under 7 minutes in almost 2 years! It was a PR by over a minute. I'm like you in that I really don't like intervals. I like tempo runs, so that made my choice easy. I still have room to improve just by keeping the mileage up and dropping those last 5 - 10 lbs. I'm not anxious to switch to intervals and may not .... just wondering out loud I guess. Thanks.

Thanks, Hannibal. A couple clarifications...

Jake, Sorry I didn't get back to this thread earlier, but Mishka has answered everything in almost the exact same way I would have so no need to repeat everything he has already said. I will add to the thought that it is beneficial for a person really trying to improve their times to do some work at all different paces - easy (slower than marathon pace), VO2 max(3K-5K Pace), threshold(10K-1/2 Mar Pace), speed (mile pace or faster). throughout the training cycle regardless of what your goal race distance is - You'll also want to add in some marathon pace running if training specifically for a marathon. By excluding one or more of the elements you are not working all the systems and are leaving time on the table. Yes, that means to truly maximize performance even a marathoner should run some fast 400s occasionally and an 800m runner should do some threshold tempo runs. The difference obviously is that as the goal race approaches certain workouts will be emphasized depending on the race distance. All that being said, most people would run faster times if they just ran more