an amazing likeness
What's a good interval distance for best impact on half marathon pace? I've been fairly locked into 1/2 mile @ 10K effort with 1/4 mile jogs (usually 6 x 1/2 with 1 mile warmup, 1 -2 mile wind down jogs).
Wondering if 1 mile @ 10K w/ 1/4 mile jogs wouldn't have more positive impact on pure half marathon speed ?
(here's a representative workout for what I do now...)
Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.
Feeling the growl again
I don't think there is one right answer.
I'm a big believer in mixing in a variety of paces. In general, when training specifically for HM I would start with shorter intervals (400/600/800) and work my way up to eventually doing some longer ones (mile repeats, also 4X2000m, 3X3000m, 2X2mile).
There are different systems you want to touch on, and the different speeds you hit by doing different distances accomplish this.
Doing one interval workout per week, the progression might look like this:
8X800 90sec recovery (benchmark workout to gauge progression) - ~5K pace
4X(400-800-400), 60sec between intervals, 3min between sets - ~5K pace, faster on last 400 of each set
12-20X400, 60sec recovery - ~3K pace
6X1000m, 2min recovery - ~8K or 10K pace
8X800 as above - check progress
4-5Xmile, 3min recovery - ~10K pace
4X2000m, 3-4min recovery - 10-15K pace
6X1000m again
3X3000m or 2X2mile, proportional recovery, 15K pace
IMHO the key is not so much the distance but how you run it. Keep the recovery relatively short and the paces moderate as above. Now you can do crazy stuff...3X3mile like Ben did or whatever....that's almost for a tempo or fartlek day, I put those in a bit different category. More about strength/speed endurance than building speed/VO2max.
I should go back and look up some of the novel stuff Marc Davis (Olympian steeplechaser, 1996) gave me. 1mile 5K pace...3min recovery...10X400 on 60sec recovery....3min recovery....1mile more or less all out. Ooofff...
"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
Why not change it up. I like 5x5 minutes @ 30 minute race pace with 5 minute recoveries. This lets you touch both LAT and Vo2 in same workout (Tinman CV pace)
the other one I like is 4x2 miles @ 10 mile pace (LAT) with 1/2 mile recoveries. Do this 3-4 times before the 1/2M and it might become your 1/2 marathon pace instead of 10M.
What's a good interval distance for best impact on half marathon pace? I've been fairly locked into 1/2 mile @ 10K effort with 1/4 mile jogs (usually 6 x 1/2 with 1 mile warmup, 1 -2 mile wind down jogs). Wondering if 1 mile @ 10K w/ 1/4 mile jogs wouldn't have more positive impact on pure half marathon speed ? (here's a representative workout for what I do now...)
Long dead ... But my stench lingers !
"4-5Xmile, 3min recovery - ~10K pace"
Tackled this one last night, and...that's work. From what I felt, I'm thinking that the move up to 1mi intervals will help with HM for me since I'm usually out of leg turnover long before I'm out of aerobic capacity. (I can tell when I'm fading when it starts taking stride, over turnover, to hold the pace)
"4-5Xmile, 3min recovery - ~10K pace" Tackled this one last night, and...that's work. From what I felt, I'm thinking that the move up to 1mi intervals will help with HM for me since I'm usually out of leg turnover long before I'm out of aerobic capacity. (I can tell when I'm fading when it starts taking stride, over turnover, to hold the pace)
Looks like you hit it well.
One thing that might help make it seem more doable...when I recommend interval speeds and rest times, recovery means recovery. Like, jogging just enough to keep moving and get keep the blood clearing the crap out of your legs and no faster. Looks like your recovery jogs were at 8min pace? As an example, even though I USED to do those at sub-5 pace we'd only cover 1/4 mile during the 3min recovery....12min pace
Yeah, I saw that -- the recoveries weren't all that easy at all.
Just by how far I jogged for the warmup and the direction I ran, the 1st mile interval ended on a long steep uphill and I went way too close to an anaerobic, quads-burning hill run finish on that interval, barely recovered during the 4 min before starting the 2nd interval. Took note and really thought I had backed it down in the following recoveries...but apparently not all that much. The recoveries after that one felt so good, I thought I had really backed off.
I actually do run these workouts by feel, with no pace feedback from the garmin -- it's just collecting the info.