Forums >Running 101>Intervals
Feeling the growl again
"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
A Saucy Wench
most of the training schedules available, particularly on-line, are mainly written by a good runner or a former elite runner. A lot of them are simply watered-down version of their own training. .
I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets
"When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7
Never Back Down
Just Be
You could try this simple exercise. Find a football yard that is not too big and split it into 4 pieces with lines. Exercise 1. Run fast to the first line and do 10 push ups 2. Run back slowley and do 10 crunches and so on... There is no must to do 10 push ups, u could do 5 or 20 depends on your strength.
What's the point of mixing in pushups/crunches, etc. in with your interval workouts? I've always just focused on the running and rest interval during intervals and never thrown in other types of workouts or drills into the mix - it detracts from the intention of the workout, IMO.
It will make your training more effective, do you remember when you was a newbie to running and felt heavy pain in the arms, legs, stomach? Now that your used to running you dont feel that much pain anymore. By addin these exercises you increase the effectness of the intervall, thats my beliefs.
I just focus on those types of exercises seperately when I'm not doing intervals. There's a time and a place for everything. Core work, IMO, should not be mixed with interval work. It's one thing to mix core work with drills, but a pure interval workout should be just that - pure intervals and rest intervals.
I've been revisiting the experience of the original joggers started in New Zealand back in 1961. They didn't have heart rate monitor; they didn't have garmin; they didn't have any high-tech equipment like Dri-Fit or Lycra or Shox. No GU or energy drink/gel; no waist water belt.
I think when I first joined RunningAhead message board, I shared this story about an old lady trying to ski. So she joined a ski school with a young instructor. He said, "Okay, when you try to turn, just straighten your legs slightly before you bring your weight down...(now that I ski, I still can't quite figure out what this exactly mean, thouh...)" She never quite made it. So she got to think... If it's a simple "straighten your knees" for a young male instructor, perhaps it's "jumping straight up in the air" for an old lady like herself. So on her next try, she tried to jump up as hard as she could... Viola; she made the turn and the instructor, watching her turn, said; "There you go! Just like that; gently straighten your knees..." Actually, it's not even a matter of how old you are; but more so a matter of where you are in terms of development. Somebody else started a thread about "over-load of information" here; most of the training schedules available, particularly on-line, are mainly written by a good runner or a former elite runner. A lot of them are simply watered-down version of their own training.
I know most people just can't wait. They start running 3 months ago and now they want to run a marathon; simply because "Well, everybody else is running a marathon...!" They start running 4 weeks earlier and now they want to experiment "speed training"; simply because "Well, I read that on the message board..." In most cases, hate to say but, it's all so premature.
Joni - FWIW on the rare occasions I do intervals I try to pay attention to my effort, not pace..I'm not there yet to pick a pace. I try to hold a constant pace the entire interval or perhaps a bit faster to the end. To me it always should feel 1st 1/4 (of whatever length I am doing): Smooth, fast, easy, I think I went out too slow 2nd 1/4 : smooth but it is starting to feel a little bit like work 3rd 1/4: by the end of the 3rd quarter I know if I have hit the right pace. Good is where I can maintain the pace but I am sure glad I am not doing longer intervals. 4th 1/4: Finish strong but definitely glad to be done. It usually takes me a couple attempts to find the sweet spot between too easy and too hard. At this point I make my recovery a slow jog that is 1/2 the distance of the interval which usually works out to be somewhere around 75% of the interval time. I like hills better though. Hills work better for me.