Forums >General Running>5k training: aerobic power vs anaerobic threshold training
Trackstarusa posts some 5k training workouts and makes a distinction between aerobic power and anaerobic threshold training.
Example of aerobic power workout: 3x1mile @85-90% of recent timed mile pace with recovery of equal time.
Example of anaerobic threshold workout: 30-45 min @70-80% of recent timed mile pace.
Comments? Theses workouts seem different, but not very. The first is three one-mile repeats with rest. The second is four+miles without a rest, and therefore run slower.
Are these workouts really training different "systems"? Which of these is closer to your core workout as a 5 k runner?
Born: 1973
Marathon PR: 3:44 (2000)
5k PR: 22:02 (2022)
1 mile PR: 6:09 (2022)
Goals:
5k - 21:42
Mile - 5:59
400m - 1:10
Are we there, yet?
I'd say they are different but I'll offer some caveats.
1) Most recreational runners have no idea what their mile time is and if they have run a mile time trial, it's probably well short of their potential, which means pace based on that would be too slow.
2) Again most recreational runners would be running those mile intervals well over 6:00, which is usually considered the upper limit for VO2Max workouts.
3) As a 5K runner, for that matter any runner, both are needed for optimal training, so there isn't one "core workout". If there was, you'd also have to consider the long run.
2024 Races:
03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles
05/11 - D3 50K 05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour
06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.
I dunno, I think most recreational runners who are serious enough to be doing a 5k training plan probably have a pretty good idea what their mile race pace is.
I agree they're different and that neither one is more "core" to a 5k runner. I'd say it's important to do both. If you had to pick one in a given week I'd base it on how close you are to a 5k race. The 3 x mile workout is more of a "peaking" workout in the final weeks before a goal race, while 30-45 minute tempo runs are more foundational.
Runners run
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