The Basics of Endurance Sport
-Part 3
By Tom Daugherty
Read This First...
Remember before starting any exercise program to consult your physician.
Interval training, sometimes called "speed work" is one of the
most commonly practiced regimens of the distance runner’s arsenal. But it is
also a key area that if practiced incorrectly, amounts to little more than
wasted time & effort. This is one area where many athletes & coaches
make huge mistakes by not understanding the purpose & focus of this type of
workout.
The training pyramid
Step 1 KNOW YOUR GOALS:
Before you can have even the slightest idea of how to design your interval
workouts you MUST know the race distance & pace you are ultimately gearing
toward. The body is very specific in its adaptation and interval workouts
should be done in a very specific fashion. Most often athletes & coaches
haphazardly design or sometimes just copy their friends workouts leading to
non-specific bodily adaptations that will have little impact on the ACTUAL race
they are preparing for. Therefore, be certain of your goal race distance and be
very familiar with the pace you are currently capable of at that specific
distance.
Step 2 DESIGNING THE WORKOUT:
Now, interval work is simply breaking the race into smaller parts and
attempting to finish the parts at your goal race pace (which should be an
attainable new pace). Keep in mind, the longer the intervals (up to race
distance) AND the shorter the recoveries between intervals the more specific
the workout. For example, a miler doing 10 X 200 meter repeats is NOT as
specific as doing 4 X 500 meters (assuming equal recovery). Theoretically
speaking, a workout of 1 X (race distance), at race pace, would be the perfect
workout. Now, Start with something you know you can do and progress with
workouts that progressively breaks your goal race into longer and fewer parts,
with as little recovery as you can muster, then as the season progresses you
should be able to lengthen the interval distance as well as shorten the
recovery times between.
Step 3 DOING THE WORKOUT:
Your actual race performances determine the pace you run interval workouts. You
may run slightly faster than race pace but nothing is gained by running a lot
faster. Remember, the body is very specific in its adaptation. The body uses
energy very differently at differing durations & intensities. Therefore, if
you find your race pace to be easy to hold for each interval then perhaps you
should be shortening the recovery OR lengthening the interval NOT speeding up
the interval! When your race times come down... THEN you will have a new
interval pace!
Tips & Warnings
- Stick to your race pace for
the GOAL race distance
- Progressively lengthen the
interval
- Progressively shorten the
recovery between
By Tom Daugherty
For a large part of my life I studied everything I
could get my hands on to improve my own running performances. With over 30
years experience and national class performances of my own, I am well suited to
get you well on your way to some awesome PR's! I've studied exercise
physiology, got well acquainted with some of the top runners in the world
(World record holders & #1 rankers - picking their brains to understand
what they were doing) and was even a subject in a university lab study
("lab rat") on runners. Where, by the way, I recorded a Max VO
2
of 78 and body fat composition of just a smidge over 4%. Anyway, let's get on
with the training, as that's what we're here for!
