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Fri Mar 29, 2013 6:49 pm

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Junior Masters Athlete
Joined: Fri Mar 01, 2013 11:11 am
Posts: 9
Location: SC

I have talked to many runners who don't know how to properly do a Vo2 workout so I thought I would share some thoughts. Some have an idea of what pace to run but that's about all they know. For most runners it is 5k pace with the elites doing up to 3K pace intervals. Vo2 intervals are generally run in the 3-5 minute range with fairly short recoveries. Intervals can be shorter but than the recovery also has to be shortened and at some point the run and recovery are just to short.
So alot of runners like to do mile repeats at 5K pace. This is fine for those runners who can run 15:00 and under but for the average or even good runner it's just too much. If your 5K pace is 6:00 in you run that interval you've exceeded the 5 minutes by a whole minute, what does that mean. It only takes about 2 min at Vo2 to get your heart rate 98%-max that leaves up to 3 minutes running at max. Your already building up lactate faster than it can be cleared the additional minute just gets you more anerobic. You want to do the workout with the least amount of stress as possible, exceeding 5 minutes the workout starts becoming a time trial. So for this example the runners best option would be 1K-1200 which would give him 3:45, and 4:30 which are very solid intervals.
Active recovery, many runners stop and walk but this needs to be done with recovery jogs between approximately 25% of your interval distance. You should be jogging about a 15 minute pace so that each 100m takes 1 minute.
Speed. In this example another issue is the pace run. Our runner is suppose to run a 4:30 1200m but runs a 4:19, he thinks he's doing great but in reality he probably hurt the rest of his workout by getting more anaerobic than necessary. He will probably miss his time on later intervals, or his mechanics will break down. The workout is hard enough as it is, you want to be as relaxed and put as little stress as needed to get through the workout.
Pacing. These intervals need to be run at proper pace so that you can lock this pace in on race day. Running the first 800 in 2:50 in than cruising the last 200 to come in on time is just not the way to do it. Also if you find in later intervals your almost sprinting at the end to hit the time your pushing to hard and need to shorten the interval length, dropping the next interval a 100-200 to make it manageable.

So there you have it
1. No mile repeats for most of us
2. don't run them faster than pace
3. no walking or stopping to put your hands on your knees after interval
4. run a consistent pace throughout interval
5. be willing to adjust your workout based on how your feeling. Be in tune with your body!



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Fri Mar 29, 2013 8:38 pm

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Master Masters Athlete
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 9:37 pm
Posts: 108
Location: Lafayette, OR

Lots of info and I'm sure all good but why is Vo2 important? What race distance does this type of training target? I'm guessing 5k and 10k racing? Does an 800-1500m runner benefit from running 1200's in 4:30?



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Sat Mar 30, 2013 12:16 pm

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Junior Masters Athlete
Joined: Fri Mar 01, 2013 11:11 am
Posts: 9
Location: SC

fidel wrote:
Lots of info and I'm sure all good but why is Vo2 important? What race distance does this type of training target? I'm guessing 5k and 10k racing? Does an 800-1500m runner benefit from running 1200's in 4:30?


It's builds your aerobic capacity, and would help your 5K-10k races and probably up to a 15k and if your not doing any type of track workouts would help your 1500 but that's speed work compared to Vo2. The 4:30 is just the example interval, based on the 6:00 pace 5K runner. You would adjust times accordingly.
Yes I know I can get long sometimes, I'm working on that. If you need any info on what paces would be good for you I'm happy to help!



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Sat Mar 30, 2013 12:38 pm

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Master Masters Athlete
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 9:37 pm
Posts: 108
Location: Lafayette, OR

I don't do many road races...maybe a road mile and a 5k couple times per year. I was asking because I do lots of track intervals with limited recovery but those are geared for 800-1500 races.



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