Define "Full recovery" for VO2 runs

kimmydct

So I'm looking at the coaches notes for the VO2 runs... "Full recovery means as much as you need to be ready for the next. Some folks jog, others walk for 15 to 30 seconds before picking it back up...do what it takes to get the work done!" 

I think this is slightly different than the wording in the past (to my recollection) although the intended message may be the same.  I was thinking "full recovery" is longer than that...... Like a minute or two maybe, which I guess is long since that is probably as long as some of the intervals so maybe that's wrong.  I usually walk too.  I can try to shorten the recovery but just wanted to get some input on what is ideal and what others do.  I've got some new zones that are going to be tough so I dont want to keel over first time out....  I always thought the most important factor was getting the work done.

Joe Matchette

Kim, this is my third OS. What I have found us that I use a recovery interval equal to the time if the work interval. So for a 200m interval, I expect that to take roughly 45 sec, so I recover for 45sec....that is broken up by a walk for 30ish seconds, then pick up a jog for the last few seconds of my recovery.

Peter Greagg

Kim — if the work is 400 m, then I recover by joging slowly for the same (400 m). Ditto for other distances.

Carrie Chavez

Everyone seems to do it differently.

I did 200 recovery for all my intervals today. Just jogged slowly, caught my breath and went again. If I had not caught my breath in 100 yards I really slowed up more until the start of the next one.

zwuba

For me it worked out pretty fine to use the same time for recovery as I did for VO2 work (pretty much the same pattern as on the VO2 bike sessions!)
I didn't walk there - I just start jogging very slowly the increasing speed a little over time until the end of the recovery time.

Brenda Ross

I do a 1:2 ratio when I start and after a couple of weeks I bring it down to a 1:1 ratio, but that is because this type of work is hard on my body.

cgres123

Well what ever you decide here is the science that shows the truth on what to do.

I was on Twitter yesterday and the European Journal of Applied Physiology posted it's findings related to walk or jog during your recoveries.

So it reads, very long story short, that if you jog for your recovery time you benefit from a greater boost in VO2 max. This, as further read, is great for endurance athletes because it allows the body to get used to burning fat for its energy vs. the carbohydrate stores.

kimmydct

Thanks guys, that is helpful. I'm actually prob not far off from a 1:1 ratio, similar to the VO2 bike protocol. I'll try to build to jogging vs. walking but my paces are pretty slow to begin with so my running is pretty close to jogging anyway!

William Jenks

For me, it's "get to the finish line in great form" as the first priority.

I did the 200s/400s/200s workout today on a marked 300 m track.

I would do the 200, and walk 10-20 yards, then jog up to 400 so I started at the same place.
For the 400s, I would walk a similar amount and then jog up to 500, so that I again started at the same place

the TIME rest interval is WAY more than 1:1

My view is that these are very different than the VO2 intervals on the bike. First off, the risk of injury (hamstring pull for me) is WAY higher running fast than biking hard. It's a lot easier to do that when you're tired and running poorly. Second, I think they are about running very strong, but running with very good form. If we were REALLY training to run 5Ks, they'd be more about really running at VO2, but what I view us as doing is REALLY training to be able to run very fast very well, so we can run a notch slower than this very well.

This is utterly non-scientific, but based on my observations and interpratation of race-specific training.

Darren Freeman

x2 what Peters says..

When I was in high school the distance which your VO2 run was performed would have a equal distance recovery period.  The time it took you to cover the distance wasn't so important although if my teammates and I took too long our coach would start threatening us with extra intervals.  So there is to full recovery and then just wasting time and slacking off.. lol

200m V02, 200m recovery, 400m VO2, 400m recovery, etc, etc..

Only now and nearly 23 years later do I really know how great my high school track and cross country coach was then.  Everything I'm doing now with regards to running and training he was using back then and I still use those techniques today.  Really amazing how many were way ahead of their time.

kimmydct

Very interesting... Coaches notes could be a little confusing