Interval Run Paces

kimmydct

Just reading the wkos for next week and this coaches note got me thinking,...
Coach Notes: Almost time to test again...review your paces for the last few weeks to see what you have been able to do and pick a reasonable target for this next test!

I pretty much do my Z4 intervals on the exact target, especially on the treadmill. The exception is on the track or my trail on the "back" part of my "out and back" which has a slight decline, both of which are fairly easy to beat my target pace.

So the question is... Should I be more consistently beating my target pace? Maybe I'm taking the "don't overachieve in the OS" too literally. But perhaps that is why my running has been stuck at roughly the same paces for the past couple of years.

Thoughts?

ejshimon

You are doing it right with the Z4 workouts.  The Z5 work will come later, when you run above Threshold and hit Interval Pace over several weeks. You are building a base at threshold now, and will add speed with the Z5 work. That is when I try to push the limit a bit and don't worry as much about hitting the bar. I don't completely smoke my legs, but gradually go for small bumps. I have seen great improvements after the Z5 work each year.

climbhard00

That's a great questions and the same one has been floating around in my mind. (I'm in California so have the opportunity to run outside year round). As the OS week's have progressed, my Z4 is continually becoming easier and easier, therefore when I first start an interval, I'm naturally going a little too fast (seeking that 'pain feeling' I had the previous week).

My Z4 has been 7:42 but have found myself running upwards of 7:25. I finally set my Garmin to alert me when I was going faster than 7:25 so I could back it off a little. Coach Patrick told me in my micro that the OS is about how well you can 'recover' and (IE: don't push it too much, speed & distance).

Ultimately listen to your body. Like, @Ed said above, the Z5 stuff is what's going to push that vo2 max! My Wk1 5k Test was 7:19pace so my thought is shooting for a 7:00 - 7:05 pace next week!

GOOD LUCK~

Brad Marcus

I have found that my running has improved over the last year by consistently running the intervals in my Z4. Of course, like some of you, there are some days when I am overachieving on my times (and other days when I really pushing to hit the goal times). This can depend on many factors: fatigue, rest, diet, weather, state of mind, etc. But, I have made very good strides in my run times by sticking as close as I can to the prescribed goals and then when a run test comes, I tend to surprise myself with a better z5 too! I think that running too much in the z5 during weekly training will eventually affect other wko's. The ultimate goal here is to complete the entire out season as best as we can, and not risking accumulated fatigue/injury by pushing a run too hard. Save it for the new test and you'll be happy you earned an improved vdot to train at!

Keith Wick

Hi Kim,

I don't think the advice has been telling you that you should have overachieved, but to look at how comfortable you were at your TP and look at the length of the interval to help guestimate what is realistic for the nex test. For example, if you've been hitting your z4 and feeling at the end of the 1.5 or 2 mile intervals that you could easily go another mile before passing out, then you know that you've got some significant kick left....so maybe see what your last test pace/mile was and -30 sec/mile feels like, etc. as your starting point. Remember, during the test you can also assess after the first mile whether you can hang with that pace or maybe drop 10-15 sec/mi for mile 2 to reassess again. It's been 6 weeks so also see what z4 - 15 sec/mile feels like for a mile. 1 mile above your goal interval pace isn't going to kill you.

Al Truscott

Here's a thought ... you need a breakthrough performance to give you the confidence that you actually can race hard/fast. The way to do that is: DON'T follow your pace while running in the test. It is probably acting as a rein, not a whip for you. Instead, pay attention to how you are feeling while you are running. This is something you probably are already doing, whether you know it or not. For example, you probably are really locked in by now about how running @ TP feels.

Specifically:

• Start out for the first 3-5 minutes of the test running at that TP feeling. Your fastest time trials are those in which you do the first 15% @ about 15% less than the effort level you intend to hit for the whole. TP by definition is the pace you can hold for an hour of running, so it is easier than the pace you should be able to do for 22-25 minutes. But it is a good place to start such a time trial.
• Then, increase by micro steps the internal sense of how hard you are working. The biggest mistake people make in a time trial or a race is trying to maintain the same feel or RPE over the entire distance. Doing it this way means you will inevitably slow down. No, it's got to feel progressively harder from beginning to end. Since you started at an easier RPE then you know you can be doing by the end, you've got some room left in the envelope you are pushing. Use it.
• Trust your training. You may have noticed that your HR at a given pace has been getting lower and lower. This is a sure sign you are becoming more fit, and can run faster than you did in the first test. If you want, you can use that HR info to act as a whip during the test. You should be starting out @ 88-92% of your max HR, and aiming to work that to up over 95% by the end. Again, the idea is to slowly increase it, not get to a number and hold it there.

Key point: start slower than you think you should, and aim to finish harder than you think you can. You've trained to be able to accomplish that. Now prove it to yourself. Second key point: this works for a race of any distance, from 100 m to an Ironman

bob hiller

Thanks Al, great advice.  Slow down and run fast! 

Ralph Moore

Hi Kim,
I just started to run with a metronome (on the iphone) to help me keep a steady cadence and I have found that it helps me. I slowly increase the cadence and I find the cadence that I can run for the first 2/3 of the 5k test and I know I am pushing myself if it becomes difficult to maintain that pace about a mile from the end. If I can maintain it the whole time, I need to increase it a bit.

I copied the idea from someone else on the forum and it seems to help.

kimmydct

Not ideal pacing but happy w the results. I feel like I did the best I could, physically. Mentally, I wouldn't have guessed I'd hit sub-9 avg pace!

- I tried my best and managed a 27:36 vs. 29:11 last test. I'll take it. It is a 5k PR for me, and more importantly, I beat my San Diego 5k time from March, which is significant because of the race terrain.... 1mile flat, then 2 with gradual downhill. I honestly thought I'd never beat that time, like ever.

Split Time Dist Avg Pace

1 8:47.3 1.00 8:47
2 8:56.8 1.00 8:57
3 8:59.9 1.00 9:00
4 :52.0 0.10 8:45

Summary 27:36.1 3.10 8:54

And 3 mins. faster than 5k from this time last year!

Al Truscott

Kim - that is great! You're not done yet; now you can use the new, faster paces in your WKOs to build to another PR at the end of the OS, especially if you improve that pacing: ease off the throttle a touch more at the start for 3-4 minutes, and bury yourself for the last 4. You'll be doing shorter intervals soon, and those go a long way to raise your top end speed.

Brenda Ross

Awesome results Kim. Congrats.

Elizabeth Hornak

@Kim, awesome paces!
@Laura, congratulations on the new VDot!

Still reading through all the EN awesomeness!