VO2 Training

tridad2

Getting ready to start my VO2 training next week. It says total run time 60 min after I run the main set what zone do I run the rest of the workout at. Also how long is the rest after each 200 or 400?

 

Al Truscott

@ Brian - Here's what I do. I warm up for 20 minutes at increasing speed, then do 5 strides. For "rest intervals", I generally walk easy until my HR gets into my recovery zone, which is about 106 bpm; this is 1-1.5 minutes. For the longer intervals (over 400 meters), I generally start jogging after a minute, for a total rest time equal to the time I spend running the interval. I don't add much extra after the main set, doing about 5 minutes worth of cool-down jogging >> walking. E.g., today for my first day I had 45 minutes total workout time. If i want to do extra miles, I tack them onto Sunday's TP interval workout. I do the shorter VO2 intervals on a treadmill, but outside I would follow the same plan on my local track.

The general message is get the main set done, and recover for however long it takes so you can do each and every one of the intervals at the pace prescribed. .Any running at the end should probably be easy/Z1, as your legs have really been worked over, and you want them to be able to recover, and to be ready for the next day's bike session, and the subsequent bricks and TP session, as well as the next five weeks of VO2 work! It's the Main Set where the gains happen.

Note my longer than usual warm-up (25 minutes). My legs really need to be ready for the workload, I think. And at my age, I actually warm up for longer than the main set for these short hard intervals.

tuckerm

@Brian, not much I can add here except that whenever Al gives advice, follow it.
Other than that, you may feel like you can run faster than Z1 after the main set. Stay in that zone for a couple weeks and see how you feel. As Al said, it is about how this workout will effect downstream workouts. You may be able to run at Z3 for the remainder but come 5-6 weeks later it may bite you in the @ss. The VO2 block of 6 weeks takes a good deal out the body and mind, best to take it easy when you can. That's my n=1 of 2 years of OS work. Good luck.