Some crazy intervals I was reading about...can this be right?

MattAaronson

In Triathlete magazine this month there is a segment by Chiris Carmichael on p.50.

In the sidebar there is a run workout that calls for 4x8min tempo intervals with 4 min jogging recoveries where tempo pace is 98-102% of your pace for an 8-minute time trial.

This seems insanely hard. An 8-minute running TT is going to be solidly sub-z5 pace for sure. And then doing 98% of that 4x?

Can this be right? And assuming you could hit the paces, wouldn't it be a recipe for injury?

Bill McKinney

Sounds pretty darn hard for me. I'm thinking it could be done, though.

Norton

Consider the source.

kurshing

That is probably a cycling workout that he figured he could just make into a run workout...haha. Honestly, I would give him more credit than that from a coaching standpoint - at least I think.

Coach Patrick

Yowsers. I bet you might hit that workout 1x a week...but none of the other ones. That's one of those "I'd like to see you actually do that, then tell me to do it" coaching items.

jayadams

Posted By Matt Aaronson on 12 Oct 2011 09:59 PM

...workout that calls for 4x8min tempo intervals with 4 min jogging recoveries where tempo pace is 98-102% of your pace for an 8-minute time trial....

Color me totally confused...

My understanding, and correct me if I'm off base here, is that the BEST you could hope to do would be 100% of an 8-minute interval at your 8-minute Time Trial pace, right?

I mean, by definition, an 8-minute TT pace is the maximum pace you can hold for 1x8 minutes, right?

How could you do 1x8' at 102% of that pace, let alone 4x8'?

Am I nuts here?

Mark Roberts

Lets see,

I recently had to do a mile and a half for time on Wed which I finished in 8:54 (Air Force PT test). I was coming off a sprint race on Saturday and a half IM race rehearsal on Monday, so I was carrying some fatigue into it but lets just say it was my absolute best effort.

I was tired afterwards, but not shelled, but certainly sore the next day from the max effort. So now as a workout, lets do that 4 X 1.5 mile at 5:54 pace with 4 min recovery.

I have a 51 VDOT and 5:50 something pace is not quite a minute below threshold for me.

If I could even complete that workout, I would be destroyed for days...



Thinking about letting my subscription to those magazines expire this year...

Beth_S

My Q1 workouts for the past few weeks have been 4x5 min at HARD (puking pace) with five minute recoveries. Not quite this workout, but I can see where this one is doable. After a month of base miles it feels really, really good to run that fast.

p.s. Not injured.

andidunlop

If I had a coach prescribe me that workout, I'd be looking for another coach. I like to work hard, but that's just totally unrealistic for most of us.

Andi

Coach Rich

I could "maybe" see doing this on the bike. Not likely on the run.

1. An example of a cycling workout that doesn't translate so well to the run.
2. As Patrick said, an example of how a coach's skill in one sport may not translate to the others.

PnI can assure you that we've each "vetted," in some form or another, every EN workout you guys go. Just be thankful that don't make you do the stoopid shit that we have done to ourselves over the years

jayadams

@Rich: how is is even possible to do one 8 minute interval in excess of your 8 minute TT pace?
Wouldn't that by definition be your 8 minute TT pace? The fastest you could go for 8 minutes?

How is it even theoretically feasible to do? Never mind the absurdity of doing 4x...

I must be stooopid myself, because I just don't get it

Coach Rich

Posted By Jay Adams on 17 Oct 2011 12:54 PM

@Rich: how is is even possible to do one 8 minute interval in excess of your 8 minute TT pace?

Wouldn't that by definition be your 8 minute TT pace? The fastest you could go for 8 minutes?



How is it even theoretically feasible to do? Never mind the absurdity of doing 4x...



I must be stooopid myself, because I just don't get it

Oh...somehow I read that as 4 x 4' @ 8' TT pace, not 4 x 8'. Yeah, no...ain't gonna happen. Typo? 

jayadams

Man, I thought I was losing it...I don't have the original article, maybe someone could look it up. 4x4' shouldn't be a complete killer at 8' pace...that would be like doing 4x1200m for a really decent runner. But 4x8', fuhgettaboutit.

tri.bassett

I've got the article in front of me:

1 hr run including tempo run intervals

Tempo run intervals: 4x8 min 4 min easy jogging between intervals (tempo pace is 98-102% of your pace for an 8 min time trial; endurance run pace is 50-97% of your 8 min time-trial pace, aiming for the middle of the range for the majority of your non-interval, non-recovery time)

this sounded crazy to me, so I wrote it off as a typo.