Intervals aren't Funny

Interval Training
Intervals are painful. Your legs muscles will strain until they turn to rubber. Your lungs will whistle as you pull air into your chest. After the first two sprints, your legs will weaken and threaten to rebel during each acceleration, requiring you to force yourself forward with your mind as much as your calves. And that’s all before the nausea settles into your guts and tries to evict whatever tenants arrived during your last meal.

Intervals are also the most powerful weapon in your arsenal for improving performance. A six week interval rotation will measurably lower your average pace by several seconds. It will also put a powerful kick into your weaponry, allowing you to accelerate through the last quarter-mile of your next race, leaving your competition in a puddle of shame and tears.

I have a weekly interval group run which starts and finishes at my house on Wednesday evenings. Eight of us bound out of the neighborhood like a New Kids reunion video, trotting down to the bay to kick into our interval patterns. I’m proud to say that we no longer run until someone vomits, but I’ve spent more than one late night in the bathroom with a good book and a garbage can.

Intervals build speed by training your mind and body to run harder. In a nutshell…you have to run faster in order to run faster.

Here is my three phase plan for interval training.
Definitions:
Speed percentages (%) - all speeds/paces are given as a percentage of your own maximum speed; the maximum speed that you can maintain for a half mile interval.

Phase One: Interval Base (6 Weeks x 1 workout/week)
Find a half-mile of uninterrupted pavement. Your goal is to train your body to conduct intervals, concentrating upon your form and cadence. This basing phase is critical to avoiding injury as you progress towards the more difficult phases of interval training.
· Jog 1 half-mile to warm up.
· Stretch your legs and relax your mind. Take a few deep breaths, and…
· Run 1 interval at about 70% of your maximum speed.
· Rest for 2 minutes
· Run your second interval at 80%
· Rest and repeat for 3 more intervals
· Run your last interval with everything you have in the tank, but maintaining proper form.
· Jog one interval and cool down with light stretching.

Phase Two: Interval Training (6 Weeks x 1-2 workouts/week)
· Jog 1-2 miles at a comfortable pace
· Interval Sequence (start with 6 and continue until you can run 10)
o 1 Minute at 80%
o 1 Minute rest interval
· Cool down jog
· Last 500 meters- accelerate and finish at 80% of maximum speed

Phase Three: Interval Training (10 Weeks x 1 workout/week)
· Jog 1-2 miles at a comfortable pace
· Interval sequence (start with 3 and continue until you can reach your goal. My goal is 4 sets)
o 3 Minutes at 80%
o 2 Minutes jogging for rest interval
· Cool down jog
· Last mile- accelerate to 80% of your maximum pace and leave everything on the road.

As your next race approaches, drop intervals from your training so that you can taper. I eliminate intervals from my schedule for the two weeks before any event.

Interval Tips:
1. Don’t sprint through your first fast interval. Odds are, you’ll bonk out before you finish your workout. Run your intervals consistently at 80% of your maximum speed. If you have extra gas in the tank, then burn it off in your cool-down leg and plan for faster intervals on your next workout.
2. Concentrate on a quick running cadence. This will keep your foot strike under your center of gravity. If you lengthen your stride, then you are using your fast-twitch, power muscles, which will burn out in minutes, not hours. A quick cadence trains your body to maintain a high heart rate and improves your aerobic capacity. That’s the key result of interval training and will translate into faster pacing for your next 10K or marathon.
3. Evening and nighttime interval workouts can interfere with your sleep pattern. It takes considerably longer to “come down” from the intensity of interval training. The good news is that your legs and body will have a wonderful, warm and relaxed feeling.
4. Monitor for injuries- Interval training is tough on the body. Watch for soreness in the soles of your feet. This will occur due to the increased strain that you put on your arches in the sprinting. If the soreness doesn’t dissipate, then take a couple of ibuprophen and a week off. Your heels are the other trouble spot. Be careful with your form and monitor your heels for bruising. If you experience tenderness that doesn’t fade after a day, then take a week off.
5. Concentrate upon your rest intervals. It is not only the sprint intervals that control the quality of your training. You will gain more by focusing upon your rest intervals, ensuring that you run your sprints with enough discipline that you are able to (barely) manage to hold a 60% pace on your rest cycles. This is where you make your money in interval training.
6. How do you know you’re ready to move to the next phase? When you can complete the sequence and comfortably maintain your rest pace at 50-60 percent of your maximum.Measure success by the gradual increase in distance covered through the intervals. As the weeks go by, you’ll notice that you run farther through your sequence; until you move to the next phase and start again.