'Easy Interval Method'

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Velociraptor Feb 2023 10:36am, 9 Feb 2023 62,566 posts	0 Velociraptor Thanks for telling me that, SPR I had no idea, I just ordered what was placed in front of my nose. I've cancelled the order and will search out the 180 page version.
J2R Feb 2023 11:37am, 9 Feb 2023 4,559 posts	0 J2R I've been largely following the Easy Interval Method the last couple of years, although I'm not purist about it. One thing I've taken to doing is adding on a half length EIM session at the end of a regular easy run, so I might run, say, 4-5 miles at my regular easy pace then finish with a 5 x 400m easy interval session.
SPR Feb 2023 11:50am, 9 Feb 2023 39,503 posts	0 SPR Vrap - In the group on FB, Klaas Lok himself has said for UK based people, ordering via Russ Mullen will guarantee you get the new version: facebook.com
SPR Feb 2023 12:39pm, 9 Feb 2023 39,504 posts	0 SPR In regards to following Easy Intervals fully, I did it out of necessity during February and March last year. For some reason I could only run via intervals and anything at a continuous pace triggered a niggle I had, was very odd. I was seeing the best HR stats I had seen ever seen by mid March and VO2 Max was highest it's ever been (this bit may have been slightly exaggerated by the 245 I had at the time just liking faster workouts). I did a poor 5000 off the back of it (17:26, my slowest fully raced 5000 in years), then did the road relays a week later in reasonable fashion but not as fast as I would have wanted (17:55 so sub 17 5000 standard but road relays PB is 17:29 and ran 16:26 for 5000 in the year I ran that). I feel I was missing out on high end continuous running for race prep but that was more about the injury TBF. I had a very good base pre starting doing the EI so felt I was responding well to the intervals from a fitness perspective even if the racing didn't show it. Unfortunately, I did too much the week after relays, got injured and missed the season so didn't get to see whether I could build on the start.
Velociraptor Feb 2023 1:45pm, 9 Feb 2023 62,568 posts	0 Velociraptor Thanks, SPR, that's what I'll do. Google had led me there in a more roundabout way.
SPR Feb 2023 5:26pm, 9 Feb 2023 39,507 posts	0 SPR I've been largely following the Easy Interval Method the last couple of years, although I'm not purist about it. One thing I've taken to doing is adding on a half length EIM session at the end of a regular easy run, so I might run, say, 4-5 miles at my regular easy pace then finish with a 5 x 400m easy interval session. Interesting J2R, why that over a full session, and if not a full session wouldn't 100s be better? While I agree reactivity is important, I'm not convinced that it couldn't be maintained with strides and/ or hill sprints. Obviously sprints don't have the aerobic benefit of intervals but good for a day where you're doing an easy run.
J2R Feb 2023 10:20am, 10 Feb 2023 4,560 posts	0 J2R SPR, the main reason I'm doing what I am at the moment is to be able to run a rather higher regular weekly mileage than before. I have found that when I've done EIM only, I've found my legs being persistently a little bit sore if I attempt high mileages. I've no doubt that I could tweak the paces, numbers of reps, etc., to ameliorate this, but I don't really feel I have to go 100% with the method to get a lot of the benefits from it. I still do a lot of what would previously have been my easy runs as EIM intervals instead - same distance, same overall time, just run differently. As regards whether 100s might be better, that may be the case. But my 5 x 400m was just an example, it might equally be, say, 8 x 200m. I don't do many 100m reps, though, preferring to do short hill sprints to get the same kind of leg strength and turnover benefits.
SPR Feb 2023 10:33am, 10 Feb 2023 39,511 posts	0 SPR Cool. The reason I suggest shorter was because I expect shorter would equal less soreness. I agree that running fast has a cost even in the EI method that is higher than pure easy running. Personally, I think you can just run an easy run every so often and not worry about having speed in the run. It's pretty obvious that a couple of easy runs a week in a balanced program aren't going to ruin you and that's something I flat out disagree with the book on.
J2R Feb 2023 11:42am, 10 Feb 2023 4,562 posts	0 J2R I agree, SPR. I certainly do enough faster stuff in the week to prevent the kind of deadness which Klaas warns of from doing easy running all the time. For reasons of other health issues (primarily migraine-related, which I've moaned about on here before) I don't feel I've ever properly realised the potential of EIM, particularly in longer distances, which is frustrating. I've done track stuff in the last couple of years which I'm sure EIM has helped with. But my best running is still from 2019, before I took up EIM, so I'm always tempted to keep things close to the training I was doing then, hence my mix-and-match approach. Of course, as I'm going to be 63 this year it would be ridiculous for me to rule out age as the reason for reduced performance, but I really don't think that's the critical factor just yet. I ran a 17:31 5K last summer which is only 14 seconds away from a PB, so I can still hope!