Interval pace. Confused.
9 watchers
Jun 2022
10:25am, 22 Jun 2022
1,866 posts
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RooA
I'm a bit confused about what pace I should be running intervals at. I always thought it was "as fast as possible while making the last interval as fast as the first". I did that today and felt awesome about it. Even did the last interval a few seconds faster than the first so wasn't flagging at all. But I've just put my recent 5k into Project Joker and it gives me a pace for intervals much slower than that. For reference. 5K time - 24m10s. Recommended time for 800m intervals - 3m57s Average 800m interval time today - 3m36s 5K pace - 7.44mm Recommended 800m interval pace - 7.54mm Average pace today - 7.12mm I'm struggling to get my head around running intervals SLOWER than I can already run a 5K??? That doesn't make sense to me. I thought the point of intervals was to go faster? Any enlightenment appreciated. |
Jun 2022
10:35am, 22 Jun 2022
17,349 posts
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rf_fozzy
It depends on how project joker calculates interval pace. It definitely shouldn't be 'as fast as you can go' - I usually think intervals should be 8.5-9/10 effort level. Repetions at 9-9.5/10. Full on sprinting 9.5-10/10 P&D recommend doing all intervals at 5k pace (which is about 8-8.5/10). Which I don't like. Daniels recommends a bit quicker, which is the method I roughly tend to follow. For a 24mim10s 5k, that's a vdot of 40, so 3min44 per 800m interval (with half time recoveries) If you're running a full set of 800s a bit faster than that consistently, it suggests that either your 5k time you're using is soft or there's a deficiency somewhere else in your training meaning you cannot sustain the pace for 5km. That's a v quick answer. I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will be along shortly..... |
Jun 2022
10:44am, 22 Jun 2022
19,984 posts
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Sharkie
Agree with fozzy that your 5k time is probably soft (for you). I don't know about project joker but do remember when I did track intervals with my club you often used a TARGET time for a race, realistic but a target. Therefore -for instance - you could stick 23:29 in and see if the intervals asked for were comfortably hard? |
Jun 2022
10:49am, 22 Jun 2022
18,111 posts
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larkim
It depends on how much volume is in the intervals surely? 10x1km intervals would be at a very different pace to 8x400m. The plans I follow (P&D) say 3k-5k race pace with recovery (jogged) at 50-90% of the time for the interval, but the volume in those intervals is broadly around 5k distance (e.g. 4x1200m, 5x1000k, 3x1600m) so running at slightly faster than (current) 5k race pace seems about right. Though I do generally subscribe to the "last rep should be consistent with the first, but with almost zero expectation that you could do another rep at that rate". No science behind that, it just makes me feel good and that I've given myself a good stimulus. I tend to recover well though so I would still typically be able to do an hour+ easy running on the next day if I did an "all out" intervals session. |
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Jun 2022
10:53am, 22 Jun 2022
18,112 posts
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larkim
The narrative for the "joker" interval pace doesn't seem to fit with the plan calcs. Narrative says Intervals (I) Running fast (somewhere between your mile and 5k pace) helps improve the maximum rate at which your body can use oxygen. It's very hard work though, so the breaks in an interval session allow you to amass a greater overall volume of hard effort. But when I input a 20:00 5k time it tells me to do 800m reps (only 5x800m, so not even 5k volume) at 4:05 pace per km which is slower than 5k pace. Maybe it's an issue with the joker setup? |
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Jun 2022
10:57am, 22 Jun 2022
1,867 posts
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RooA
That's exactly my confusion larkim! It is probable that my 5K time is a little soft but I suspect a mental deficiency at holding the pace for longer rather than a physical one. 
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Jun 2022
10:58am, 22 Jun 2022
1,237 posts
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paulcook
I’ve used McMillan pace calculator to work out training paces. mcmillanrunning.com From your 5k time it gives an 800m interval as 7:10m/m - 7:30m/m or 3m33s to 3m44s per rep which looks like the pace you’ve gone today. |
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Jun 2022
11:01am, 22 Jun 2022
1,868 posts
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RooA
I also have another thing I found informing me that my "VO2 max" pace (based on a 24 minute 5K) for 800m is 7.22mm. So 3m40s for 800m.
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Jun 2022
11:02am, 22 Jun 2022
34,093 posts
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Ocelot Spleens
Yes. For 300m to 800m I would say 5k pace, as Paul Cook says, but also you want to getting to 12 x 400m ( maybe even more) and 6 x 800m, for 1k to 1 mile intervals you would be chanting to slow down a touch. So it depends on what distance you are trying for, if it is 5k, you are right on the money. Well done .
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Jun 2022
11:02am, 22 Jun 2022
1,869 posts
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RooA
Ooooo, thanks paulcook. That looks useful!
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