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How is 5km or even 3km pace a VO2max training effort? 5km pace is nowhere near a VO2max effort.
Keep in mind that I said "V02max training" and not "trainining at V02max pace." I actually sent Jack Daniels an email about this a while ago and got a response. His contention was that 11 minutes a mile is, if I remember correctly, V02max pace. It's quite possible that it is 98% of V02max pace.
Nevertheless, the purpose of the interval sessions are to improve performance.....nothing more, nothing less. Even at 45 minute race pace, which is....I think....something in the range of 88% of V02max, you are still siginificantly stimulating improvements in V02max.
There is some benefit to training faster for certain people, for certain work/rest intervals, to prepare for certain race distances. However, I have found that the cosequences of running this type of workout any faster outweigh the benefits for most people, especially if not under the guidance of a coach.
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and 3 1/2 minute intervals at 3:55 with 2 minute recoveries are an easy workout.
I find that quite interesting as I've seen hoards of people at the University of Delaware adult track practice do exactly the same workout and finish gasping for air. I wouldn't be able to comment any further without actually seeing you do the workout, starting at 5K pace for your first 1,000m and finishing at 3K pace on your 5th or 6th 1,000m and actually observing it being "easy."
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Could you define your use of the term "over training" here?
Racing times can decrease because one doesn't train enough (undertraining) or because they train too hard (overtraining). An example would be a person who adds 3 miles a week to their training plan. Starting from zero, they will see race performances improve over the weeks. Their fitness at 10 weeks (30 miles) will likely be greater than their fiteness during their 3 mile week. However, their race times at 40 weeks, assuming they are an average athlete, will likely be worse (assuming they managed to avoid injury) as they are now running 120 miles a week, a number which is well above their recovery rate.
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Very overloaded term, and I think a suggestion that you can become overtrained simply by doing the odd interval session such that you have to take a short walk break at the end of each interval would lead to it isn't too normal.
Normal defined by what? What the average person who doesn't know what they are doing thinks? What is "normal" is usualy bad training conventions based off of locker room myths and misconceptions of training fundamentals.
One of those myths is that hammering workouts to death week in and week out is going to be the magic ingredient toward stellar race performances. That simply isn't true, and more often than not, it leads to early plateaus and inhibits long term improvements.
One of my favorite quotes comes from a training partner of mine: "If you think this workout is too easy, you should try and complete it after a 120 mile week." That's the problem I see. People hammer away at workouts so hard that they end up compromising the rest of their week's training. The tradeoff is not between working harder in a given session or working less. It's between working harder and running less throughout the week/month/year, or working *an appropriate amount* and maintaining a higher volume of overall training over the long term.
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On the general point, 20minute 5km is something any averagely fit male under 40 should comfortably be able to train to (how much training will purely depend on pre-start of exercise fitness - and particularly weight) and most should be able to get there with just about any sort of training rather than a carefully laid plan.
Can you back this statement up?
I just looked up a random race in which 213 people of which 10 broke 20 minutes. Perhaps these people all had "carefuly laid out plans" resulting in their inability to break 20 minutes. Had they, instead, followed your "any sort of training" philosphy, they would have been able to achieve this average level of competence you spoke of. ; ^ P
http://www.r2rresults.com/...amp;rid=748&ss=0 (3:55/km vs 3:15/km for me) and 3 1/2 minute intervals at 3:55 with 2 minute recoveries are an easy workout.
-----------------------------Baron Von Speedypants
-----------------------------RunTraining articles here:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...runtraining;#1612485