Doing some mile repeats for my first half-mary in a few weeks. I did some a few weeks ago and bonked pretty hard. So, I’m going to try a flat track instead of neighborhood hills. I’m sure this will be very boring.
Any tips for not getting bored as hell? I’ve got my music/drink/gels to help me through.
You could try joggling… other than having your music or someone to run with is about it!
I need to find some non-lazy friends.
“Hey Tri Tiger, it’s 75 degrees & we’re going to sit on a patio, play bar bingo & drink some sweet water. You in?”
“Ahh no, I have to go run 40 times around a track.”
Interesting on Joggling though…world record joggling marathon time is 2:50:xx. Pretty good.
If you plan a 10 mile track session, you deserve all of the boredom that ensues.
one thing that i usually do for a track workout is to determine my target pace ahead of time. for example, if i am doing 5x1mile with an easy 400 recovery between each, i may choose to attempt holding a 6min/mile pace for my hard efforts. this breaks down to 1:30 per 400(lap), or 45sec per 200(half lap). i set my watch to ‘countdown/repeat’ so the alarm goes off every 45sec. starting in mid straightaway, i need to be at the opposite mid straightaway (50yd line if your track has a football field in the infield) when my watch beeps. having a constant monitoring system, i keep my mind on the workout and keep my pace steady. it’s hard to get bored when you’re racing that alarm around the track. i like to use this half lap alarm for any distance on the track, especially if i’m running alone. regardless of the planned workout, if i reach a point where i can no longer make my targets (it’s important to be realistic) the workout is over.
Like Andrew said, have goal times in mind and as long as they are reasonably challenging you should not have a problem with boredom. Enjoy the mile repeats, they are by far my favorite running workout.
I ran mile repeats for the first time a week or so ago. They were AWESOME.
If you run fast enough
It will hurt
And you will not be bored.
Any tips for not getting bored as hell? I’ve got my music/drink/gels to help me through.
gels? for 10 mi?
gels? for 10 mi?
Yeah, I failed pretty hard last time, so they are just in case
Do a lot of math in your head by figuring out how fast you need to hit certain spots on the track to nail your goal times. I am always running through the math on my splits as I go, helps to alleviate the boredom.
Are you really doing 10xmile in prep for a half marathon? Seems a bit odd to me. i have run a few 1/2 marathons (reasonably fast PR-1:14) and never did anything like that at all. It sounds like you are basically doing a tempo run but broken up and made a bit longer. Are they at race pace or something?
JW
I do this when I swim. I guess it isn’t much different than doing 100 repeats.
First HM & it’ll be much slower than you.
Maybe I said it wrong. 10 miles total.
1mi w/u
5x1mi @ ~7:30 with .5mi jogs
1.5mi cool down.
Probably an easy workout for most STers. 
run training is a lot different than swim training. 10xmile is an extreme track workout. add warmup, cooldown, and recovery laps and you’ve got about 15miles, with 10 of those miles at hard effort. personally, i’d plan on 5xmile and stop if my time dropped off 10sec/mile from the first one.
sorry, i was writing this the same as you were responding. that sounds more realistic
That’s a pretty cool workout. To alleviate boredom I would modify to do the warm up and cool down off the track (run to and from the track or something) and also cut the rest periods back to one lap. Seems like too long of a rest for intervals at that intensity (assuming an LT intensity level).
I said it wrong or wasn’t clear enough. 10 mi total…only 5xmi at a fast pace.
I’m actually doing this. I live a little over a mile from the track, so my w/u & c/d will be to and from. That should break it up some.
yeah I think it was 75 degrees here I would have to go with your friends to play bar bingo insted of running 40 times around the track
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Doing some mile repeats for my first half-mary in a few weeks. I did some a few weeks ago and bonked pretty hard. So, I’m going to try a flat track instead of neighborhood hills. I’m sure this will be very boring.
Any tips for not getting bored as hell? I’ve got my music/drink/gels to help me through.
IF the infeild is open, do figure 8’s through the grass on the “off” laps. Run the hard intervals counter clockwise, the clockwise, with figure 8s as rest.
Ah yes, the fun of 800, 1200, 1600, 2000, 1600, 2000, 1600, 1200, 800 ladders in August…
You need to find a 1 mile loop on the road. Something like a corporate center. Measure it out and mark it- MUCH better than so many laps around a track.
"I ran mile repeats for the first time a week or so ago. They were AWESOME. "
Are you frick’n kidding me? IMO there is nothing worse than being on the hamster wheel (track) for repeats > 800’s. Even those test my mental stability.
Good luck TT with your 10mile track w/o. You’re better off doing them on the road or flat trails somewhere instead of the track.
N~