I just started doing Mile Repeats and I just love them because the faster you do them the quicker you get done - - - duh! LOL
Enjoy your day!
Gall
i would take waterborading over mile repeats any day.
Me too. Mile repeats hurt. I actually thought this might be one of those reverse psychology posts – even though I hate them, if I say I love them, maybe I can trick my brain and my body into thinking it’s true.
I would only do mile repeats if there was someone suffering with me.
Are you doing these alone? Because then you might be a masochist.
I did 1/4 mile repeats for the first time in about five years yesterday; what a humbling experience. Maybe someday I’ll work my way back up doing miles. For now, 80-90 seconds of suffering at a time seems sufficient. (Yes, I know I need to HTFU.)
If you love mile reps, you are:
a) not doing them fast enough
b) taking too much recovery
c) a&b
d) soon to be “outed” by the CERA tests
They can be satisfying, but it seems a stretch to actually “love” them. The faster you do them, the more lactic you are carrying in the system. Time becomes relative once you load up. I’ve run 1500m races that seemed to take several hours…
I used to love mile repeats until doing more 1000s. I think these were the right spot between 800s and 1600s. It also led to some good competition between guys who were better at the 1500 vs those at 5000. 400s, 800s, 1000s, miles, whatever. They’re all painful at the right pace. “Love” is a subjective word, as is “pain”…
If you love mile reps, you are:
a) not doing them fast enough
b) taking too much recovery
c) a&b
d) soon to be “outed” by the CERA tests
They can be satisfying, but it seems a stretch to actually “love” them. The faster you do them, the more lactic you are carrying in the system. Time becomes relative once you load up. I’ve run 1500m races that seemed to take several hours…
Agreed. I do strength training on my track bike 5x30 sec efforts and I am dying like I’m going to throw up. If you do it right, you are practically dead. If you aren’t dying, you aren’t doing it right.
This is what they looked like on training peaks/ Forerunner 305.
-
6:48 mpm at 165 av hr and 213 feet gain
-
6:20 mpm at 167 av hr and 146 feet gain
-
6:50 mpm at 170 av hr and 194 feet gain
I am training for a 5k so I only did three of them. I took 5 min rest/recovery between each one.
Am I doing them hard enough etc? Should the recovery between the reps be shorter?
Thanks!
Gall
On most of my repeats I keep the recovery at around 1/2 the time it took for the interval. So 800’s get fun @ around 2’ on 1’ off. But nothing wrong with higher recovery if you really bust your ass. Love it.
Way to go adding in some speed work. You’ll find that it will make you faster providing you have the base to build upon. You should recover enough between each interval so that the next one is doable in a meaningful way – i.e., if you don’t recover enough and just jog the next one it doesn’t really accomplish anything. That said, if you recover too long then the previous one doesn’t mean anything – i.e., there’s no additive “repeat” effect of the stress. I like to exaggerate things so think about it like this: running 3 straight miles (no recovery) isn’t repeats and running 1 mile every day (24 hrs of recovery) isn’t repeats.
I think your recovery is too long. I’m not a HR guru, but I’m sure someone here could tell you to let your HR recover to ___ then go again.
I actually do enjoy them! Although I did some in early march in 20 degree weather and may have over done it in the cold weather as I’ve been battling some left foot issues since so be careful. I’m hoping to get some speed work in again after recovering from the mini. Your times look pretty good. Keep at it. About 2 years ago I was about your speed. The one’s I did in March I ran a 5:32 and 5:36 on two of the four I did so they do help! Good luck!
This is what they looked like on training peaks/ Forerunner 305.
-
6:48 mpm at 165 av hr and 213 feet gain
-
6:20 mpm at 167 av hr and 146 feet gain
-
6:50 mpm at 170 av hr and 194 feet gain
I am training for a 5k so I only did three of them. I took 5 min rest/recovery between each one.
Am I doing them hard enough etc? Should the recovery between the reps be shorter?
Thanks!
Gall
What is your max heart rate?
In general it looks like your rest is way too long.
Miles work well as either tempo or intervals. Based on your pace your are too slow to do miles effectively at interval pace (intervals are ideally in the 3 - 5 minute range). For most runners 1000 - 1200 meters is a good distance for interval effort and the rest would be about 2 - 3 minutes typically.
For tempo pace miles if training for a 5K, I would think 4 x 1 mile would be better, but the rest should only be about 60 - 90 seconds (rest is shorter because you are going to run the miles slower).
Goldentech, what’s a CERA test?
I love mile repeats because I love that particular form of pain, and the endorphin rush after.
hey, if you like quarters - do 20 x 400 alternate 5k pace and marathon pace. Wicked fun workout.
you should get a copy of the book Daniels’ Running Formula. He explains the difference between intervals, tempo and repeats. He also has tables for what your interval time should be based on your current race times.
Daniels recommends 5 min max for intervals so you adjust your interval distance based on your speed to get close to 5 mins and an equal rest interval. Rest is not stopping but slow running.
But seriously, no one likes mile repeats.
My mile repeat workouts consist of this:
1 mi HARD
1 min Rest
0.5 mi HARD
1 min Rest
Repeat that 3 times.
I’m a 22:48 5k guy, SO, the purpose of this workout is, A. to get me more miles at a higher B. To get my speed faster.
I’m not going to all of a sudden run a 20min 5k, so basically I just want to be able to run faster at a longer distance.
So basically I do 3 hard miles, 3 hard 0.5 miles and 1 min rest in between each.
I try and run the miles at 7:40ish pace followed by the half miles at 3:40 pace.
My mile repeat workouts consist of this:
1 mi HARD
1 min Rest
0.5 mi HARD
1 min Rest
Repeat that 3 times.
I’m a 22:48 5k guy, SO, the purpose of this workout is, A. to get me more miles at a higher B. To get my speed faster.
I’m not going to all of a sudden run a 20min 5k, so basically I just want to be able to run faster at a longer distance.
So basically I do 3 hard miles, 3 hard 0.5 miles and 1 min rest in between each.
I try and run the miles at 7:40ish pace followed by the half miles at 3:40 pace.
How many miles a week do you run? This is probably too much intensity (4.5 miles of intervals).
On most of my repeats I keep the recovery at around 1/2 the time it took for the interval. So 800’s get fun @ around 2’ on 1’ off. But nothing wrong with higher recovery if you really bust your ass. Love it.
so you are doing your 800’s in 2min with a min recovery? Are you on the right message board? you sure you shouldn’t be over at Letsrun.com or better yet maybe hanging with Renato’s group.
Tri, yoda
So here is the background. I was a sub 16 min 5k runner in high school (27 years old now). I have to have hip surgery eventually due to all that running back in the day. So this is my 1st year, I’ve dedicated to traiing for tri’s. Just started doing them for “fun” last year. So right now, I’m running basically a 10k long run on sundays, a 5k recovery run and then the repeats (alternationg each week between repeats and 5.5 mile fast fartlek).
So at the moment, I’m running about 14-16 miles a week. I realize it isnt much, but right now its about all I can handle. I want to eventually do a iron next fall, but I also know, running is going to be my sport where I suffer the most. Yes I will probaly be walking ALOT in the ironman mary, but it is what it is. I’m not going to turn into some pro athlete wiht my hip. I’m fine with it.
So with that being said, should I be doing less? I just starting doing that workout I prescribed. FOr 2 months, all I was doing was 2 sets of mile and half mile repeats.
My theory behind it is this. I’m not going to all of a sudden get “fast”. But what I think this workout lets me do, is run at a faster race pace, but also run higher mileage.
Maybe I’m going about it all wrong, but with my limited number of runs per week, I’m trying to basically do “speed” wiht a little distance.
AND YES I realize in order to do a iromna mary, my mileage needs to be increased. It will be increased by 30 miles a week in 1 year.