Enticing interval

I blogged yesterday about my fartlek run and about enjoying intervals, and I figured I'd share one interval suggested in The Other Mag.

It's something you probably need a track to run but I'm sure you could replicate it on a treadmill.

Run one mile at 88-90 percent of max HR. Recovery time should equal to one-fourth the time it took to run mile. Repeat three times. Rest three minutes. Run 200 meters at 3K pace. Rest for same amount of time. Repeat three times.

This one sounds pretty good, as far as intervals go.

For me, 88-90 percent of my max HR would be 164-168, which is just under my most comfortable running HR of 170. So essentially it wouldn't be as tough as the short bursts of Wednesday's fartlek. Still, it's a pretty good clip and by the fourth mile I'm sure I wouldn't have to run as fast to get my HR up to the 164-168 range.

The 200-meter runs at 3K pace would also be challenging since that would be about the 8.0 speed I ran at yesterday. I'd have to figure out what my 5K pace would be first though and increase the speed a bit.

Still, what I like about this is the distances you have to run. Running hard for one mile is tough but also doable. With a built-in rest, it gives you some sort of ease in that you know you will get to rest once the mile is done. Now, it doesn't exactly say what sort of recovery would be good, but you could probably either walk or run at a slow pace.

The quick 3K-pace intervals at the end are great because it forces you to run quickly when you are already exhausted or close to exhaustion. That way, when you are in it for the long haul and are exhausted or close to exhaustion, you have the experience of running through that, and you probably won't be running at a 3K-pace so you can extend yourself longer. And if you do run that quickly, say near the end of a race or long run, you can push yourself knowing that you've already pushed yourself hard in training and that should provide an extra boost of motivation.

I may have to try this interval on the treadmill Friday. If I can sneak away to the local high school, I might try that as well. My foot hurts though, the top of my foot, and it's been an off-and-on pain I've been experiencing for a few weeks, so I may rest today and get back at it on Friday.