As promised today we will talk about interval training. For this I will answer Fleur’s question:
“I run 3-4 times a week in the trail and I would like to replace one of my training by an interval training. There are too many opportunities also i don’t know what I should do and why. Can you enlighten me on this? »
I’ll try and answer by giving you my perspective and my way of approaching interval training.
I’m not such a big fan of hard or intensity training. I love the feeling of running and feel like I don’t have to measure or quantify what I do. I need to like what I’m doing for my training to be effective or for me even to go running!
However, I have done a lot of athletics and also some sport studies so i’m aware of some of the benefits of this type of training. I plan my session with people who know me well in the team so we can train and adapt to individual tastes.
So, during my training sessions i’ll do some interval work but only based on feelings because the trails are always changing. I find it much more motivating than running around a track or doing petitions somewhere. It’s also more stimulating when you’re running alone.
This is what I find interesting:
¥ Increasing general capacity – speed, velocity, technical ability, physiology.
¥ Discovering my limitations & strenghts by pushing my body a little more than usual.
¥ Learning to run and improve race tempo
Depending on your focus you should adjust the time, recovery and speed. Some people focus on a VMA value and then adjust factors like speed and HR. Personally, I don’t use that – I mush prefer to find my own way and see how I feel on the day. Then I base my session depending on race and recovery time rather than the amount of kms.
It’s difficult to discuss interval training in a short way, so i’ll highlight my 3 major type os sessions & go into it in more detail at a later date.
¥ The rehabilitation session ! just to made a bilan, to preserv training, to be confidant and remember some feelings…
¥ The short interval session: focused on the development of speed capacities.
¥ The long interval session: focused on the development of endurance capacities.
The best way is to combine all three and not get tired of them. Keep that in mind and I’ll return with more details next week!