It seems that this week is where the hard work really begins. There was the 15 miler this past weekend, and the upcoming run this weekend is supposed to be 4 x 1 mile repeats. However, with the Webster Lake tri on Sunday, and a 17 miler the following week that I wanted to make sure I'm well rested for - I decided to do the mile repeats today.
According to Galloway, the distance of one mile for interval training (at 20 seconds per mile faster than the goal race pace) tends to be the best distance when training for distance races greater than 10k. There are multiple goals for these mile repeats. The first goal is that the mile distance, which is essentially 2 x 800m intervals strung together (the 800m distance is also a very common speed work distance), is a meld of the speed benefits gained from the 800m sessions and the running form used in marathons. Better running form is obtained by learning how to minimize extraneous movements, and maximizing overall efficiency in the mechanics of running. Another goal is the benefit of pacing - both mentally and physically. This coincides with doing mile repeats at 20 seconds/mile faster - but no more than that. If all your body has been exposed to during training is long slow distance and short fast intervals, the goal pace that would reside in between those two extremes could be a bit of a surprise to your muscles and oxygen delivery system, decreasing efficiency.
So for today's mile repeats, I just did the mile long loop (actually - 1.05 miles) around the house. This loop is about 1/2 mile of a very gentle downhill, about 1/4 mile of fairly flat, and then about 1/4 mile of a reasonable uphill (about 7%). I figured the hills at the end of the repeat would be a little bit of a kick in the ass. I seriously doubt I'll do all mile repeats in this same fashion - but I needed to start somewhere. Each repeat was followed by a 5 minute walk - from what Galloway says, the benefits gained from the mile repeat are the same whether you take a 400m walk break or an 800m walk break. Since I tend to walk a mile in about 15-20 minutes, 5 minutes falls somewhere between 400m and 800m.
(time, avg hr, end hr)
Warm up mile - 8:49
Rest 1 - 3:00, 125, 104
Repeat 1 - 7:06, 171, 177
Rest 2 - 5:00, 129, 113
Repeat 2 - 7:37, 170, 178
Rest 3 - 5:00, 130, 115
Repeat 3 - 7:51, 167, 177
Rest 4 - 5:00, 130, 119
Repeat 4 - 7:52, 167, 179
Rest 5 - 5:00, 130, 130
The first repeat was definately too fast - but being the first repeat, I didn't really have a good idea of the required pace. The second mile was still a bit fast, especially when we are talking about seconds here, and the mile loop is actually 1.05 miles - but it was much closer to the goal pace than the first one. The last two repeats were just about right on the money (actually, still a tad fast) - when adjusting for the .05 miles extra, they come in at about a 7:27 pace.
However, this is also including some grade. So while I'm pleased with having been able to meet the goal times - my next mile repeat workout should definately have some varied terrain that is more random.
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