PreBlast – Week for the 800s

PreBlast – Week for the 800s

At 0515 on Tuesday morning, we’ll launch from the Vine Restaurant for the weekly Running Interval workout known as Swift.

If this looks like a PreBlast from 4 weeks ago, it’s not.  I changed some things…

How many can you do?  How consistently can you do them?  Will you improve over time?

“If the purpose is to hurt, then go out real fast and be as miserable as you possibly can.”

It’s that time of the season where we set baselines for the months of training ahead.  In this case, it’s the BlueRidgeRelay (BRR), where most PAX will be putting forth multiple 10K type efforts over the course of a day.  That’s where the Interval pace (aka 2 mile race pace, aka VO2Max pace) comes in. It’s a pace run at 97-100 percent of Maximum Heart Rate, and for more explanation see the linked video.

To do this workout, we’ll try be measured and consistent this week so we can compare to the same effort approximately every 4 weeks.  Like in year’s past when we’ve had SIB come to town or went to visit there, we’ll be doing this in 800 meter segments @ Interval Pace with about a 2 minute (or 200m) active but very slow jog recovery.  No need to program your watch because there will be landmarks to start/stop, but if you do, program 800m Distance Interval and 2 minute rest.  Just be prepared to end your recovery early.

The THANG:

• 0500 – Extra credit run for 1.3mi from the Vine parking lot
• 0515 – Leave the Vine parking lot and mosey 2ndF pace to the Bull Ring.  Use 10 minutes to get there with 2 options for route.  One less than 1mi, one slightly more.
• 0525 – Commence warm-up exercises.
• 0530 – Commence rounds of 800m around the Bull Ring.
  • Recovery is down to the putting green and back.  Use some of the parking area to get recovery to 2min or 200m.
  • On the 800m intervals, you have an option to use both directions, but the preference is the Counterclockwise direction on the inside lane against traffic.  If you decide to run Clockwise and use the inside lane, the Counterclockwise runner always has the right of way, so always pass to the outside.
• 0607 – Do not start another 800m after 607am.  We’ll need to head home from the Bull Ring by about 0610 to make it back to the Vine by 0615.

Some more helpful info:

• Interval [Pace] Training = https://youtu.be/7dQEwJhHWXk?t=2m40s “If the purpose is to hurt, then go out real fast and be as miserable as you possibly can.”

• Interval Pace

  Intensity: Generally in the range of 95-100% of VO2max or 98-100% of HRmax. Intervals are “hard” but not all-out running by any means. Usually at a pace that you could maintain for about 10-15 minutes in a serious race. Intervals are best if they involve runs of 3 to 5 minutes each (800m and 1000m workbouts are typical), with jog recoveries of similar duration (not necessarily, equal distance); relative to the runs they follow. If a workout calls for “hard” runs, then go by feel and imagine 5k race pace, as the intensity of each run.

  Purpose: Stress your aerobic power (VO2max). It takes about two minutes for you to gear up to functioning at VO2max so the ideal duration of an “Interval” is 3-5 minutes each. The reason not to go past 5-minutes is to prevent anaerobic involvement, which can result in blood-lactate build-up.

• Pace Calculator to find your Interval Pace = http://runsmartproject.com/calculator
• Pace Calculator Instructions = http://runsmartproject.com/calculator/instructions/