Running intervals are a useful part of most running and triathlon training programs. Athletes training for shorter, fast races will spend more time at higher intensities than athletes training for long races. Intervals serve a number of different functions – train athletes to run at race pace; improve biomechanical efficiency at race pace; improve lactate threshold and lactate buffering capacity; keep the anaerobic system from going stale; and break up training monotony.

A few sample running interval workouts (always warm up and cooldown at least 10 minutes):

Short (2 mile to 5k)

• 8-12 x 400 (or 1:30) at lactate threshold effort with 1 minute easy between each
• 2 x 400, 1 x 800, 1 x 1600, 1 x 800, 2 x 400 at 10k effort or just under threshold
• 4-6 x 800 at 5k or over-threshold effort with 2-3 minutes jog between
• 12 x 200 at 1 mile race pace with full recovery (3-5 minutes)

Mid distance (10k to half-marathon)

• 4-6 x 1 mile at 10k / under-threshold effort with 1-2 minutes between
• 3 x 2 mile at half-marathon pace / tempo effort with 3-4 minute jog between each
• 2 x 15-20 minutes at half-marathon / tempo effort with 5 minute easy between each

Distance (marathon)

• 8-12 x 1 mile at marathon pace with 1 minute rest/jog
• 8 x 800 at half-marathon effort on 1-2 minute rest/jog
• Long run alternating 3 minutes fast / 3 minutes easy for up to one hour

Note: New athletes and athletes with repetitive injuries or heart conditions should avoid most types of intervals until cleared by their doctor.

Marty Gaal