How many times have you found yourself thinking: "I know what, I really quite fancy doing some sprint intervals tonight"?
If you're anything like me, I suspect the answer is quite possibly almost a resounding "NEVER!!"
Strangely, however, despite Monday evenings usually being set aside for my weekly long run, intervals are what I found myself doing and, shock horror, despite the number of times I have expressed my dislike for such an activity, I actually quite enjoyed them.
I selected the Couch to 5k Week 1 workout on my watch and off I went; jogging the walking bits and sprinting the running bits and, lo and behold, I set a new 5k PB of 28:04 in the process.
I'm almost certainly going to suffer for this tomorrow, but it was worth it.
Written by
sTrongFuse
Graduate10
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I think it's a good thing to do every so often, it takes you out of your normal comfort zone and has you working a different way..
I've done it a couple of times this year, mainly because I was getting a bit bored of the same old runs that I was doing in the dark after work, so they helped add a bit of variety back into the mix.
Now that the evenings are drawing out, I plan to try mixing pace and distance sessions to keep things interesting.
Difficult to say as I'm not really that fussed about my pace, I just head out and run whatever distance I happen to run in whatever time it takes me. I suspect my form could almost certainly be better, bit not really sure how to work on that.
And also a good idea to use C25K week 1 for the intervals , I think I might copy your good idea for my next interval run in a few days time.
Up to now I’ve been using the C25K+ speed podcast for interval runs. These were great at first, but after a few weeks of doing them I find the 17 mins total run time a little short ( can’t believe I’m saying that ).
I have weeks 1-4 programmed into my watch. I've only ever attempted W1 and W2 as speed intervals, not sure I'm brave enough to try 3 or 5 minute sprint sections yet...
Today I tried the Nike Run Club 1st Speed Run which was one minute interval runs with one minute recovery, which I found quite a good introduction for my first attempt to start increasing my pace post C25K graduation.
(I don't much like the music on the C25K+ podcasts - I prefer to run to my own playlist)
I tend not to listen to anything but just having the "buzz" from my watch to remind me when to change pace, but we just do what works best for each of us, I guess.
Thanks. I think 15x reps would probably finish me off entirely, but I'll keep it in reserve for when I have one of THOSE days where I really need to take it out on something...
It was worth it. As I've said, I don't really fuss about my pace, I just run at what seems "right" for me, and the pace is whatever it happened to be at the end of it. It is good to just mix things up and try something different every now and then, and it serves as a useful measure of how far I've progressed since I was actually doing W1R1 for the first time.
Oddly, I hadn't really been feeling that inspired before I headed out; I just got to the end of my warm-up walk to the letterbox (where all my runs start) and decided on a whim to go for it. The rest, as they say...
I don't do it very often, and I definitely prefer my longer, slower runs, but it is interesting to see how the stamina built up through running frequent 10k and the occasional 10 miles/HM translates to extra speed when I decide to push myself over 5k.
I didn't like Intervals at first, but I was determined to do all of the 5K plus podcasts at least three times each. I set out to do Stepping Stones for the third time "to get it over with" and actually enjoyed it.
Haven't done it much since but last year I discovered the Guardian Advanced podcasts and keep doing them because I like them.
They are useful training for my refereeing; I never know when some fleet-footed winger is going to make a break and I have to suddenly find a gear to try and keep up with someone 20-30 years younger than me (interceptions may be a great thing for the fans to watch, but us match officials dread them).
That sounds like a really good way to plan intervals. I tried once but was scared off trying to fit to beats of music. Might try your idea now. Happy running
It just seemed like a logical way to do it; take the existing interval plans, add your own warm-up/cool-down, then run the sections that are brisk walk (including the plan's warm-up/cool-down segments) and sprint the running sections. Warm up, then 20 minutes jogging mixed with 8 minutes sprinting (ahem) and then a cool down. Lo and behold, 5k run/sprinted in the 28 minutes.
Not in a great hurry to do it again soon though...
I tried the post-C25k speed run mp3 and found I wasn't speedy enough for the beat. I also tried the interval runs on an Endomondo 10 km plan but again didn't like them much as it was a lot faster than the normal run's pace. But then I did exactly the same as you @sTrongFuse and really enjoyed them. I did up to W5R3 with a five min slow run at either end of the fast 20 mins, and really surprised myself. Just as I did when I ran/walked C25k, it was easy to run for 20 mins at a much faster pace, though not quite as fast as yours.
If you're looking to increase you're speed, or even get back into running regularly as I was then runC25K is a great way to go.
I've now moved onto the Magic Plan but am intending on doing some sort of intervals for the shorter runs.
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The fiddling and faffing worked. Yay. 👍
A 5k PB :)
I know I'm slow but...
After work jog
Boasting alert ⚠️ 10k PB totally smashed!!
