The Advantages of Shorter Interval Training Compared to Longer Intervals
Why Short Intervals Are Probably What You Should Be Doing
You might be tempted to lace up for some long repeats this summer and for good reason. Summer base mileage and repeats are a great way to build fitness for the fall.
Whether you’re doing long tempos or even threshold work, I am here to say that it is okay to break up your intervals into even smaller sections than you’re currently doing.
Interval training - whether at easy run effort (like a run/walk) or 5k paced sprints - is a term that basically suggests that you’ll run for a period of time and recover for a set period of time.
Hopefully, if you’ve read enough of my newsletters, interval training isn’t a new vocabulary word for you, but maybe it is a concept you haven’t figured out how to implement into your training yet.
If interval training has you feeling 🥴, you can read up on the how and why intervals work on the internet, but a much easier solution is hiring me to coach you for your next race. But either will work, I’m sure.
No matter what effort level you’re aiming for, intervals are a great method for increasing your endurance and becoming a stronger athlete.
But should all of your intervals be long? Can there be any benefit to running shorter reps in favor of longer ones?
Yes.
For example, let’s say you want to do 25 minutes worth of work at your current threshold effort. You can certainly do a 25 minute segment, but I think you’ll find so much more benefit from doing 5 x 5 minutes or even 25 x 1 minute!
Yes, I said it.
Benefits of Shorter Interval Training
Shorter intervals can be a blessing for so many different reasons. You can get the same quality of work and the same amount of work done even if the intervals are short.
20 minutes of 5k paced work split into short intervals (like 20 x 1 minute) is just as good for a runner as 4 x 5 minutes or 5 x 4 minutes.
Reason 1: Shorter intervals are good because you have the ability to stay focused on the task at hand. Staying focused for 1 minute at a time is so much easier than for much longer stretches.
Reason 2: At the tail end of each long rep, your form is going to begin to falter, especially at the end of the workout. The short breaks help you regroup, refocus, and get your running form back on track. And, when you have good form and are relaxed, you will actually run more efficiently, thereby making you that much faster on each rep.
Reason 3: A shorter interval (compared to a longer one) is equally beneficial to you cardiovascularly. There’s very little to benefit from doing long intervals compared to short ones.
This doesn’t mean you should never run long intervals. It just means that if you have the choice, you can’t go wrong with shorter ones until you are stronger and fitter. Then you can extend the length of your intervals.
Practical Tips for Implementing Shorter Intervals
Think about how much volume you’d like to cover in a workout. Maybe 6400 meters or 30 minutes of work. You can go longer with your reps, but you can also break them up into shorter segments.
Not only that, but it’s easier to manage on a track, and for me, I think, it’s also easier to find a shorter stretch of road without traffic to run repeats on [I prefer roads to tracks for workouts whenever possible. Years of track workouts have me doing most, not all, of my quality sessions on the roads.]
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