I don’t have access to a long grass field; can I use shorter distances (50m) with turnarounds to achieve longer distances (100-200m)?
I know that tempo runs must be done at 65-75% of best time; I tried to test myself on the surface I use for this type of work and to run tempo sprints accordingly, but I found them very taxing…
Should I run “by the clock” or “by the feel”, if you understand what I mean?
I’m a total novice of this type of training : which amount of volume can I start with?
Is this ok (Charlie’s short circuit)?
100+100+100
100+200+100
100+100+100
‘+’ indicates 100m walk, break between sets would be 200m walk (or 2-3 min).
worst comes to worst you could use stationary bike or pool, dont dwell too much on tempos, their point is to flush the muscles (and well build/maintain cardivascular qualities). Thing is if it feels too tiring afterwards, or you feel drained by it, dont do it.
tempo sould help with recovery not hinder it, and frankly, it needs some training experience to go at 75% for the CF cirquits, build up slowly
the short cirquit sould be ok, even at 75%, dont take so big breaks, you dont need too.
a thing to remember is this, if you can start and finish the tempo at the same pace without killing yourself, its good
To clarify it is >75% of best on that surface over that distance. Don’t use your 100mPB as the basis, yes it will give you a general guide but you need to allow for the conditions.
Your work capacity will increase over time. Tempo isn’t necessarily easy but you recover from it quickly. I recall PJ recently posting that Olu found the tempo sessions the hardest of the week.
Tempo sessions when being performed are quite hard, but dont drain the cns like sprints, so you recover much quicker from them. Start with as little as 400m and work your way up to 1000m throw some pushups and situps before and after you run, but not during the walk portion you will want that to recover.
Thank you all for the reply!
Frankly, I hate stationary bike I will try with the turnarounds, respecting tempo principles.
epote,
how should I recover beetween reps and between sets?
John,
I tested myself over that surface. I tried Charlie’s big circuit (as shown in the GPP DVD) running ‘by the feel’ and I finished it fairly easy. Rather, when I tried with the “exact time”, I fatigued myself a lot.
Hawiian,
I do sit-up circuit after tempo work and only walking between reps and sets.
You may have found it taxing because you didn’t add extra time for the turnaround? Throw an extra 2-3 seconds onto a 50 by 50 turnaround to get a more accurate estimation. Generally shorter distances seem more taxing because of all the stops and starts.
I normally take about 30 secs recovery for 100m runs and about 45 - 60 secs recovery for 200’s. Go how you feel and remember to relax and let the legs go. It should be a relaxed but quick pace.
You can use any shorter distance,up to 20m splits,keep the work:rest ratios between 1:1 and 1:3,and the volume such as to achieve the desired goal to finish at the pace you started,and you’ll get what Charlie’s tempo runs provide.
If general fitness is your target,you can monitor it over time by taking your HR soon after finishing your last bout of exercise and then again exactly 1 minute after that,and look at the differential between the two.Then you can either:
consider the following three ranges:
0>30 Acceptable
30>60 Good
60> Optimal
or check progress over time.
Adjust your:
distance of choice (can never be too short)
intensity (can never be too slow)
rest intervals (can never be too long)
I think it’s a problem of cardiovascular conditioning and/or muscle endurance, because if I prolong rest intervals I feel fine…Repeated bouts of sprints killed me
Stick to the simple concepts above,standardize your workout frame (keep doing the same until you see progress).Let the results you are after flow in smoothly:you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
I will try with the turnarounds, respecting tempo principles.