3/3 Interval Workout

Wednesday, December 28, 2016 · Mike Davis

Good morning.

I hope you had a great Christmas!

Yesterday it took a while, but I finally dragged myself out and tried to run off all the pie I have been eating! I really have no excuses not to run or workout and yet I have been slacking somewhat the past couple of weeks. So, I went over to my favorite place to run intervals and did my go to 3/3 workout. Kathy and I searched for a track around here and surprisingly have not found one. Kathy did take me through a half-abandoned neighborhood that is pretty much a circle and somewhat flat, so it has become my go to for intervals.

My 3/3 Interval workout is rather simple and one that NFLR uses when we want to keep a group workout simple. It starts out with a 10-minute conversational pace (c/p) run and then immediately goes into the workout. The workout begins with a 3 minute 5K pace followed by a 3-minute c/p. I then repeat the 3/3 as many times as I have told myself I would do. Ideally you have a partner and you both agree on how many to do and you help each other get through them. Doing this workout by myself is much more challenging because quitting before the goal is always tempting. Yesterday my goal was 6-repeats and by the 3rd I was thinking 4 or 5 at best! When I finished my fourth, I told myself one more and after my fifth, I pushed through the sixth. I cheated on the 10-minute cooldown and did only 6 minutes, but if I am going to cheat the cooldown is usually where I do it. I like this workout, but as I said; it is much better on every level when I have a partner. However, I do not let a lack of partner deter me.

Another challenge of the 3/3 Interval workout is the pacing aspect. Whenever we work with an individual client or a training group, pace is always aspect that is questioned the most. In my above description, I used 5K pace as my guide and that works well if you are in tune with your 5K pace. However, most are not, so it becomes a trial and error process that will often take a few sessions to figure out. When we work with individual runners or even groups, we will often have them run at max effort for a duration and then ask them to run their intervals at a certain effort level of that max. So, a 5K pace might be 70 percent of that max effort. Yes, I know that sounds like a challenge to comprehend, and works better when you have a coach overseeing your workout. The NFLR goal is to get our runners to ‘feel’ their pace and not depend on their Garmin. Running by ‘feel’, is so much more natural, stress free and fun. Yesterday my 3-minute paces went like this: .38, .38, .40, .40, .40, .40. Each of those represent the distance I ran for the 3-minute duration. I never once looked at my pace, as I ran only by feel. So, the first thing that stands out to me is that I pretty much got the feel part right. Also, the fact that I could pick up my pace and maintain it, was a positive. Our goal as coaches is for our runners to run as strong if not better as they progress through the workout. I must say that I am somewhat impressed with my pacing. Having a partner can be helpful or problematic when it comes to pacing. If you use a partner to pull you, that can be helpful but, if you try to run someone else’s 5K pace, you may be going too fast or possibly too slow. Intervals are very individualized and it is important to be at your pace. Partners are great for the recovery portion, but then do your own thing during the speed portion.

Another benefit to doing an interval workout, is the ability to work on running form. Yesterday I put a lot of focus on my lean and leading with my knees. These are both weak areas for me and when I am doing intervals I use the speed interval time to focus on form and propulsion. I allow for less focus on the recovery interval and get back to the technical focus when I pick up the pace. The goal is to ultimately adapt to the correct form without needing to think about it. Better running form is beneficial to easier efficient running as well as reduces the chance of injury.

The best part of doing an interval workout is not just when I am finished, but when I get to look at the data. For me, knowing that I could hold and improve my pace was encouraging. I will repeat the workout next week and it will be fun to see how the results compare. It is not even about competing with myself, but more about improving the efficiency of my running. Interval workouts are often referred to as “speed workouts” and while they can be used for that purpose, I like to use them to help me become a more efficient runner which helps me to run with greater ease. Ultimately efficiency helps us run faster, but I try to focus on the ease of running.

If you are looking for a personally designed workout that you can run regularly, you can contact us at info@nofinishlinerunning.com and we will design one for your specific goals. We design complete training programs or a specific workout much like my 3/3 Interval workout. You can go to www.nofinishlinerunning.com for more information as well.

Have a great week and get running!

God Bless!

Mike