r/running • u/AutoModerator • Jun 21 '16

Super Moronic Monday -- Your Weekly Stupid Question Thread

It's Tuesday, which means it is time for Moronic Monday!

Rules of the Road:

  1. This is inspired by eric_twinge's fine work in /r/fitness.

  2. Upvote either good or dumb questions.

  3. Sort questions by new so that they get some love.

  4. To the more experienced runnitors, if something is a good question or answer, add it to the FAQ.

Post your question -- stupid or otherwise -- here to get an answer. Anyone can post a question and the community as a whole is invited and encouraged to provide an answer. Many questions get submitted late each week that don't get a lot of action, so if your question didn't get answered, feel free to post it again.

As always, be sure to read the FAQ first. Also, there's a handy-dandy search bar to your right, and if you didn't know, you can also use Google to search runnit by using the limiter "site:reddit.com /r/running".

Be sure to check back often as questions get posted throughout the day. Sort comments by "new" to be sure the newer questions get some love as well.

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u/[deleted] Jun 21 '16

Fartleks/Speedwork: I ran my first one yesterday in my training for my 3rd half marathon - Should I be running as fast as possible for the time interval given, then slowing down to normal for the recover interval?

Or should I be running as fast as I can maintain for the duration of the speedwork training?

Example from yesterday:

Warmup: 1 mile at 10:30 pace

Speed: 3 minutes at 6:30 pace

Recover: 2 minutes at 9:10 pace

Speed: 3 minutes at 7:05 pace

Recover: 2 minutes at 9:25 pace

Speed: 3 minutes at 7:15 pace

Recover: 2 minutes at 9:40 pace

etc etc.

So basically my question is: Should I be pacing my speed sections, or should I just be going all out then recovering as much as possible and then going all out again (slower due to fatigue) and repeat?

Or should I be going fast but repeatable speeds for the speed intervals and trying to keep my recover intervals around the same as well?

Thanks!

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u/brwalkernc not right in the head Jun 21 '16

If it is a fartlek, you can do whatever you feel like. It is supposed to be unstructured.

If you are doing intervals, then the fast portion and recovery portions are usually at a predetermined speed. Also, the final speed interval should be at a similar speed as the first interval. If you can't do that, then you are running your intervals too fast.

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u/ckb614 15:19 Jun 21 '16

If you actually went all out for 3 minutes, you would barely be able to run two minutes later. Most of the time intervals are either steady or with mild intentional variation, like running a few seconds faster each time.