The first step in building your interval workout is choosing your repeat distance. You can use any distance that meets your needs, but the most commonly used repeats distances are between 100 meters and 5000 meters. The most appropriate repeat distance depends upon your goal and fitness level. Here are some recommendations for various race distance goals and the purpose of your workout.
| Goal Race | Workout Purpose
| Repeat Distance
|
| 1600 Meters | Goal Pace | 300 to 800 Meters |
| 1600 Meters | Speed/vVO2 max | 100 to 300 Meters |
| 1600 Meters | Lactate Turnpoint | 800 to 2000 Meters |
| 3200 Meters | Goal Pace | 400 to 1600 Meters |
| 3200 Meters | Speed/vVO2 max | 200 to 400 Meters |
| 3200 Meters | Lactate Turnpoint | 1000 to 3200 meters |
| 5K | Goal Pace | 500 to 2500 meters |
| 5K | Speed/vVO2 max | 300 to 600 meters |
| 5K | Lactate Turnpoint | 1200 to 5000 Meters |
| 10K | Goal Pace | 1000 to 5000 Meters |
| 10K | Speed/vVO2 max | 400 to 800 Meters |
| 10K | Lactate Turnpoint | 1600 to 10000 Meters |
| Half Marathon | Goal Pace | 1600 meters to 6 miles |
| Half Marathon | Speed/vVO2 max | 600 meters to 1200 meters |
| Half Marathon | Lactate Turnpoint | 1600 meters to 3 miles |
| Marathon | Goal Pace | 1600 meters to 12 miles |
| Marathon | Speed/vVO2 max | 600 meters to 1600 meters |
| Marathon | Lactate Turnpoint | 1600 meters to 3 miles |
Repeat Pace
Now that you know your repeat distance you need to figure out how fast to run. Your most appropriate interval repeat pace is joined at the hip with your goal pace. Your interval repeats may be done at race pace, faster than race pace or slower than race pace, but they are always closely tied to your race pace. Use the table below to find the repeat pace that meets your needs.
| Workout Type | Recommended Pace |
| Speed/vVO2 max | Between 1 mile and 3000 meter race pace |
| Goal Pace | All goal pace running should be done at your goal race pace |
| Lactate Turnpoint | True lactate turnpoint workouts at between 5K and 10K race pace Stamina or tempo workouts at between marathon race pace and 15 seconds per mile slower than 10K race pace. |
Recovery Time/Distance
Interval training actually got its name from the recovery “intervals” between your work repeats. Your recovery intervals can be monitored using either time or distance. There is no one specific recovery interval duration that is ideal for every workout. The theory behind recovery intervals is that you should only be partially recovered before beginning the next work repeat. The most appropriate recovery intervals will again depend upon your goal race, the goal of the workout and your current fitness level. Here are some recommendations.
| Workout Type | Recommended Recovery Time |
| Speed/vVO2 max | 1 to 2 minutes. More advanced runners can progress to 30 seconds or less |
| Goal Pace | 30 seconds to 5 minutes. Longer repeats distances would use longer recovery intervals, while shorter repeat distance use shorter recovery intervals. A good starting point is about 1/2 of the repeat time. |
| Lactate Turn Point | 1 minute to 5 minutes of passive rest or 200 meters to 400 meters at an active easy recovery pace |
Recovery Pace
Your recovery pace can be any pace that meets your needs, but there are three “paces that are used in nearly all interval training workouts – complete passive rest, easy recovery pace and recovery floats. Complete rest is self explanatory. You rest completely without any running. Passive rest is monitored by time. Easy recovery pace is an active recovery in which you run at an easy pace. The exact pace is not important as long as it feels easy and is faster than a walking pace. Recovery floats are faster recovery intervals in which you “coast” or let your forward momentum carry you along at a very relaxed but strong pace. You should not feel like you are working hard during a float, but it should not be an easy run. Here are some recovery paces for various goals.
| Workout Type | Recommended Recovery Pace |
| Speed/vVO2 max | Passive Rest |
| Goal Pace | Passive rest throughout your program or passive rest early in your cycle with easy active recovery late in your cycle. Advanced runners may add in some recovery floats during the peaking stage of their training cycle. |
| Lactate Turn Point | Passive rest or active easy recovery |
Repetitions
The final choice you need to make for your interval training workout is the number of repetitions. Generally speaking, shorter repeats require more repetitions while longer repeats will have fewer repetitions. Repetitions can also be matched to your goal distance and well as the purpose of your workout. See below for some recommendations on number of repetitions.
| Workout Type | Recommended Repetitions |
| Speed/vVO2 max | 5 to 20 depending upon your goal race distance and fitness level. Begin with less repetitions early in your cycle and gradually add more as your fitness level increases. |
| Goal Pace | Your total work volume should equal your goal race distance for up to 10K. For example if your goal distance is a 5K and your repeat distance is 1000 meters you should do 5 repetitions. For goal race distances of 1/2 marathon or marathon, gradually work up to about 1/2 of your race distance. |
| Lactate Turn Point | 2 to 8 repetitions depending upon the repeat distance and your fitness level |
Putting It Together
So there you have it. You have all of the components of your workout and you’re ready to hit the track. Here is an example of how it comes together. For this example lets assume your goal is to run a 10K in 40 minutes. Your goal of this specific workout is to improve your efficiency at goal pace. You decide that your repeat distance will be 1000 meters since you are in the early stages of your training program.
Your goal time is 40:00 which means you want to run each 1000 meter repeat in 4:00. That becomes your repeat pace. A good starting point for your recovery intervals is ½ the same time or distance of your repeat distance, so for this interval workout you’ll use 2 minutes of passive rest. As you progress through your training program you can manipulate your recovery by reducing the time and/or changing to active recovery. For this workout your recovery distance/pace is 2 minutes of complete passive rest.
Now, how may repetitions should you do? Since your training for the 10K, the most efficient volume of your work repeats would be right around the 10K distance. 10 x 1000 meter repeats would give you a full 10,000 meters at race pace and a very effective 10K workout.
So, there is your workout in this example. You would do 10 x 1000 meter repeats in 3:12 with 3 minute of passive rest between each repeat. You have designed a custom interval training workout that is specifically built for your goal race and your goal pace. You can follow this same procedure to build any interval training workout for any goal distance. This purpose of this sample workout was to improve your goal pace running, but remember that the workouts should be specifically built for the purpose of your workout. You can design other interval workouts to improve your vVO2 max, lactate turn point, strength or endurance. By manipulating the components of the workout you can design an interval training session to meet any of your goals.
