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Mar 2021
4:43pm, 11 Mar 2021
3,460 posts
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J2R
SailorSteve, I wouldn't really dispute what you say there. There's certainly no easy way of getting fast without putting the miles in, and I would even say that until you get to c35+mpw, you're probably not going to make the most of any speedwork you do. I'm certainly a big fan of doing the vast majority of my runs easy (I have a followed a polarised training approach for a few years now). What intrigues me about this 'Easy Interval Method' is that the interval sessions he talks about are, in effect, easy runs - same overall pace, same mileage, same non-knackered feeling at the end - just done a different way.
The guy doesn't rule out long runs, incidentally, they're a fundamental part of the programme, particularly for HM and marathon distance. He just advocates that you throw in 'surges' of 30 seconds or so every 6-7 minutes, to vary pacing and avoid deadening your legs. The intervals are more a replacement for day to day steady easy runs.
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Feb 2022
10:26am, 9 Feb 2022
36,247 posts
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SPR
Did a 4 x 1000 session today. As Canute suggested previously, it's quite a nice (easy) way to add a bit of speed into runs. Shorter ones may possibly feel harder but the 1000 are pretty comfortable imo.
I got a niggle mid January and I'm still working through it but at this point of the year I really want to be introducing some speed and this method came to mind as possibly a good way to do it in an easy manner.
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Feb 2022
10:28am, 9 Feb 2022
36,248 posts
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SPR
I know the method is normally 6 x 1000 btw but 1 x 1000 was part of testing how my niggle responded to some speed over distance.
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Feb 2022
10:28am, 9 Feb 2022
36,249 posts
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SPR
*4 not 1
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Feb 2022
10:06am, 10 Feb 2022
4,074 posts
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J2R
Interesting to see you've picked up on this, SPR. I have an inkling that this method might actually be a little more beneficial for middle distance runners than for long distance, so there's a good chance you'll get something worthwhile out of it. I'm still doing it, almost a year on from my first post on the subject.
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Feb 2022
10:56am, 10 Feb 2022
36,254 posts
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SPR
Most of the running is not at MD paces so not seeing the it will be more beneficial for MD runners than LD. It's general training not specific. The 1000s are HM pace for example.
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Feb 2022
11:08am, 10 Feb 2022
4,075 posts
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J2R
Yes, it's general training, and can be given different emphases dependent on what your goals are. My suspicion, though, from working with it for a year and observing what people on the Facebook group have been saying, is that the overall greater emphasis on speed and less on long runs may be more beneficial for the shorter distances than the longer. Certainly last year I did better on the track than I did in long distance road running.
But I hope I'm wrong, because my main aim is actually to get a half marathon PB.
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Feb 2022
11:39am, 10 Feb 2022
36,255 posts
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SPR
At some point you need to do specific training I'd guess. IMO if you feel you're missing something from the method then I wouldn't just stick with it, I'd introduce something to work on what you're missing.
Are you doing full Easy Intervals Method then?
I guess if people just do easy Intervals and especially if they are doing just 2 or 3 days a week, they are unlikely to have the endurance for longer distances. Reading the book it keeps a long run a week from what I see. I just see it as aerobic intervals and therefore I think some steady running shouldn't be an issue and I think you can be reactive in those runs rather than 'plodding'. Obviously the method thinks intervals are better than continuous runs but I don't think it's that black and white and there's a balance based on current strengths/ weaknesses.
For me, I've done enough mileage over the last year and the winter so I want to introduce some speed but keep it somewhat easy for now given the niggle. I hadn't appreciated how easy the 1000s would feel so that might be something I use next winter for in-between speed (10 sec hill sprints is my pure speed during the winter). I like aerobic intervals and this gives me more options.
Hope the HM targeting goes well.
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Feb 2022
12:17pm, 10 Feb 2022
36,256 posts
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SPR
I did 10 x 400 today BTW. 7 miles in total. Yesterday was 6 miles so currently I'm not missing mileage really. I'm doing it on my standard road running route with ups and downs.
400s didn't feel as easy as 1000s. More a legs thing than a lungs things which makes some sense given the last three weeks of injury/ niggles.
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Feb 2022
3:25pm, 10 Feb 2022
4,076 posts
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J2R
Curiously enough, I find that I naturally do the 200s at the slower end of the range, the 400s at the faster end of the range and the 1000s at the middle of the range. Doesn't make sense, I know.
As I suggested earlier in this thread, my legs typically feel the same after I've done a 7-8 mile run at a steady easy pace as they do after a 6 x 1000m session coming to the same distance, and I do feel the latter is probably more beneficial. My 1000s are actually slightly slower than HM pace usually - between ca. 3:50 and 4:10 per km, where my PB HM pace would be 3:47 per km. So pace wise it falls between HM and marathon.
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Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training (F.I.R.S.T.) acolytes!
Sep 2023