TRAINING
CRACK THE COMBINATION Why mixing things up in your interval workouts can be just the stimulus your training needs
in many runners’ routines to build fitness or prepare for a race. Often, though, runners will work through a menu of standard interval sessions and repeat them across the year. Certain workouts – for example 10 to 12 x 400m repeats with 60 seconds’ rest – can be seen as ‘straight’ interval sessions, involving running blocks of hard effort at the same pace with rest intervals. But combination workouts mix two or more different intensities within a single session, offering the chance to mix things up in order to challenge your body differently. Here’s how they can benefit your running.
Why do combination workouts? Stimulus: Just like all interval sessions, combination workouts challenge your mind and body. We adapt to training after a period of
066 RUNNERSWORLD.COM/UK JULY 2022
doing the same thing and I’ve seen many runners get stuck repeating the same types of interval work for little return. Mixing different intensities within a session provides you with a new stressor, which can push your training forward and help you to break out of a rut. Efficiency: Many runners struggle to fit in all the different types of session and intensities they’re encouraged to do. Some runners will find one or two hard sessions every seven to 10 days is enough. If this is you, combination workouts allow you to touch on these intensities without cramming your week with hard sessions. You can mix hills and tempo work into the same session, for example. Interest: Combination workouts encourage you to plan your effort better through a session. A greater emphasis on pacing and psychology can make these types of workouts
MIX AND MATCH Choose the areas you want to focus on and build them into a combined interval workout
more interesting for runners who struggle with grinding out the same effort throughout a whole session. Progression: As you’ll see with the examples below, combination workouts can be used to progress your training towards a specific race goal, or to maintain fitness you’ve built in a previous training phase.
When to do them The classic use of combination sessions is as a bridge between different training phases. Let’s say that you’ve recently finished and recovered from a marathon or half marathon race and you’re looking to race a 5K in 10 to 12 weeks’ time. As you move closer to the 5K, your pace in training sessions should start to focus towards your goal race pace – for example, 15 to 20 minutes at onehour race pace, plus three to four lots of three minutes at 5K to 10K pace.
P H OTO G R A P H Y: G E T T Y I M AG E S
INTERVAL SESSIONS feature
