Summertime Interval Training

Normally, my yearly training plans only include 3 interval sessions per year. The first session goes along with my spring marathon training. About 4 weeks later, I start a second session which leads me in to my summer racing season. I then don’t start my last i.e fall session until about 8 weeks out from my fall goal race.

This year, however, I decided to add a summer interval session. With all the ultra-miles going in to my legs, I need to keep my legs turnover up. My hope is that this would do it.

The one difference with this session, I am doing shorter intervals, and I increased the number of sets. With the heat and humid of the summer, I am finding that the short, intense intervals make the session feel more lively and quicker. The recovery portion of my intervals are equal distance to the distance of the interval itself. Since my focus here is solely around getting my leg turnover up, I feel like this is okay. I will focus more utilizing my intervals for fitness during my fall session.

I am also tacking on some strides at the end of my easy day runs. I usually do between 8 and 10 strides. Each runs about 30 to 50 meters.

For those runners considering a adding a summer interval session, this doesn’t have to match up with your spring and fall sessions. It just has to be enough to remind the body how running hard should feel.

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