Workouts: 1,200M Intervals @ 10K Pace

Coach Joe English

Workout: 1,200M Intervals at 10K Pace

Workout Summary: The 1,200M interval is a longer interval than most runners may gravitate too when heading for the track. Three times as a long as a 400M interval, the 1,200M forces the runner to work on pacing more than shorter intervals. Heading out too fast in these intervals will result in a melt-down at best and that’s why they are so great.

In this workout, you’ll do less intervals — on the order of three to six of them — because of the longer distance. The pace of these will be approximately your 10K pace (about 4-6 seconds per 400M lap slower than your 5K pace). The rest interval will be in the range of 45 seconds to two minutes depending on your level of fitness.

Background: For some reason, the 1,200M interval is just a bit less scary and painful than running a full mile. In fact, at 3/4 of a mile, it is shorter than a mile, but mentally it just feels a little better. With that said, once you get into this workout, you’ll find that you need to pace these intervals carefully. Depending on your speed, these intervals might only take four to six minutes each, so they are short enough to be pushed hard. Going out too fast in the first lap will result in a big crash and make those last two laps pretty dreadful. Because of all of this, the 1,200M is a wonderful way to practice your 10K pace.

10K pace is going to be the pace that you can sustain for 5-6 miles. It will be around 15-20 seconds per mile (4-6 seconds per 400M lap) slower than your 5K pace. Running at this pace should feel a bit easier when you set out in the first lap, but by the end of the interval, you should feel like you’re pushing hard and your heart rate and breathing will reflect that.

Where to do this workout: You can do this workout on the track, but it can also be done in a circular loop in a park. 1,200M (3/4 mile) is long enough that a park hosting a number of softball fields or soccer fields might be about 3/4 of a mile around.

How fast to do this workout: These intervals are a perfect platform to work on pacing. Check your pace as you pass each lap to make sure that you’re not slowing down over the course of the interval. 10K pace is a controlled effort. It should feel hard but manageable in the first lap and then start feeling progressively harder as you get into the second and third laps. Not only should each lap within the interval be run at the same pace, but each interval in the set should be run at the same pace too. Try to complete these intervals within 1-2 seconds of one another.

Nice things about this workout: The 1,200M is a little nicer than a 1,600M for some reason, perhaps because you’ll have less of a frame of reference when trying to convert them to “pace per mile”. But the 1,200M is great for working on longer pacing.

When can you start? 1,200M intervals require some base before you start adding them in to your workout series. You’ll need enough time on the track to run 1,200M at a consistent hard pace as well as to maintain that pace over the course of the entire workout. In other words, you might start working these in to the mix about 1/2 way through the season.

How often can you do this workout? This is a good companion to faster (5K pace) workouts, so it can be done in a week to balance that faster workout.

Advanced options: One of the ways to make this workout more difficult is to run the first two laps at 10K pace and then increase the pace to 5K (4-6 seconds faster) in the last lap. Also, decreasing the rest interval is going to make these more difficult.

We’ll feature another workout next week, so stayed tuned! Don’t miss our video series feature every Thursday here on Running Advice and News.

Coach Joe English, Portland Oregon, USA
Running Advice and News
www.running-advice.com

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