Building Up
As your fitness improves, you will be able to handle a much greater workload during interval sessions and you can experiment with much greater distances. For example, middle and long distance runners will often run intervals sets of a mile or more, repeated perhaps ten times as part of their training. While this is unnecessary for most people, a session of 8 x 400 metres is certainly worth a try.Pace
Interval running is usually done at 100 per cent, but this doesn’t mean that you have to sprint at the same speed for 400 metres as you would over 100 metres. Use a speed appropriate for the distance that you’ve got to travel, but remember that you’ll be able to go faster and faster as the weeks go by.Frequency.
Interval training helps you make large improvements to your fitness, but it takes a lot out of you. Don’t try and do more than one interval session a week at first and never do more than two unless you’re training for something very speed specific. Speed workouts take much more out of you than normal running. If you find that you aren’t recovering from quickly enough, shift your speed workout day so that it falls before a rest day in your training. As you become stronger you will be more able to cope with it in the midst of your normal training.(published with permission in writing from:http://www.fireservice.co.uk)
