Interval Intent with HR Graphs
I love seeing a nice heart rate graph after a workout. A well-executed interval session is art. I find them to be helpful tools in understanding the desired stimulus for a training session. Let’s take a look at some recent workouts and their intents.
Workout 1
Run 3 minutes @ fast but smooth pace
Run 1 minute @ easy, recovery pace
*repeat until 5000m
Intent:
The intent with this workout was to use intervals to run my normal neighborhood 5k, but at a slightly quicker, smoother pace than I have been. Not harder in the fact that my heart rate was higher or my breathing was out of whack, but just dipping my toes in uncomfortable. Maybe just a toe. I’m trying to build on the base I’ve been building since January. I’v run this exact route 6 times this year, 31:26, 29:44, 27:47, 29:31 and lastly on the interval day 25:55. Perfect. A little faster, not too hard, not too taxing, but just right.
For reference my running zone 2 is about 135-155 bpm.
Workout 2
SkiErg
15 sets
1:15 @ fast but sustainable pace
:45 @ rest
Intent:
The goal here was to get some lower heart rate training in with it feeling pretty hard. That means pushing the pace and limiting rest. This means I can’t push the pace too hard. I was targeting 1:55/500m for this session and came up a little short with an average of 1:57. Overall this was a nice piece that I’ll revisit again. It burned my muscles and made me breath hard, but wasn’t too taxing that I couldn’t bench press a couple hours later.
Not sure what’s going on with some of these sharp lines, but it’s been happening whenever connected to a rower or skier.
Workout 3
Concept 2 Bike
4 sets:
4000m @ stretch pace
2 min rest
Intent:
This was the day to go for it. Pick an ambitious pace for a long interval and try to hang on and repeat with a very tight turnaround. The two intervals above were time based, when doing workouts where I’m going to push it, I prefer to chase a distance since each time you speed up you’re getting closer to the finish. This was a good workout working on my threshold, and to really push the pace for a long time on the bike.
Workout 4
Concept 2 Bike
6 sets
8 min @ steady pace
1 min @ recovery pace
Intent:
It was interesting to do this workout a week after the hard bike workout above. The goal here was a long, easy ride with intervals to make it more manageable. I held a 2:00/1000m for all the intervals, and above I held a 1:43/1000m for just over 7 minutes. The intervals are about the same length, the rests are similar, but the paces are much different because of the different intents. I guess what I’m trying to say is that you can write the same workout and get a different stimulus each time based on the rest and intensity - and a that’s what intervals are, chances to curate a workout to get the right dosage of the right stuff.
Workout 5
6 sets:
90 sec @ hard pace
90 sec @ rest
-rest 4 minutes-
9 sets
1 min @ hard
1 min @ rest
*alt each round b/t row, ski, bike
Intent:
This was a fun workout in preparation for the ergathon. We cycled through the machines and really pushed the pace hard. I was happy with the quick heart rate recovery between bouts and felt like I could really push the pace on the machines.
Justin Miner
@justinminergain