Short or long intervals: which to choose, and when

Short intervals: raising VMA

30/30s, 10 × 400 m, 8 × 1 minute: these sessions are run at 100% of VMA or a little more, with a recovery equal to the effort time, jogging. They are placed early in the plan, when the goal is to raise the ceiling.

The watch receives each repeat as a step with its pace target. You count nothing: it beeps at the start and end of each effort.

Long intervals: holding VMA

6 × 3 minutes, 5 × 1,000 m, 4 × 5 minutes: at 90-95% of VMA, with a recovery shorter than the effort. These sessions come mid-plan and prepare threshold and race pace.

They hurt differently: the end of each repeat asks you to hold on while the pace does not change. It is exactly the feeling of the last five kilometres of a 10K.

How the plan sequences them

Weeks 1 to 3: short, to install speed. Weeks 4 to 6: long, to hold it. Then alternation until the taper, with a single VMA session a week for 3- or 4-session variants, two for variants with 5 sessions or more.

• — Short: 30 s to 2 min, 95-105% of VMA, recovery equal to the effort.
• — Long: 3 to 6 min, 90-95% of VMA, recovery shorter than the effort.
• — One VMA session a week is enough to progress.

The coach reads each completed session on Garmin, compares the pace held per repeat with the target, and tells you: three repeats at 105% then two at 92% signal a start that was too fast, not a good session.

Frequently asked questions