The Benefits of Interval Training

My Marine Corps Marathon training is kicking in soon and the FIRST training plan that I'll be using along with my running buddies has us scheduled for an interval workout each week. I know interval workouts help increase your overall speed, but I wondered what other benefits you gain from doing a weekly interval workout. Here's what I found.

• You'll burn more calories. Yep, that's right. Recent studies (i.e., American College of Sports Medicine), show that short intense runs such as intervals or fartleks can be very beneficial to weight loss. The Mayo Clinic also says that the more vigorously you exercise, the more calories you'll burn — even if you increase intensity for just a few minutes at a time.

• You'll increase your endurance. As your cardiovascular fitness improves you'll improve your aerobic capacity which means you'll be able to exercise longer and more intensely.

• You'll be able to better adapt to the demands of an endurance race. Interval training works both the aerobic and the anaerobic system. During the intense running of your interval workout, your muscles use stored glycogen for energy. This is the Anaerobic system at work. Because the anaerobic system doesn't use oxygen, it gives off a by-product called lactic acid which results in that burning sensation you feel in your muscles. When you jog for recovery in between intervals, your heart and lungs work together to add oxygen back into the muscles, breaking down the lactic acid. This is the aerobic system at work. Doing intervals on a weekly basis helps teach your body to build up a higher tolerance to lactic acid buildup. It also strengthens your heart. In a nut shell, this means improved performance and improved endurance. So speed work actually helps endurance runners become more efficient runners.

• You won't need any fancy equipment. All you need is a track, but actually you don't even need that if you can find a flat area and measure your repeat distances. Getting to a track can sometimes be difficult for me, but I discovered that the parking lot at one of our local parks is a half-mile loop which is basically 800meters. Perfect for interval training.

• You'll make your training week more interesting. Not only will you have a different experience to look forward to, you'll eventually begin to see how your other "regular" workouts are beginning to benefit from your interval training.

• You'll feel amazing after an interval workout. During the workout you may be cursing, but afterward, the sense of accomplishment is very rewarding.

• Consistent interval training can help to lower your resting heart rate. The more blood pumped per beat the less your heart needs to beat each minute. The more blood pumped per beat the LESS your heart needs to beat each minute. That's a good thing!

Never Thought I'd Say This...

.....but I'm starting to not mind the treadmill. Still can't believe I put that into words. I've never liked running on the treadmill. A 4-miler on the treadmills seems like an 8-miler to me. But North Carolina's unpredictable winter weather and it getting dark so early has made treadmill running a must in order for me to keep my running schedule going.

One afternoon bored silly and on my 3rd treadmill mile, I thought, hmm, if I speed it up I'll get this over with quicker. I increased the speed and ran at that level for a quarter mile. Then I decreased it for a quarter mile. I felt great! So, I ramped it up even more for a half mile. I continuded this speed-up, slow-down process and what was supposed to be a 4-miler ended up being an awesome 5-miler. I was so surprised how spicing it up some with some repeats, actually made the treadmill workout enjoyable.

Evidently lots of other runners already know about this technique, but in case you're like me and haven't been in the loop, I thought I'd share. So next time you find yourself watching the clock counting the seconds till your treadmill run is over, try running some fartleks or repeats and I guarantee you'll be just as surprised as I was.

Check out this clip from 4-time Olympic Trials qualifier and Runner's World contributor, Budd Coates. He shares a challenging half-mile repeat workout for the treadmill. (Click here to view video clip.)

Another thing that's helped is finding a good workout download for my Ipod. In the February 18th post, "Get Movin' With a Workout Mix" I shared how pleased I was with the workout mix I downloaded from The Biggest Loser Website. It really does help break the monotony as well as provide a good beat to keep your pace up.