The 2 Minute Tabata Drill
This morning's workout was a fast one on the road: Only 10 minutes!
Here's how it went:
2 Minutes Easy Pace
2 Minutes of Tabata Intervals
1 Minute Easy Pace, turn around on road
1 Minute Easy Pace
2 Minutes Tabata Intervals
2 Minutes Easy Pace
Basically a 5 minutes out, 5 minutes back routine. 4 Minutes of hard stuff, 6 minutes of the easy stuff.
It is the type of workout you'd find being sent to you, via Twitter, with my new Coaching program at http://TwackAttack.com.
Short, fast, to the point.
Why continue to follow the mundane mileage programs that a runner endlessly searches through, when you could be basing your workouts on your intensity levels to really achieve a higher level of fitness!
In fact, so many runners try to put in endless miles for such races like 5K's and 10K's, when perhaps they are better off training in Kilometers than by miles, and doing so more precisely by using new technology to measure those kilometers (since we are "Metrically Challenged" here in the US!), such as GPS watches.
Here's an excerpt from my e-book, Endure!, on this very issue alone:
- Why running in miles is useless as a measurement for races that
are run in kilometers
I explained some of this already, but I need to say it again: Why run in
miles when we race in meters? Many coaches take an easy way out of their
planning and just randomly pull a magical number of miles out of their head.
“Ah, let’s just run 4 miles today, have the girls run about 3, and do some
stuff at the end.” That’s their practice plan. Done in about 10 seconds of
guessing on a whim. It is no wonder we hear horror stories of kids in XC
and how they run so much, most of them are running with little purpose!
If you are a coach, put a PLAN together for your athletes. Build a strategy
to create your success plan for the whole season. Don’t just plot out so
many miles to be done each week. Put a purpose behind it! Figure out the
total meters that the kids should be running each day, in their longer
recovery runs, and in their speed workout sessions. All of this can be
figured out if you have a GPS watch and use the meters readout on it! By
doing it in kilometers, you can be more precise in your scientific approach to
training your athletes.
- End ExcerptEven for my 1600m, 800m, and 400m races coming up at the state amateur track meet in July here in North Dakota, I am racing in meters, so most of my total runs come out to be based on meters when I am working on race-pace specific intervals, such as 200m & 400m paces. It is just a lot simpler to do on the math side of things.
As an example, let's say you have a 7 minute 1600m time. You want to get down to 6:30. Let's do the math for your 100m, 200m, and 400m paces you need to run at to get used to the 6:30/1600m time.
6:30 is 390 seconds.
390 seconds divided by 4 laps is 97.5 seconds.
90 seconds is 1:30, so you are looking at a 1:37-38 time for your 400m intervals.
Half of 98 is 49 seconds, so that gives you your 200m pace.
Half of 49 is essentially shy of 25 seconds, so that's your 100m pace.
I've discovered is just easier to go from total seconds of your race time, and use seconds to figure out your paces for each interval frame. If needed, seconds can be then converted back into a minute time (1:37, for example, on a 97 second 400m split).
For more cutting edge info on using GPS training & kettlebells to boost your fitness levels for distances of 5K or less, please make a visit over to http://kettlebolics.com.
Of course, you can get a free copy of Endure!, which is a part of the KettleBolics package, when you sign up for http://TwackAttack.com. For under $7, you can get started with a high intensity interval training program, complete with online support & coaching to back it up, plus the Endure! e-book too! After your first month, you can continue to get coaching & workouts through TwackAttack for under 57 cents a day...is that a great deal or what? Where I live, a cup of coffee at the cafe is 75 cents. At TwackAttack, you get a program, coaching, plus community support, for less than the price of a cup of coffee per day! Plus, there's 'no bull' to put up with...just plain, simple workouts to get your body in great shape!
Run Strong, Run Fast....
Run So As To Win!
Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
PS: I just launched some new Summer Training Camps to start up in June for area athletes in the Finley, ND area. Please visit http://asapworkouts.com/2009.html to see all the info on the "Thunder & Lightning Camps" for athletes!
Interesting,
This is a great drill,
Keep up the good work,
Thanks
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