Saturday, February 16, 2008

Why I Like 220s

I agree with Mark--quarters are an important element of mile training.  I think 220s serve a different purpose.  Quarters build strength.  But, that comes at a price, they can be hard to do--especially when the legs are feeling tired.
 
220s are useful for "speed".  220s abuse the legs a lot less and it is possible to run a workout of 220s even when the legs are feeling tired.
 
As I get closer to running my mile time trial, I'll be adding quarters to my workouts.  In fact, I like to throw in some halves too.
 
But, even when I'm doing quarters (and halves) I think I'll still do some 220s.  They are more fun, they build confidence, they hurt less.

3 comments:

Sub 5 at 50 miler said...

I still think 220s are more for fine tuning your workouts right near the end before a race, but then again, any track workout is good. I think when Bannister broke 4 minutes, he worked out until he could run 10 quarters in sub 60, with a 60-second rest. I never read anything about Bannister doing 220s.

Sub 5 at 50 miler said...

I'm still a little skeptical about doing 220s, prior to building a big distance base. However, I think at our age, since we're not running that fast anyway, it may help psychologically, and perhaps physically, to simply get out there and run at least something at a faster clip than our goal pace for the mile. Often quarters end up equal to, or maybe even slower than our goal pace. I will probably start throwing some 220s in at some point (maybe 200s, since I don't have an English system track).

Eric said...

Yes, now Mark sees the light! Running 220s help break the slow running cycle, but does so in a friendly way that provides superior speed work to longer intervals and an easier recovery.