3 minute running intervals: five reps at 98–102% of your vVO₂max, with 3 minutes of jogging between each. 15 minutes of work in a 52-minute session. The step up from short intervals, for 10K to marathon runners who've already done 30/30s or 1-minute reps.
| Target | Zone | Time | vVO₂max 14 km/h | vVO₂max 16 km/h | vVO₂max 18 km/h |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 98–102% | 5VO₂max | 15 min | 4:22/km–4:12/km 686–714 m per rep | 3:50/km–3:41/km 784–816 m per rep | 3:24/km–3:16/km 882–918 m per rep |
| 50–60% | 1Recovery | 12 min | 8:34/km–7:09/km 350–420 m per rep | 7:30/km–6:15/km 400–480 m per rep | 6:40/km–5:33/km 450–540 m per rep |
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Long intervals make you hold your vVO₂max for minutes at a time. Over a 3-minute rep, your oxygen uptake takes a minute or two to climb, then stays close to its maximum until the end: that time spent right next to your VO₂max is what the session sets out to build up. Short intervals such as 30/30s gather less of it, because each effort is too brief for oxygen uptake to climb as high.
The 3-minute length isn't arbitrary. It's about half the time you can hold vVO₂max, the principle behind Véronique Billat's protocol, and it sits within the 3 to 5 minutes Jack Daniels prescribes. In a small study, Billat's protocol improved speed at vVO₂max and running economy, but not VO₂max itself: a result to read with caution.
10K to marathon runners who already have a few short-interval sessions in their legs, such as 30/30s or 1-minute reps. If long reps are new to you, start with three, or with the Norwegian 4 × 4, run just below vVO₂max. You need a recently measured vVO₂max: over 3 minutes, a figure that's slightly too high is enough to wreck the session.
One VO₂max session a week is usually enough, with 48 hours before another hard session. Avoid the day before a long run or a race. To progress, build from 3 to 5 reps over a few weeks, then stretch the efforts towards 4 or 5 minutes, or cut the recovery to 2 minutes: never all three at once. Retest your vVO₂max after 4 to 6 weeks: if it's gone up, update it and your sessions recalculate.
10′ at 60–65% vVO₂max + 5′ at 66–72% vVO₂max
10 minutes of easy running at 60–65% of vVO₂max, then 5 minutes at 66–72%. Add two or three relaxed 20-second strides: the first rep is already at vVO₂max, so your legs need to be ready.
5 × 3′ at 98–102% vVO₂max, 3′ recovery
Five 3-minute reps at 98–102% of your vVO₂max, with 3 minutes of jogging at 50–60% between each. At 16 km/h that's 3:50 to 3:41/km, or 784 to 816 metres per rep: two laps of a track, give or take a few metres. Start the first at the bottom of the range, then hold it. The jog covers 400 to 480 metres: don't walk, but don't push it either. If you're clearly losing distance from the fourth rep, stop there: the session has done its job.
10′ at 55–65% vVO₂max
10 minutes of very easy running at 55–65% of vVO₂max. Compare the distance of your first and last reps: a few metres' difference is normal; half a lap means your vVO₂max is set too high, or you went off too fast.
Hard but controlled. The first two reps feel almost easy; your breathing runs away from you around the second minute of each, and the last 30 seconds call for gritted teeth. The fifth is the one that costs. Guide: 8 out of 10.
At vVO₂max the start feels easy, so you speed up. Over 3 minutes the bill arrives by the end of the rep, then on every rep after. Settle at the bottom of the range on the first, and only push on if the fourth goes well.
The 3 minutes of jogging aren't wasted time: they let you start the next rep at vVO₂max, not slightly under it. Shortening them is a way to progress later on, not a way to save time.
A figure measured a year ago, or estimated from a race, may be too high. Over 30 seconds you get away with it; over 3 minutes the session falls apart by the third rep.
Long intervals take more out of you than they seem to. Leave 48 hours before another hard session, and keep the next day easy.
Véronique Billat and colleagues (Med Sci Sports Exerc 1999), 8 runners: 5 reps at vVO₂max lasting 50% of the time that speed can be held (Tlim), with an equal recovery at 60% of vVO₂max; vVO₂max and running economy improved, VO₂max did not, with no sign of overtraining. The runners did one session a week for 4 weeks, then three a week for 4 weeks. Millet and colleagues (Can J Appl Physiol 2003): this half-Tlim format with equal recovery gives about 487 s above 90% of VO₂max, against 149 s for 30/30s. Tlim at vVO₂max varies widely between studies (321 ± 83 s in 14 elite runners, 357 ± 110 s in 10 subjects, 236 ± 49 s in 8 triathletes): the 3 minutes assume a Tlim of 6 minutes, a default to individualise. Jack Daniels (Daniels' Running Formula, Human Kinetics) prescribes 3- to 5-minute intervals at I pace, at or very near VO₂max, with a recovery of similar length, according to secondary summaries. The 98–102% range, the jog recovery, the warm-up and the cool-down are Wattson choices. Bottom line: good evidence on the immediate response, moderate on the gains.
Reps of roughly 2 to 6 minutes, run at or just below your vVO₂max, with a recovery of similar length. They contrast with short intervals such as 30/30s, made of 15-second to 1-minute efforts. Long intervals make you hold vVO₂max for longer each time: tougher, and closer to racing.
98–102% of your vVO₂max. At 14 km/h, 4:22 to 4:12/km, or 686 to 714 metres in 3 minutes; at 16 km/h, 3:50 to 3:41/km, or 784 to 816 metres; at 18 km/h, 3:24 to 3:16/km, or 882 to 918 metres. On a track, that's about two laps at 16 km/h.
Because the session is about the quality of each rep: with recovery equal to the effort, you start again at vVO₂max rather than slightly below it. It's also the ratio in Billat's protocol, and Daniels' rule of a recovery close to the length of the rep. Shortening it comes later, as a way to progress.
Both. Short intervals such as 30/30s are easier to sustain and a good place to start. Long intervals spend more time near your VO₂max on every rep, and prepare you better for the continuous effort of a race. Many plans start with short ones and move to long ones as the goal race gets closer.
Five, once you're used to the format. If long reps are new to you, start with three, then add one every week or two. Beyond five, lengthen the reps towards 4 or 5 minutes rather than adding more: the session stays a reasonable length.
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