Effort 4 vs Effort 5

by Damian
(Bristol, England)

Effort 4 vs. Effort 5

"Hi Marius

I am just starting your plan (finishing the introductory weeks) and am on the 4:30 plan. I am on that plan because I can only fit 3 sessions in a week but have run a 1:22 half. But that was over 20 years ago and I have not run much since then!

I currently judge my runs on effort (not pace) and do the interval runs on a treadmill. I understand your the first stages of effort but not the borderlines between E3 to E4 and E4 to E5. If I have got this right E3 is aerobic and somewhere between the bottom end of E4 (still aerobic) and the top end of E4 (anaerobic) you pass the lactate threshold. If that is correct my question is in two parts:

1, When you say "E4, run each one slightly harder" I assume you mean that the session should start aerobic and finish anaerobic?

2, As long as I can keep my running form is there any problems going into E5? I have a tendency to push the last 1 or 2 a bit harder than I possibly should!

Many thanks, Damian.

Answer: Hi Damian and thanks for your questions.

To put things simple :

Effort 3 is in the aerobic area, while in Effort 4 you pass the lactace threshold and start a slight accumulation.

When I speak of going slightly harder for each interval, it means within that Zone. So for Effort 4, you start at the very end of this and go just a little bit faster for each one, to build up.

I would strongly suggest sticking to the zones and not push into Effort 5, just because you can that day. It would influence the whole way the system is build it and even at 3 times a week it could lead to overtraining, as some of the sessions as very hard and demanding :)

I wish you all the best,
Marius