Sticking to just one type of run or one pace can be counterproductive, and interval training, short bursts of high intensity running followed by a period of rest or lower intensity running, should be a regular part of your running schedule.
Jump to...
Interval training explained?
At its core, interval training is a form of cardiovascular training that alternates between high-intensity and low-intensity activity.
By pushing the body to its limit during the high-intensity period and then allowing it a brief respite during the low-intensity interval, it challenges both the aerobic and anaerobic systems simultaneously.
This leads to enhanced cardiovascular health, faster speed, improved endurance, and more efficient fat burning.
The Benefits of the Track
While interval training can be done anywhere, a standard 400-meter track offers a controlled environment that’s ideal for such workouts. It’s flat, measured, and free of traffic, which allows for accurate assessment of speed, distance, and progression.
Knowing that each loop is 400m makes it easy to measure your intervals and that’s what we’ve based the track interval pace chart on below.
Not only is that easier, but seeing a physical and manageable line to cross can give you a psychological boost, being able to achieve small victories throughout the workout.
When you’re running just ensure you remember that outside lanes will have a slightly longer distance.
| Lane | Metres | Miles |
|---|---|---|
| Lane 1 | 400.0 | 0.25 |
| Lane 2 | 407.7 | 0.25 |
| Lane 3 | 415.3 | 0.26 |
| Lane 4 | 423.0 | 0.26 |
| Lane 5 | 430.7 | 0.27 |
| Lane 6 | 438.3 | 0.27 |
| Lane 7 | 446.0 | 0.28 |
| Lane 8 | 453.7 | 0.28 |
A Simple Interval Workout
If you’re new to interval training, it’s important to start slow. An example of a basic interval workout might look something like this:
- Warm-up: Begin with a 10-minute easy jog to warm up your muscles and get your body ready for the high-intensity work ahead.
- High-intensity interval: Then, run one lap (400m) at a hard but manageable pace—about 85 to 95% of your maximum effort.
- Recovery interval: Follow this with one lap of slower jogging or even walking.
- Repeat: Repeat this high-intensity/recovery pattern 4-6 times.
- Cool down: Finish the workout with a 10-minute easy jog to cool down.
Remember, it’s not about how fast you go during the high-intensity intervals, but rather about maintaining consistency. The goal is to maintain a similar pace across all intervals, which can help improve your speed endurance over time.
Varying Your Workouts
As your fitness improves, you can adjust the length, speed, and recovery times of your intervals to further challenge your body and continue your progression. Here are a few examples of how you can vary your interval workouts:
- Shorter intervals with shorter recovery: Run 200 meters fast, followed by 200 meters slow, repeated 10-12 times.
- Longer intervals with longer recovery: Run 800 meters fast, followed by 400 meters slow, repeated 4-6 times.
- Ladder intervals: Start with a short interval and gradually increase the length of each subsequent interval before reducing them again, like 200m, 400m, 800m, 400m, 200m, each followed by an easy 400m.
Track Interval Pace chart
You should have an idea of what pace you will run your intervals, aiming for that 85 to 95% of your maximum effort, so using the chart below you can work in advance what pace you need to run for your track training.
It’s a hard work-out, and those recovery segments won’t seem long enough, but you will benefit from mixing things up.
| min/mile | min/km | 200m | 400m | 800m | 1200m | 1600m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04:00 | 02:29 | 00:30 | 01:00 | 01:59 | 02:59 | 03:59 |
| 04:05 | 02:32 | 00:30 | 01:01 | 02:02 | 03:03 | 04:04 |
| 04:10 | 02:35 | 00:31 | 01:02 | 02:04 | 03:06 | 04:09 |
| 04:15 | 02:38 | 00:32 | 01:03 | 02:07 | 03:10 | 04:14 |
| 04:20 | 02:42 | 00:32 | 01:05 | 02:09 | 03:14 | 04:18 |
| 04:25 | 02:45 | 00:33 | 01:06 | 02:12 | 03:18 | 04:23 |
| 04:30 | 02:48 | 00:34 | 01:07 | 02:14 | 03:21 | 04:28 |
| 04:35 | 02:51 | 00:34 | 01:08 | 02:17 | 03:25 | 04:33 |
| 04:40 | 02:54 | 00:35 | 01:10 | 02:19 | 03:29 | 04:38 |
| 04:45 | 02:57 | 00:35 | 01:11 | 02:22 | 03:33 | 04:43 |
| 04:50 | 03:00 | 00:36 | 01:12 | 02:24 | 03:36 | 04:48 |
| 04:55 | 03:03 | 00:37 | 01:13 | 02:27 | 03:40 | 04:53 |
| 05:00 | 03:06 | 00:37 | 01:15 | 02:29 | 03:44 | 04:58 |
| 05:05 | 03:10 | 00:38 | 01:16 | 02:32 | 03:47 | 05:03 |
| 05:10 | 03:13 | 00:39 | 01:17 | 02:34 | 03:51 | 05:08 |
| 05:15 | 03:16 | 00:39 | 01:18 | 02:37 | 03:55 | 05:13 |
| 05:20 | 03:19 | 00:40 | 01:20 | 02:39 | 03:59 | 05:18 |
| 05:25 | 03:22 | 00:40 | 01:21 | 02:42 | 04:02 | 05:23 |
| 05:30 | 03:25 | 00:41 | 01:22 | 02:44 | 04:06 | 05:28 |
| 05:35 | 03:28 | 00:42 | 01:23 | 02:47 | 04:10 | 05:33 |
| 05:40 | 03:31 | 00:42 | 01:25 | 02:49 | 04:14 | 05:38 |
| 05:45 | 03:34 | 00:43 | 01:26 | 02:51 | 04:17 | 05:43 |
| 05:50 | 03:37 | 00:43 | 01:27 | 02:54 | 04:21 | 05:48 |
| 05:55 | 03:41 | 00:44 | 01:28 | 02:56 | 04:25 | 05:53 |
| 06:00 | 03:44 | 00:45 | 01:29 | 02:59 | 04:28 | 05:58 |
| 06:05 | 03:47 | 00:45 | 01:31 | 03:01 | 04:32 | 06:03 |
| 06:10 | 03:50 | 00:46 | 01:32 | 03:04 | 04:36 | 06:08 |
| 06:15 | 03:53 | 00:47 | 01:33 | 03:06 | 04:40 | 06:13 |
| 06:20 | 03:56 | 00:47 | 01:34 | 03:09 | 04:43 | 06:18 |
| 06:25 | 03:59 | 00:48 | 01:36 | 03:11 | 04:47 | 06:23 |
| 06:30 | 04:02 | 00:48 | 01:37 | 03:14 | 04:51 | 06:28 |
| 06:35 | 04:05 | 00:49 | 01:38 | 03:16 | 04:55 | 06:33 |
| 06:40 | 04:09 | 00:50 | 01:39 | 03:19 | 04:58 | 06:38 |
| 06:45 | 04:12 | 00:50 | 01:41 | 03:21 | 05:02 | 06:43 |
| 06:50 | 04:15 | 00:51 | 01:42 | 03:24 | 05:06 | 06:48 |
| 06:55 | 04:18 | 00:52 | 01:43 | 03:26 | 05:09 | 06:53 |
| 07:00 | 04:21 | 00:52 | 01:44 | 03:29 | 05:13 | 06:58 |
| 07:05 | 04:24 | 00:53 | 01:46 | 03:31 | 05:17 | 07:03 |
| 07:10 | 04:27 | 00:53 | 01:47 | 03:34 | 05:21 | 07:08 |
| 07:15 | 04:30 | 00:54 | 01:48 | 03:36 | 05:24 | 07:12 |
| 07:20 | 04:33 | 00:55 | 01:49 | 03:39 | 05:28 | 07:17 |
| 07:25 | 04:37 | 00:55 | 01:51 | 03:41 | 05:32 | 07:22 |
| 07:30 | 04:40 | 00:56 | 01:52 | 03:44 | 05:36 | 07:27 |
| 07:35 | 04:43 | 00:57 | 01:53 | 03:46 | 05:39 | 07:32 |
| 07:40 | 04:46 | 00:57 | 01:54 | 03:49 | 05:43 | 07:37 |
| 07:45 | 04:49 | 00:58 | 01:56 | 03:51 | 05:47 | 07:42 |
| 07:50 | 04:52 | 00:58 | 01:57 | 03:54 | 05:50 | 07:47 |
| 07:55 | 04:55 | 00:59 | 01:58 | 03:56 | 05:54 | 07:52 |
| 08:00 | 04:58 | 01:00 | 01:59 | 03:59 | 05:58 | 07:57 |
| 08:05 | 05:01 | 01:00 | 02:01 | 04:01 | 06:02 | 08:02 |
| 08:10 | 05:04 | 01:01 | 02:02 | 04:04 | 06:05 | 08:07 |
| 08:15 | 05:08 | 01:02 | 02:03 | 04:06 | 06:09 | 08:12 |
| 08:20 | 05:11 | 01:02 | 02:04 | 04:09 | 06:13 | 08:17 |
| 08:25 | 05:14 | 01:03 | 02:06 | 04:11 | 06:17 | 08:22 |
| 08:30 | 05:17 | 01:03 | 02:07 | 04:14 | 06:20 | 08:27 |
| 08:35 | 05:20 | 01:04 | 02:08 | 04:16 | 06:24 | 08:32 |
| 08:40 | 05:23 | 01:05 | 02:09 | 04:18 | 06:28 | 08:37 |
| 08:45 | 05:26 | 01:05 | 02:10 | 04:21 | 06:31 | 08:42 |
| 08:50 | 05:29 | 01:06 | 02:12 | 04:23 | 06:35 | 08:47 |
| 08:55 | 05:32 | 01:06 | 02:13 | 04:26 | 06:39 | 08:52 |
| 09:00 | 05:36 | 01:07 | 02:14 | 04:28 | 06:43 | 08:57 |
| 09:05 | 05:39 | 01:08 | 02:15 | 04:31 | 06:46 | 09:02 |
| 09:10 | 05:42 | 01:08 | 02:17 | 04:33 | 06:50 | 09:07 |
| 09:15 | 05:45 | 01:09 | 02:18 | 04:36 | 06:54 | 09:12 |
| 09:20 | 05:48 | 01:10 | 02:19 | 04:38 | 06:58 | 09:17 |
| 09:25 | 05:51 | 01:10 | 02:20 | 04:41 | 07:01 | 09:22 |
| 09:30 | 05:54 | 01:11 | 02:22 | 04:43 | 07:05 | 09:27 |
| 09:35 | 05:57 | 01:11 | 02:23 | 04:46 | 07:09 | 09:32 |
| 09:40 | 06:00 | 01:12 | 02:24 | 04:48 | 07:12 | 09:37 |
| 09:45 | 06:04 | 01:13 | 02:25 | 04:51 | 07:16 | 09:42 |
| 09:50 | 06:07 | 01:13 | 02:27 | 04:53 | 07:20 | 09:47 |
| 09:55 | 06:10 | 01:14 | 02:28 | 04:56 | 07:24 | 09:52 |
| 10:00 | 06:13 | 01:15 | 02:29 | 04:58 | 07:27 | 09:57 |
| 10:05 | 06:16 | 01:15 | 02:30 | 05:01 | 07:31 | 10:01 |
| 10:10 | 06:19 | 01:16 | 02:32 | 05:03 | 07:35 | 10:06 |
| 10:15 | 06:22 | 01:16 | 02:33 | 05:06 | 07:39 | 10:11 |
| 10:20 | 06:25 | 01:17 | 02:34 | 05:08 | 07:42 | 10:16 |
| 10:25 | 06:28 | 01:18 | 02:35 | 05:11 | 07:46 | 10:21 |
| 10:30 | 06:31 | 01:18 | 02:37 | 05:13 | 07:50 | 10:26 |
| 10:35 | 06:35 | 01:19 | 02:38 | 05:16 | 07:53 | 10:31 |
| 10:40 | 06:38 | 01:20 | 02:39 | 05:18 | 07:57 | 10:36 |
| 10:45 | 06:41 | 01:20 | 02:40 | 05:21 | 08:01 | 10:41 |
| 10:50 | 06:44 | 01:21 | 02:42 | 05:23 | 08:05 | 10:46 |
| 10:55 | 06:47 | 01:21 | 02:43 | 05:26 | 08:08 | 10:51 |
| 11:00 | 06:50 | 01:22 | 02:44 | 05:28 | 08:12 | 10:56 |
| 11:05 | 06:53 | 01:23 | 02:45 | 05:31 | 08:16 | 11:01 |
| 11:10 | 06:56 | 01:23 | 02:47 | 05:33 | 08:20 | 11:06 |
| 11:15 | 06:59 | 01:24 | 02:48 | 05:36 | 08:23 | 11:11 |
| 11:20 | 07:03 | 01:25 | 02:49 | 05:38 | 08:27 | 11:16 |
| 11:25 | 07:06 | 01:25 | 02:50 | 05:41 | 08:31 | 11:21 |
| 11:30 | 07:09 | 01:26 | 02:51 | 05:43 | 08:34 | 11:26 |
| 11:35 | 07:12 | 01:26 | 02:53 | 05:45 | 08:38 | 11:31 |
| 11:40 | 07:15 | 01:27 | 02:54 | 05:48 | 08:42 | 11:36 |
| 11:45 | 07:18 | 01:28 | 02:55 | 05:50 | 08:46 | 11:41 |
| 11:50 | 07:21 | 01:28 | 02:56 | 05:53 | 08:49 | 11:46 |
| 11:55 | 07:24 | 01:29 | 02:58 | 05:55 | 08:53 | 11:51 |
| 12:00 | 07:27 | 01:29 | 02:59 | 05:58 | 08:57 | 11:56 |