Interval workouts for runners: 8 sessions you can open right away
Classic interval sessions, ready to use. Tap a workout to open it in the free RunSpan planner, adjust it if you like, and send it to your Apple Watch or Wear OS watch. Every session starts with a warm-up and ends with a cool-down.
Short and fast
- 8 × 400 m, 90 seconds easy in between. The classic track session for speed; run each one at about your 5 km race pace or a little faster.
- 10 × 1 minute hard, 1 minute easy. No track needed; good on a hilly route because it runs on time, not distance.
- Pyramid 1-2-3-2-1 minutes with short recoveries. Varied, so the session flies by.
Longer repeats
- 6 × 1 km, 2 minutes recovery. Steady and controlled, around 10 km pace.
- 4 × 4 minutes hard, 3 minutes easy. A well-known session for your aerobic capacity.
- 3 × 2 km, 3 minutes recovery. Preparation for a half marathon or 10 km.
By heart rate
- ♥ 160 / 120 until you stop: run until 160, walk until 120. The effort stays the same however you feel that day. More in heart rate intervals.
- Zone 2 with walk breaks: calm running that never drifts too high.
How to run them evenly
The most common mistake in intervals is starting the first repeat too fast. In RunSpan you see from the second repeat how you are doing compared with the previous one: a grey line with a grey dot is the last repeat, your own line is green when you are ahead and orange when you are behind, and the watch shows the difference in seconds. Aim for a line that runs along with the grey one.
How to use them
- Tap a workout: it opens in the planner. Sign in (free) to save it.
- On Apple Watch: install RunSpan from the App Store; with Sign in with Apple your workouts are the same on iPhone, watch and web.
- On Wear OS: send it to your watch with the 4-character code. See also interval training on your Samsung Galaxy Watch.
More: run-walk intervals · help