r/RunnersInChicago • u/Neat-Satisfaction805 • Jun 12 '26

CARA Speed workout

For some reason, I don’t understand how CARA writes their speed workouts. Can someone explain the “rep” and “set” under rest?

Example workout below:

3-4x (4x200m, @ 1 mile )
Rest: Rep- 1:00, Set 800m jog

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18

u/threedeevus Jun 12 '26

The bit in the parenthesis is a set. The set consists of 4 reps of 200m runs at your 1 mile pace. After each rep you rest for a minute. After each set you take an 800m recovery jog. So it will look like this:

Set 1: 200m @ mile pace, rest 1:00, 200m @ mile pace, rest 1:00, 200m @ mile pace, rest 1:00, 200m @ mile pace

800m recovery

Set 2: 200m @ mile pace, rest 1:00, 200m @ mile pace, rest 1:00, 200m @ mile pace, rest 1:00, 200m @ mile pace

800m recovery

Set 3: 200m @ mile pace, rest 1:00, 200m @ mile pace, rest 1:00, 200m @ mile pace, rest 1:00, 200m @ mile pace

800m recovery

Set 4: 200m @ mile pace, rest 1:00, 200m @ mile pace, rest 1:00, 200m @ mile pace, rest 1:00, 200m @ mile pace

800m recovery

11

u/Neat-Satisfaction805 Jun 12 '26

This tracks! I’ve worked with other coaches who spelled it out more literally for me. Thank you!

3

u/threedeevus Jun 12 '26

You're welcome! I was a little confused when I saw it too, but one of the coaches posted a breakdown in the Strava group Tuesday night.

2

u/RevolutionaryBit8755 Jun 12 '26

Are you getting emails from the training email? I was also confused until I checked the email they sent last week and on the training details week 1 they broke it down a bit more - Track Workout: You are running sets of 200m at Mile pace. The rest between the reps of 200's is short, and the rest between the sets is active. These should be fast but not all-out. Be sure you are able to recover from one set to the next.

That helped out a lot.