Table 4.

Intensity scale for elite middle-distance runners

Scale		BLa	HR	VO2max	RPE	TTF	Race pace	AWD	Int. time	Rec	Training methods
9-zone	5-zone	mmol·L−1	% max	%	6–20	min		min·session−1	min	min
9	SST	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	< 0:08	≤ 60 m	< 1	< 0:08	1–3	Accelerations, flying sprints (alactic)
8	SST	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	0:15	60–120 m	1–3	< 0:15	1–3	Progressive runs or maximal sprints
7	VHIT	> 12	n/a	115–140	19–20	1	120–600 m	3–6	0:15–1:30	3–15	Lact. prod. training, TT, LS competitions, hill rep
6	VHIT	> 12	n/a	100–114	19–20	4	800–1500 m	6–15	0:25–1:30	0:30–3	Lact. tol. training, TT, MD competitions
5	HIT	8.0–12.0	> 93	90–99	18–20	15	3000–5000 m	15–25	1–4	1–3	VO2max int., LD competitions, hill rep
4	HIT	4.0–8.0	88–92	85–89	16–18	30	10 000 m	20–35	2–7	1–3	VO2max int., hill rep
3	MIT	2.5–4.0	83–87	80–84	14–16	60	Half-marathon	20–50	3–10	1–2	AT runs, fartlek, AT int., prog. runsb
2	LIT	1.5–2.5	73–82	70–79	12–14	120	Marathon	20–90	n/a	n/a	Long run
1	LIT	< 1.5	60–72	55–69	9–12	n/a	n/a	20–150a	n/a	n/a	Recovery run, easy long run

BLa typical blood lactate (normative blood lactate concentration values based on red-cell lysed blood), HR typical heart rate, VO_2max maximal oxygen consumption, RPE rating of perceived exertion, TTF time to fatigue (single effort), AWD typical accumulated work duration, Int. interval, Rec. typical recovery time (active or passive) between repetitions, prog. progressive, lact. prod. lactate production, lact. tol lactate tolerance, hill rep. hill repeats, AT anaerobic threshold, TT time trials, LS long-sprint, MD middle-distance, LD long-distance, LIT low-intensity training, MIT moderate intensity training, HIT high-intensity training, VHIT very high-intensity training, SST short-sprint training

^aWarm-up is typically performed in zone 1–3, although with shorter duration, while cool downs are typically performed in zone 1–2

^bProgressive runs are typically performed in zone 1–3