THE CLUB GAA PLAYER'S GUIDE TO

MAS RUNS, TEMPO RUNS

& INTERVAL TRAINING

What they are, when to use them in-season, and how to get the most out of each

By Gary O'Daly | Gaz Gaelic Guide

First Things First

Right, before we get into the meat of this, I want to be straight with you. I spent years showing up to training, giving it everything in the sessions, playing matches at the weekend, and wondering why my fitness was always my weak link. I could sprint, I could lift, but ask me to sustain a high pace across 60 minutes and I was cooked.

The honest answer? I never did any structured conditioning work outside of collective training. No MAS runs. No tempo work. Nothing. Just relied on the sessions to carry me.

Once I actually started building structured running into my week, the difference was night and day. Not overnight, but over weeks and months, I was recovering quicker between hard runs, holding my pace later in games, and genuinely feeling like I had something left in the tank when it mattered.

This guide is everything I know about MAS runs, extensive tempo, intensive tempo, and interval training for club GAA players. I'll tell you what each one is, when to use them, how to fit them into a week with matches and training already in it, and, just as important, when to avoid them altogether.

What is MAS?

MAS stands for Maximal Aerobic Speed. The simple version: it is the slowest running speed at which your body is working at its absolute maximum oxygen uptake, what the science lads call VO2 max.

What does that actually mean for you? It means it is your aerobic ceiling. The fastest you can run while still using your aerobic energy system. Once you go above it, you are running on borrowed time because you have crossed into purely anaerobic work that you cannot sustain for long.

The goal of MAS-based training is to spend time at or just above that ceiling so your body adapts and the ceiling itself rises. When that ceiling rises, everything below it becomes easier. You recover quicker between hard efforts. You hold your pace later in games. The runs at training feel more manageable.

How Do You Find Your MAS?

The most straightforward way for a club player is the 1K time trial. Run a kilometre as fast as you can on a flat surface. Record your time, convert it to a speed in metres per second, and that gives you a solid working estimate of your MAS.

You can also do a 6-minute run test, covering as much distance as possible in 6 minutes. Divide the distance covered (in metres) by 100 and that gives you another solid MAS estimate. Either way, once you have a number, you have something to actually train off rather than guessing.

Retest every 4 to 8 weeks if you are in a heavy training block. During championship season, you do not need to be re-testing constantly. Every couple of months is grand.

MAS Runs: What They Are and How to Use Them

MAS runs are structured interval sessions where you run at a specific percentage of your MAS for set time periods, with rest intervals in between. The most common format is 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off, running at somewhere between 100% and 120% of your MAS.

The reason short intervals at or above your MAS are so effective is that they allow you to accumulate a lot of time in that high aerobic zone without completely battering yourself. You could not run at 110% of your MAS continuously for 10 minutes. But you could do it in 30-second blocks with rest in between, and end up with 6 to 8 minutes of quality time in that zone across the session.

A Basic MAS Session Structure

Say your MAS is 4.4 m/s. At 100% that is 4.4 m/s, which means in 30 seconds you need to cover roughly 132 metres. At 110%, you are covering about 145 metres in 30 seconds.

Set your cones, do the maths once, and then you just hit your distance every rep. Simple as that.

Benefits of MAS Runs

• Raises your aerobic ceiling over time, so everything below it feels easier

• Improves how quickly you recover between high intensity efforts during games

• Efficient: you get a big aerobic stimulus in a relatively short session

• Highly individual because it is based on your own MAS score, not what the lad beside you is running

• Adaptable to all fitness levels because intensity is relative to your own score

When to Use MAS Runs In-Season

MAS runs fit best on your higher intensity days, not immediately before or after matches. In a standard club week with a match at the weekend, Tuesday or Wednesday works well if you are fresh enough from the match. The key thing is you need to be able to hit your distances properly. If you are still creaking from Sunday, wait a day.

During the championship, pull the volume back. One short MAS session midweek is plenty. Two if you have a gap of more than a week between games and you feel fresh.

When to Avoid MAS Runs

• Within 48 hours of a match, going either direction. Do not do them the day before a game or the day after a hard one

• When you are carrying any kind of injury to the lower limbs. MAS work puts real demand on the legs

• When you are deep into a heavy block and the legs are shot. It is better to do a zone two session and come back fresh

• If your collective training session that week has already been very run-heavy, you may not need to add more on top

Extensive Tempo Runs

Extensive tempo runs are controlled, aerobic-zone running efforts at around 65 to 75 percent of your maximum speed. They are not sprint work, and they are not a gentle jog either. They sit in that steady, sustainable zone where you are working but fully in control.

The typical format in a GAA context is repeated runs of 100 to 200 metres at that controlled intensity, with a 1:2 work to rest ratio. So if you run 100 metres in 20 seconds, you take 40 seconds rest before going again.

What Extensive Tempo Does For You

• Builds your aerobic base, the foundation everything else sits on

• Helps develop running mechanics at a repeatable, sustainable pace

• Useful as a light conditioning session on a lower intensity day without hammering the legs

• Good for lads who are behind fitness-wise after injury or a long lay-off and need to build back gradually

• Helps flush fatigue out of the legs when used as light active recovery work

When to Use Extensive Tempo In-Season

Extensive tempo fits best early in the competitive season or during lower intensity windows in your week. It is also a solid option if you have missed a few collective sessions and need to top up your conditioning without going so hard that you are wrecked for the next training session.

It is not your highest priority tool during peak championship. You would use it more as a maintenance piece or a recovery tool, rather than the main event.

Sample Extensive Tempo Session

When to Avoid Extensive Tempo

• Do not use it as a replacement for higher intensity work. Train slow, stay slow. It needs to sit alongside more intense sessions in your week

• Do not do it the day before a big match if you are looking to feel sharp. Keep the legs fresh

• If you are already doing two or three heavy sessions a week, stacking more running on top may increase your injury risk

Intensive Tempo Runs

Intensive tempo is the step up from extensive. You are now working at 80 to 89 percent of your maximum speed, which puts you right at the border between aerobic and anaerobic work. The rest periods are longer relative to work, typically a 1:3 ratio, because the efforts are harder and you need to actually recover between reps to maintain quality.

Distances are usually 80 to 200 metres per rep. The pace should feel genuinely demanding but controlled. If you are going flat out, you have crossed out of intensive tempo and into speed endurance work, which is a different thing entirely.

Benefits of Intensive Tempo

• Develops the ability to sustain a high pace for extended periods, very relevant to GAA match demands

• Improves your lactate threshold, meaning you can work harder before fatiguing

• Bridges the gap between aerobic base work and true sprint training

• Builds the engine needed to repeat high-speed efforts across a full 60 to 70 minute match

When to Use Intensive Tempo In-Season

This fits well in the earlier part of the competitive season when you have a bit more time between games. Midweek on a high intensity training day, after a proper warm up and before your collective session if there is one that evening, or as a standalone session.

It is more taxing on the body than extensive tempo, so you need to manage it carefully around match week. Do not put intensive tempo sessions in the two days before a game.

A Sample Intensive Tempo Block

• 8 to 10 reps of 100 metres at 80 to 85 percent effort

• Rest: 90 seconds to 2 minutes between reps

• Or 4 to 6 reps of 200 metres at the same intensity with 3 minutes rest between each

• Two sets max in-season, with 4 to 5 minutes between sets

When to Avoid Intensive Tempo

• During heavy championship blocks where you are playing every one to two weeks. The accumulated fatigue is not worth the fitness return at that stage

• If you are carrying a niggle or a soft tissue issue. The pace demands of intensive tempo are hard on hamstrings and groins

• If your collective training is already high intensity and heavy on running, adding intensive tempo on top is doubling up unnecessarily

Interval Runs

Interval training is a broad category that covers a lot of ground, but for the purposes of a club GAA player doing supplementary work, we are talking about structured efforts with defined work and rest periods, typically at 85 percent or above max speed.

The key difference from tempo runs is intensity and specificity. Interval sessions can be designed to mimic the repeated sprint demands of a GAA match, something like 10 seconds on, 20 seconds off, mimicking the burst-and-recover pattern you get in actual games.

Types of Interval Runs Relevant to GAA Players

Short Aerobic Intervals (30:30s)

30 seconds on, 30 seconds off at around 100 to 110% of MAS. This is where MAS training and interval training overlap. Great for building aerobic capacity in a time-efficient way.

Repeat Sprint Intervals

6 to 10 second efforts at maximum or near-maximum intensity, with full recovery of around 60 to 90 seconds between each. These replicate the actual sprint demands of a match and are as specific as it gets for GAA conditioning. Not to be confused with conditioning work. These are about speed and power repeatability, not fitness volume.

Longer Aerobic Intervals

Efforts of 60 to 90 seconds at a hard but sustainable pace, with equal or slightly longer rest. Good for building the capacity to sustain high intensity work over longer periods. Particularly useful for midfielders and wing backs who cover massive ground during games.

When to Use Interval Runs In-Season

Short aerobic intervals fit well on high days when you have the energy for quality work. Repeat sprint intervals are best done early in the week when you are freshest, before collective training if the volume is kept low. Longer aerobic intervals suit lower intensity days when you want to do conditioning work without touching maximal speed.

When to Avoid Interval Runs

• High volume interval sessions in the 48 hours around a match. You want the legs fresh

• If collective training is already heavy with repeat runs and shuttle work, extra interval sessions will stack fatigue without adding much benefit

• When you are dealing with soft tissue issues like hamstring tightness or groin soreness. Interval work at high intensity is a common trigger for those

How to Fit These Into an In-Season Week

The biggest mistake club players make is trying to fit too much in and ending up going at 60 percent effort across everything. Three sessions at a nine out of ten intensity will do more for you than seven sessions at a four out of ten.

Here is a straightforward framework for fitting structured running into a typical club week with two collective training sessions and a match at the weekend.

Every week will be different. Games get moved, training gets cancelled, life gets in the way. The framework above is a starting point, not a rigid rule. Work with what you have got, not what the ideal week looks like on paper.

Quick Reference: Which Run for Which Goal?

The Most Common Mistakes I See

Going too hard on tempo runs. Tempo is supposed to be controlled. 70 to 80 percent effort across all reps. Most lads go flat out for the first two, then tail off completely. That is not tempo training, that is just going hard and then wrecking yourself.

Replacing collective training with solo conditioning runs. A 5K run does not replicate a training session. It never will. The change of direction, the game scenarios, the chaos of actual play, none of that is in a steady road run. Use your conditioning runs to supplement training, not stand in for it.

Doing everything every week and being floored for the match. If you are doing MAS sessions, intensive tempo, extra gym work, and playing matches, and you are going into games with dead legs, the volume is too high. Dial it back. Being fresh for games is the whole point.

Never testing MAS and just guessing at intensity. If you are not working to a specific number, you are probably either going too easy or too hard. Do the 1K time trial, work off your actual number, and your sessions will be far more effective.

Final Note

If this is new information for you, do not try to implement all of it overnight. Start with one structured session per week outside of collective training. Do it consistently for a month. Then look at adding a second.

The lads who make the biggest improvements are not the ones who do the most. They are the ones who do the right things at the right intensity, consistently, over time.

If you want a structured plan that already has this built in around your club commitments, head over to gazgaelicguide.com. The in-season training plans have the running work programmed in alongside the gym work so you are not trying to figure it all out yourself.

Follow along: @gazgaelicguide

TikTok | Instagram | Facebook | gazgaelicguide.com