Running Around 1-29-06 (Week #4)

It was great to see so many of you out racing at Calhoun's! It sounded like nearly everyone ran well or at least enjoyed the great weather.

Careful readers will have noticed that we've been progressively increasing the length of our T repeats. We are working up to a continuous run of around 22 minutes at T pace. However, we'll put that off for a week. This week we'll fall back to an easier workout to avoid overloading ourselves after the 10-mile race. If a particular workout seems too ambitious for your fitness level, or if progressing to longer repeats has been too strenuous, you can always fall back to one of the earlier workouts. Just stick to the guidelines I mentioned last week. If you deleted the message, just drop me a note, and I'll resend it to you.

Week #4 in the training cycle and 17 weeks to Expo. This week, let's do:

1. 3-5 x1600m @T pace with 1 minute rest in between.
If you didn't run Calhoun's you can do this workout or last week's workout.

2. Striders TWO times this week. 6x100. Add another day of striders following an easy run.

Get your pace here ... http://www.panix.com/%7Eelflord/vdot.html ... If you want to keep doing road runs, that's OK too.

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Marathoners ... 7 weeks to go for the Knoxville Marathon.

Hopefully you're taking advantage of the training runs on the weekend. It's a lot easier to get those long runs in when you're running with friends. Hopefully, you're also well acquainted with the great technical clothing that's available. If you're running in cotton, you should consider investing in something more technical like coolmax, dri-fit, etc. Those materials help to wick sweat away from your skin. In a short race or training run, you may not notice a difference. But over the long haul of the marathon, the little things make a huge difference. And believe it or not, they will help keep you cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.

For a workout: If you ran Calhoun's do the workout above, if you skipped the race, you can do the above or 7 miles at marathon pace.

Running Around 1-23-06 (Week #3)

Special recognition to the hearty souls that made it out to the track last Tuesday in the cold, pouring rain: Alvaro Ayo, Skippy O'Carragher (ran in the rain but not at the track), Herb Gengler, Daniel Julian, Matt Nolen, Jerry Schohl, Elijah Shekinah, Gary Sperl, and David Tompkins.

Since we're doing a lot of T-pace work now, here are some guidelines for T workouts. Some of these I've already mentioned in previous emails:
1. T-pace mileage should be about 10% of your weekly mileage per workout. So, 40 miles per week means 4 miles of T running. If you're an experienced runner, you might be able to handle 10% + 1 mile (i.e. 40 miles = 5 miles of T running).
2. Minimum total time for the T running should be 20 minutes.
3. Minimum number of T miles should be 3
4. Rest is one minute per mile of work and is based on the repeat preceding it. So, a 3200m repeat is followed by a 2 minute rest, and a 2000m repeat is followed by a 1:15 rest.


Week #3 in the training cycle and 18 weeks to Expo. This week, let's do:

1. 2 x 3200m @T pace with 2 minutes rest in between.
If you're only doing 3 miles, do 3200 with 2 minutes rest followed by 1600 @T

If you're running the correct pace, this should not be an overly stressful workout. You'll have plenty of time to recover for Calhoun's. There is no need to cut back on your workout - especially this early in the season.

2. Striders at least one time this week. 6x100.

Get your pace here ... http://www.panix.com/%7Eelflord/vdot.html ... If you want to keep doing road runs, that's OK too.

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Marathoners ... 8 weeks to go for the Knoxville Marathon. Starting thinking about shoes and GUs and other things you'll be doing during the race. Have a pair of shoes ready for race day that have a few miles on them but not too worn out. If you're running the longer races, use the same shoes you'll be wearing in the marathon to make sure they're the right shoes. Practice eating and drinking during training and races, so you won't have any surprises on race day.

For workouts, I'll recommend the track workout above plus Calhoun's 10-miler.It's is a great opportunity for some quality racing or training. If you don't feel up to racing 10 miles, you could run the race at marathon pace.

Running Around 1-15-06 (Week #2)

I've noticed that not many of us are running strides before the workout. Let's work to improve that. They serve two purposes at the track. First, they act as a good transition from warmup to workout by getting your heart rate up, getting your legs turning over, and they give you an idea if anything needs a little extra stretching before you start. Secondly, they act as a cue. Do them before a workout to remind your body it's time to run fast. Do them before a race and your body will learn to recognize the cue to get ready for fast running.

Start with a few steps at a gentle pace, then increase your speed over the course of about 60-80 meters. By the halfway point, you should be running fast, but controlled. Think about form and quick turnover. There is no set time in between, just catch your breath, stretch or whatever. I usually do 4 before a workout.

Away from the track, strides are a good way to work on leg turnover and stay sharp. I would recommend incorporating 6-8 x 100m strides following (or during) at least one regular, easy run this week. These are informal. No specific rest is required. They don't have to be on a track. Just find a stretch of road, and run like you did when you were a kid. This is something I have not done in the past, but I'm going to start doing them regularly.

So ... week #2 in the training cycle and ... 19 weeks to Expo. For this week, let's do:

1. 3200 @ T pace with 2 minutes rest + 1-3 x 1600 @ T pace with 1 minute rest between repeats.

The idea here is that we will gradually increase the lengths of the repeats until we can do at least 20 minutes continuously at T pace. For volume, you should be doing about 10% of your weekly mileage with a minimum of 20 minutes of quality. For example, someone running 30 miles a week would do 3 miles total. If you're experienced with these workouts, you can probably push the limits a little. I've found I can do 10% + 1 mile without any negative effects.

Keep in mind that these are not gut-wrenching, gasping, sprint intervals. The pace should be comfortably hard but controlled. It's a pace that you can hold for an hour-long race. It's temping to go faster because you're well below 100% effort.

2. Striders at least one time this week.

Get your pace here ... http://www.panix.com/%7Eelflord/vdot.html ... If you want to keep doing road runs, that's OK too.

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For marathoners ... 9 weeks to go for the Knoxville Marathon. The T pace stuff is well-suited for marathon training, so if you're working out at the track on Tuesday, go with the workout above. As I alluded to last week, you should be working on some marathon-specific pacing. If you haven't been doing any, start with 5 miles at marathon pace (MP) this week. Treat it as a workout, so don't just start cold at MP. Do at least 2 miles warmup and cooldown. You can either do it during the week as a separate workout (Thursday would be a good day) or include it as part of your long run. Note that this applies to advanced runners and veteran marathoners looking to improve their times. If you are a first-timer, stick to one workout per week.

For MP work, you'll need a marked course or one of those GPS thingies. Try Cherokee Blvd, Lakeshore Greenway, Will Skelton Greenway (at Ijams), or one of the local race courses.

Running Around 1-8-06 (Week #1)

OK. This week we officially kick off a new training cycle. We've traditionally done 2 cycles per year. The first is geared to peaking for the Expo 5k/10k on Memorial Day weekend. The second is geared toward peaking for a race in late fall -- usually Autumnfest.

In a training cycle there are 4 phases. Each trains a different physiological system. For this cycle, each phase will be 5 weeks long.

Phase 1 is for base building and injury prevention. Ideally, we shouldn't be doing speedwork in phase 1. However, we've been on the roads for at least 5 weeks, so I think it's OK to get back to the track if you're feeling stale (mentally or physically). Just keep in mind that speedwork is a low priority in this phase. First priority should be your weekly long run and building or maintaining your mileage base. Also, we shouldn't be waring flats for workouts at this point. Save your legs for later in the year.

So ... 20 weeks to Expo. For this week, let's do:

3-5 x 1600 @ T pace with 1 minute rest between repeats. If this is your first workout back, start 10-15 seconds per mile slower for the first repeat. If you're feeling comfortable, increase the pace. Get your pace here ... http://www.panix.com/%7Eelflord/vdot.html ... If you want to keep doing road runs, that's OK too.

Also ... 10 weeks to the Knoxville Marathon:
Since its so far into training, I don't have a specific workout for marathoners, but T pace is excellent for marathon training. You should be able to handle longer repeats and more volume - something like 2 x 5k with 3 minutes rest. Hopefully, you're also doing some continuous marathon-paced runs too. If you're not, try starting with 7 miles at pace. If you can get to 13 miles at pace in a workout, your confidence should be high for race day. If anyone is interested in specific marathon workouts, let me know, and I'll include them.

For newcomers, we start each workout with a warmup run and end with a cooldown run. There is a short option around 2 miles and a longer option of 3 miles. I've entered the routes in the USATF's online database. To view them directly, go to:
http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=2342
http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=2347

That's all for this week ...

Running Around 1-1-06

Happy New Year Everyone --

It's an honor to be entrusted with the coaching duties. I have some big shoes to fill. Donnie, and Dave Nelson before him, laid the foundation for this group as I know it, and you can expect things to continue much as they have under their leadership. As we go along, I'll gradually put my own spin on things. I'll be interested in feedback on which workouts get results for you and which do not.

My philosophy on running is simple. You get out of it what you put into it; if you work hard you will improve.

And now for this week's workout ....

"Nothing changes on New Year's Day" -U2

Let's do one more week on the roads. That will give everyone a chance to recover from the holidays before we start with more structured workouts next week.

If you feel the need to hit the track, then 4x1600 @T pace is a good maintenance workout. Take one minute between repeats. Go here ... http://www.panix.com/%7Eelflord/vdot.html ... to find your T pace.