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.