Running Around 2-27-06 (Week #8)

We'll continue with our 3rd week of work on running economy and strength. Remember that these are fast repeats, but speed is not the only goal. We want fast, smooth, efficient running. If you're running fast but flailing and staggering, that doesn't do much for you. If you can back of the speed just a touch and run more efficiently, you'll get better results. When you get tired, concentrate on keeping your turnover high.

Now for the workouts ... Week #8 in the training cycle and 13 weeks to Expo:

1. 4 x 200m, 2 x 400m, 800m, 2 x 400m, 4 x 200m @R pace with equal distance rest. Note that each group totals 800m.

Volume should be about 5% of your weekly mileage. So, make the following adjustments for your weekly mileage:
45+: no adjustment
45: Drop two of the 200's at the end
40: Drop two of the 200's at the beginning and the end
35: Drop three of the 200's at the beginning and the end
30: Do half the 200's and 400's
25 or lower: Stop after the 800m repeat (but include the jog recovery)

2. Striders TWO times this week following an easy run. 6x100.

3. Optional second workout if you're not racing: 22 minute run @T pace.

Get your paces here ... http://www.panix.com/%7Eelflord/vdot.html

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Marathoners ... 4 weeks to go before the Knoxville Marathon.

Hold your mileage one more week ... taper starts next week.

I expect most of you are planning to run the Whitestone 30k at the end of the week. Keep in mind that it is a tough course and a long race. I would advise not racing all out for the full distance. It's just too strenuous to be doing so close to the marathon. Instead, treat it as an opportunity to lock in your marathon pace in a race setting -- you'll have a measured course, splits, and water/powerade. Back in 2003, I raced hard at Whitestone and didn't realize until a few weeks later how much it had taken out of me. I think it really hurt my performance at Boston that year. My suggestion is to limit your fast miles during the race to a maximum of 13. So, you could do something like warmup for the first 2 miles, hard for the next 13, and relax over the final 3.6 as a cooldown.

If you're running a later marathon like Nashville, go for it. You'll have time to recover.

Workouts:
1a. (Running Whitestone) 3 x 1600 m @T w/1 min rest + 2 x800m @I pace with equal TIME jog for rest. So, if your 800m was 3:30, jog 3:30 for rest. You can typically cover half the distance. So, shoot for 400m jog.
1b. (No Whitestone) 3200m @MP + jog 400m + 3200m @T w/2 min rest + 2-4 x800m @I pace with equal TIME jog for rest.
2. Whitestone 30k or incorporate 5 miles at MP into your long run.
3. Striders. Following two runs this week. 6x100.

Get your paces here ... http://www.panix.com/%7Eelflord/vdot.html

Running Around 2-19-06 (Week #7)

There is a new way to get your workouts! The workouts are posted here in reverse chronological order (most recent at the top). There are also some useful links (e.g. pace calculator) and running routes. If you would prefer to get your workout via the website or RSS instead of email, let me know, and I'll remove you from the list.

This week, we'll run some hills. Hills are tough. But hill workouts are great for improving your strength and running economy (our focus in this phase). You can't maintain the same speed uphill as the 200s & 400s we did last week, but we want the intensity of the hill repeats to be the same as that workout. Remember to focus on good form and light, quick steps. Experiment a little to see what works best for you, but some suggestions for hill running include slightly shorter strides, leaning slightly forward, and slightly exaggerating your arm drive and knee lift. Note that I included "slightly" often. These are subtle not radical adjustments.

The hill route is at the Kingston Pike end of Cherokee Blvd. We start at the iron gate and jog down to where the path is interrupted by the road the second time. When you get to the bottom, turn around and run up. Jog back down for recovery. Since you finish at the top, there is no need to do a recovery jog after your last one. The hill is slightly over 400m. The route is here: http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=9492.

The warmup for the hill workouts is to simply run out to Cherokee Blvd. Conveniently, it's almost exactly 2 miles. I've mapped it out here: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=28366 ... Start at the track. Cross the bridge to the Ag campus. Cross Neyland and pick up the greenway next to the river. Follow the greenway and then continue to the intersection of Neyland and Kingston Pike. Cross over to the North side of Kingston Pike to run on the sidewalk. Follow K.P. all the way to Cherokee Blvd. Since it will be dark, be extremely careful -- especially crossing K.P!! If you have any reflective gear, it would be a good idea to wear it.

If you don't want to run the hill workout for whatever reason, you can run 400m repeats on the track.

Now for the workouts ... Week #7 in the training cycle and 14 weeks to Expo:

1a. 6-10 x hills @R intensity.
1b. 8-12 x400m @R pace with equal distance rest.
For both, volume should be about 5% of your weekly mileage. Count only the hard running, not the rest. So, 30 miles per week would run 6 hills or 6 x400m on the track.

2. Striders TWO times this week following an easy run. 6x100.

3. Optional second workout: 2-3 x 3200m @T pace with 2 min rest.

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Marathoners ... 5 weeks to go before the Knoxville Marathon.

These next 2 weeks are the toughest because you're tired from weeks of training at the same time you're doing the toughest runs and workouts. Hang in there. The taper is coming soon!

Workouts:
1. 3200m @MP + jog 400m + 3200m @T w/2 min rest + 2-4 x800m @I pace with equal TIME jog for rest. So, if your 800m was 3:30, jog 3:30 for rest. You can typically cover half the distance. So, shoot for 400m jog. If you ran Strawberry Plains, skip the MP miles.
2. No second workout, but incorporate 3 MP miles into your weekend long run.
3. Striders. If you haven't been running them, start now. 6x100.

Get your paces here ... http://www.panix.com/%7Eelflord/vdot.html

I'm still doing road running until my hamstring gets stronger and I get a solid base again. I'll probably run out to Cherokee Blvd with you guys and then back to the track.

On last thing ... Back in the day, Donnie (and Dave before him) would give an overview/reminder of the workout before we started the warmup. I'm going to start doing that on a regular basis. If I forget, remind me. It will also give you a chance to ask questions if you have them.

Running Around 2-13-06 (Week #6)

Hey, what's all of that fluffy, white stuff on the ground?!? I hope everyone took advantage of the rare opportunity to get out and run in the snow this week. I love running in the snow ... especially when it's fresh ... but only as a novelty. I don't think I would enjoy it if I had to do it all winter long.

You all looked great during last week's 22 minute run. No one seemed to be struggling, and everyone finished strong. You probably didn't notice, but we had an unofficial state record set during the workout! The ageless Bob Barber beat the current 4-mile record for his age group by about 2 minutes, and he made it look easy.

That workout closed out the first of four training phases leading up to Expo. We will move from base-building and maintenance to working on running economy for 5 weeks. Economy is an often overlooked aspect of running performance. Mick wrote a couple of good articles on the subject in recent issues of Footnotes. This phase will help us improve mechanics and strength. Although the pace is fast, don't focus on speed. Focus on running efficiently with light, quick steps and good overall form.

This is the point in training where I usually start doing 2 workouts per week. If you opt to include a second workout, I recommend doing it on Thursday or Friday. If you are racing on any given week, skip the second workout. So, from now until the end of this training cycle, I'll include 2 workouts for each week. Keep your mileage up and continue doing a regular long run. If you're tentative about adding another workout, try adding an extra one every other week or every third week to see how it goes.

Now for the workouts ... Week #6 in the training cycle and 15 weeks to Expo.

1. Sets of 200m, 200m, 400m @R pace. Rest is equal distance jogging (200m rest following 200m, 400m rest following 400m). Volume should be about 5% of your weekly mileage. That works out to 1 set for each 10 miles. If you're in between you can do the first half of a set. For example, someone running 35 miles per week would run 3 complete sets + the 200m repeats of a 4th set. You should be recovered in plenty of time for Straw Plains if you're running; no need to shorten the workout.

Get your pace here ... http://www.panix.com/%7Eelflord/vdot.html

2. Striders TWO times this week following an easy run. 6x100.

3. Optional second workout: 3-5 x 1600m @T pace with 1 min rest.

I won't be at the track this week. Since Tuesday is Valentine's Day, I'll be spending the evening with my wife.

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Marathoners ... 6 weeks to go for the Knoxville Marathon.

I think my countdown was off by a week before. It's correct now. Anyway, this is where your training diverges from those training for shorter races. I would strongly encourage you to run the Straw Plains 1/2 marathon this coming weekend. It will be a good test of fitness, and those high quality miles will be very beneficial to your marathon training. If you're scheduled for more than 13, add some easy miles after the race as an extended cooldown.

Workouts:

1. Tuesday: 2 x 3200 @T w/2 min rest. This is the same workout we did the week before Calhoun's.
2. Straw Plains half.

1b. If you're not running the half, add 1-2 x 3200 @ marathon pace with 2 min rest to the Tuesday workout.

There is a lot of information here this week. If you have questions, don't hesitate to email me.

Running Around 2-6-06 (Week #5)

This is the final week of the first phase in this training cycle. We've been working on improving our ability to run at T pace. This week we're going to do a continuous run of 22 minutes. This workout will emphasize the importance of running the correct T pace. It won't be an easy workout, but if you're running your pace, you'll get through it. You might even be surprised how quickly you recover. Remember that T pace is approximately the pace you can run for an hour in a race. So, don't be intimidated by the duration. You are capable of running for nearly 3 times longer than this workout.

Consistency is key this week. Try to maintain an even pace throughout. If you get to a point where your pace starts to drop off, take a 1 minute rest then finish the workout. I would define dropping off as 2 laps in a row that are 5 seconds slower than your target.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to join you on the track this week. I decided after last week's workout to take a week off to rest my hamstring. I did something to it more than a month ago that ended up aggravating an old injury. I've been able to run through it, but it wasn't getting any better. That means I'll have to reset my training cycle, so I'll be out of sync with the group until we get close to Expo. I'll try to get to the track about the time you all are finishing your warmup.

Week #5 in the training cycle and 16 weeks to Expo. This week, let's do:

1. 22 minutes continuous run @T pace. If you want to stretch it a minute or two to get a nice even distance or finish a lap, that's OK.

2. Striders TWO times this week following an easy run. 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 ... 6 weeks to go for the Knoxville Marathon.

For a workout, do the T-pace stuff above. If you are an experienced/advanced marathoner, take a two minute rest OR a jog lap (your choice), then do 1-2 miles at marathon pace. Use your own judgment on how far to go. If you get to a point where you can't hold the pace, you're done.