Running Around 7-31-06

I had a few questions about striders last week, so here is a refresher ... Striders are short, fast runs of between 50 and 100 meters. They are run at a "comfortable sprint" pace (i.e. fast with good form but not all out). Think fast and relaxed. You should be concentrating on quick leg turnover and good running form. Don't over stride. Take a full recovery between each repetition; you shouldn't be out of breath before the next one. If you find yourself tying up before the end of each strider, either slow down, take more rest between reps, or shorten the distance of the repetition.

Since I haven't heard any complaints, we'll stick with the greenway for at least this week. We may do some hills next week. For the tempo section, shoot for a pace that is T pace + 15 sec/mile. It should be about half way between MP and T paces.

We'll follow the same route as the last 3 weeks. I've mapped it here ... http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=287194 ... start where we normally finish the warmup and head down to Tyson Park via Volunteer and Cumberland. If you get to the Bi-Lo at the end of the greenway, you can connect to the new section on Sutherland to get to 4 miles. Look for mile markers (and some every .5 miles) painted in dark blue on the right side of the path.

Get your MP here ... http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/rununiv/mcmillanrunningcalculator.htm
Get your T pace here ... http://www.panix.com/%7Eelflord/vdot.html

Now for the workouts ... Week #4 in the training cycle and 20 weeks until Autumnfest:

1. 1-hour Quality Run: 20 minutes easy + 20 minutes MP + 10 minutes tempo + 10 minutes easy.

2. Striders after the workout: 4-8 x 100m

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Fall marathoners ... 12 weeks until race day (for Chicago; others see notes that follow)

Get ready to pick it up a notch. This week's primary workout is tough, but the fitness gains are worth the hard work. It might be a little more than you can do on Tuesday, so plan accordingly in terms of time. Also, since it is a longer workout, it might be best to do it in the morning.

1. TLT: 4-5 x 1000@T pace w/1 min rest + 1 hour easy run + 3 x 1000 @T w/1 min rest. Be sure to do at least 1 mile warmup and cooldown. If this workout is too long, reduce the first T session to 3 repeats. I suggest extending the warmup and cooldown to make this your weekly long run.

2. 6x400 @R + 6-10x200 @R pace. All with equal distance rest. Total R-paced running should be about 5% of your weekly mileage.

Marathoners for races other than Chicago have the following number of weeks to go. See the previous posts at http://trackworkouts.blogspot.com/ for the corresponding workouts:

Marine Corps: Do the marathon workout from 7-24-06
NYC: Do the marathon workout from 7-17-06
Chickamauga: Do the marathon workout from 7-17-06
Huntsville: Do the marathon workout from 6-19-06

Anyone running Huntsville or later can substitute the regular track workout if you want to run with the group this week.