Running Around 8-11-08

Summer based training is officially over. This week we start the formal training cycle for fall racing. As is traditional for the Tuesday group, we will plan the schedule to peak for the Autumnfest 8k on Thanksgiving day. However, the schedule should have you running well throughout the month of November. The workouts will be geared toward road racing 5-15k. They will also work well for marathon training if you use the high end of the recommended distance for a particular workout and incorporate the appropriate long runs into your training. If you have a specific training goal that's different, I'm happy to talk to you about your training plan.

The recommended workout this week is a progression run on the roads and/or greenway. The concept of a progression run is simple: run harder in the second half of the run. Run easy for the first half of your run, then pick up the pace to approximately marathon pace (MP) for the second half. Use the links below to find your approximate marathon pace - even if you are not training for one. MP should be around 30 sec/mile faster that your regular training pace.

The goal is to gently re-introduce some speed work to help ease the transition from base work. MP is just an estimate. As long as you're running faster in the second half, you're doing it right. I'd like to see everyone cover at least 3 miles at an elevated pace, so I've set the minimum total distance to 6 miles. If you can do an hour, that is the ideal duration with 30 easy/30 hard. Longer is OK too.

Finally, Farragut H.S. track becomes the second location for official Tuesday night fun. Bobby Holcombe will be the site facilitator and can answer questions about workouts, routes, etc. Farragut is located here: http://tinyurl.com/5uvj2f. The 3-mile warmup route is: http://tinyurl.com/6589rf. I'm not sure of a good road course for 6-10 miles from Farragut, so hopefully Bobby can recommend one.




Training week 1 of 16 until Autumfest 8k. Now for the workout summary:

1. Progression run 6-10 miles. First half easy, second half at approximately marathon pace. For those who need a track fix, feel free to run the workout on the track instead of the roads or greenway.

2. Striders TWO times this week. 4-6 x 100m


Use a recent race to get your training paces here:
http://www.panix.com/%7Eelflord/vdot.html
-or-
http://www.runningforfitness.org/calc/rp.php