Running Around 1-26-09

I was considering hills again this week, but I think we'll put that off until next time. Many of the regulars ran Calhoun's, so we'll do some more tempo work this week since it's a little lower intensity workout. We'll bump up the distance by 400m to 2000m - that's 5 laps.

Recovery weeks
One thing I haven't mentioned in a while is taking recovery weeks during the training cycle. I recommend dropping your mileage 10-20% for one week every 4-7 weeks. Experiment a little to find the frequency that works best for you. The goal is to get some active recovery in middle of the training cycle. Instead of building, building, building, a single week of relative rest should yield fewer injuries as well as better performance.

Upcoming ...
2/7/09 Metro Knoxville XC Distance Clinic.
Featuring the legendary Dr. Jack Daniels. See http://ktc.org/MsgB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3949 for details.


Week 4 of 20 of training for Expo 10k/5k. Now for the workout summary:

1. 4-6 x 2000m@T pace w/60 rest in between. Volume should be 10% of your weekly mileage. Adjustments based on weekly mileage. All at T pace w/60s between regardless of distance.
25 mpw: 2x2000m
30 mpw: 800m + 2x2000m
35 mpw: 1600m + 2x2000m
40 mpw: 3x2000m
45 mpw: 1200m + 3x2000m
50 mpw: 4x2000m

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

Running Around 1-19-09

This week, we're hitting the track for the first time in 2009. Over the next few weeks we'll be alternating between on-tack and off-track workouts. It's still early in the year, and we can be very productive and get still get quality workouts with hills, etc.

The workout for this week is one of out bread-and-butter tempo workouts. Hopefully this will give us a chance to get some solid pace work in as a mini tune-up for Calhoun's. With a race coming so early in the season, I always consider this one to "train through". I don't do anything special to prepare other than maybe re-arranging my runs a little to have an easy day on Thursday and/or Friday.


Upcoming ...
2/7/09 Metro Knoxville XC Distance Clinic.
Featuring the legendary Dr. Jack Daniels. See http://ktc.org/MsgB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3949 for details.


Week 3 of 20 of training for Expo 10k/5k. Now for the workout summary:

1. 3-6 x 1600m@T pace w/60 rest in between. Volume should be 10% of your weekly mileage.

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

Running Around 1-11-09

This week we head for the hills!

Hill workouts should be run at about the same intensity you run 400m repeats on the track (aka R-pace). Even though the intensity and effort are the same, don't expect to maintain the same pace. Remember to focus on good form and light, quick steps.

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.

There are two warmup options for the hill workouts. The first is to run the greenway (cross the Ag bridge) out to Cherokee Blvd. That route is about 3 miles. The second route is Kingston Pike 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 getting dark, be extremely careful -- especially crossing K.P!!


Upcoming ...
1/15/09 Runner's Market Distance Clinic.
See http://runnersmarket.com/PerformanceClinic.html for details. I'll be there to talk training and answer questions about Tuesday track workouts.

2/7/09 Metro Knoxville XC Distance Clinic.
Featuring the legendary Dr. Jack Daniels. See http://ktc.org/MsgB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3949 for details.


Week 2 of 20 of training for Expo 10k/5k. Now for the workout summary:

1. Hill repeats. 4-10 hills. Up hard, down easy. Volume should be 5% of weekly mileage. The hill is about 0.3 miles each direction. So ...
50+ mpw: 8-10 hills
45+ mpw: 7-8 hills
40+ mpw: 6-7 hills
35+ mpw: 5-6 hills
30+ mpw: 5 hills
25+ mpw: 4-5 hills
20 mpw: 4 hills

However, since this is the first hill workout of the season, it's OK to do one or two less than the 5% number. No less than 4 repeats, though.

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

Running Around 1-5-09

Happy New Year! We'll start with our first official week of training for the Spring racing season. We've done 5 weeks of pure base running, and now we'll switch over to adding a little intensity into the mix. We'll keep it low key for a few more weeks since we have a long way to go until the end of the season. We don't need to do too much this early.

This week we'll do a progression run. That simply means the second half of the run is faster than the first. Start at your long/easy run pace and finish at "marathon pace". You don't have to be training for a marathon to run that pace. You can find an approximate value using the link at the bottom. A good guideline is that it's about 30-60 seconds per mile faster than easy pace.

The real goal of this workout is to simply get used to running a little faster than easy pace. Try to maintain an even pace during the second half.


Upcoming ...
1/15/09 Runner's Market Distance Clinic.
See http://runnersmarket.com/PerformanceClinic.html for details. I'll be there to talk training and answer questions about Tuesday track workouts.

2/7/09 Metro Knoxville XC Distance Clinic.
Featuring the legendary Dr. Jack Daniels. See http://ktc.org/MsgB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3949 for details.


Week 1 of 20 of training for Expo 10k/5k. Now for the workout summary:

1. Progression run. 30 mins easy/30 mins hard. Followed by striders on the track 2-4x 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