Running Around 3-8-09

We're now at the mid way point in our Spring training cycle. We'll soon be getting into the most strenuous stretch of training, so you should be at your peak mileage for the Spring. It's OK to maintaining that for a while, but I don't generally recommend adding mileage during the final 8-10 weeks of the training cycle.

We'll revisit some tempo-pace work this week. We'll make it slightly more challenging than our last T workout by bumping up the distance a little. The basic workout is 2 x 3200m, but I have one adjustment based on weekly mileage: If you are running <40 miles per week, do 2 x 10-12 minutes with 2 minutes rest instead of 2 x 3200m.

Also, as an optional addition, you can do 2-4 x 200m @R pace. If the T-pace work is less than 10% of your weekly mileage, add some 200s to get closer to 10%.

Unlike R work and hills, pace and effort are critically important in T workouts. Be strict with your pace and the rest time. Pushing the pace doesn't increase the benefit achieved in this workout. Shoot for consistency and a nice even effort throughout the workout.

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

1. 2 x 3200m@T pace w/2 mins rest + (optional) 2-4 x 200m@R pace with 200m jog recovery.

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