Running Around 9-27-09

The steady diet of I-pace work continues. I like to do a bunch of these workouts in a row because I find it takes some time to adapt to the pace and intensity. Now by the 3rd week, you should be feeling more comfortable and able to maintain a strong pace and rhythm throughout each repeat.

The workout is the same as last week with one slight modification. We're reducing the rest by 15 seconds, so rest time must be 15 seconds less than your work time. If you run your 1200 in 4:45, maximum rest is 4:30, etc.

The ideal duration of these repeats is 4-5 minutes, so if you can't run 1200m in 5 minutes or less, then do 1000m repeats instead of 1200s. The recommendation is 7-8% of your weekly mileage for the hard running, so if you're in between, you can add an 800m repeat at the end.

Week 11 of training for Autumnfest 8k.... Now for the workout summary:

1. 3-6 x 1200m @I-pace w/400m jog recovery. Rest time must be less than work time. Shoot for around 8% of your weekly mileage for the hard running. Recommendations based on weekly mileage:

50 mpw: 5x1200m
45 mpw: 4x1200m + 800m
40 mpw: 4x1200m
35 mpw: 3x1200m + 800m
30 mpw: 3 x 1200m
<=25 mpw: 3x1000m 2. Striders: 4-6 x 100m 3. Optional Thur/Fri workout: 2-5 x 2000m @T pace with 75 seconds rest. Shoot for about 10% of your weekly mileage.


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 9-21-09

We'll continue this week with more I-pace work, but we're going to bump up the distance a little from 800m to 1200m. The ideal duration of these repeats is 4-5 minutes, so if you can't run 1200m in 5 minutes or less, then do 1000m repeats instead of 1200s. The recommendation is 7-8% of your weekly mileage for the hard running, so if you're in between, you can add an 800m repeat at the end.

Week 10 of training for Autumnfest 8k.... Now for the workout summary:

1. 3-6 x 1200m @I-pace w/400m jog recovery. Rest time must be less than work time. Shoot for around 8% of your weekly mileage for the hard running. Recommendations based on weekly mileage:

50 mpw: 5x1200m
45 mpw: 4x1200m + 800m
40 mpw: 4x1200m
35 mpw: 3x1200m + 800m
30 mpw: 3 x 1200m
<=25 mpw: 3x1000m

2. Striders: 4-6 x 100m

3. Optional Thur/Fri workout: 2-5 x 2000m @T pace with 75 seconds rest. Shoot for about 10% of your weekly mileage.


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 9-13-09

We're going to switch gears and work some V02 max style workouts for the next few weeks. V02 max is simply your body's ability to use oxygen to do work - in our case, running. So these workouts are designed to improve your ability to transport and utilize oxygen. Sounds good, right?

These workouts are typically I-pace and range from 800m to 1200m. The most important thing in doing I-pace workouts correctly is that the recovery time must be less and or equal to the work time. For example, if your I-pace for 800m works out to 3:30, then your rest between repeats must be 3:30 or less. This usually works out to half the distance of the repeat.

For this week, if you find 400m too much to cover in the allotted recovery time, just run 200m jog for recovery.

For those who are new to workouts, the I, R, and T paces are just notations created by Jack Daniels, PhD. Every week, I include a link at the bottom for calculating these paces based on a recent race result. To find your I pace, follow the link, plug in a recent time

Week 9 of training for Autumnfest 8k.... Now for the workout summary:

1. 4-10 x 800m @I-pace w/200-400m jog recovery. Shoot for around 8% of your weekly mileage for the hard running. Recommendations based on weekly mileage:

50 mpw: 8x800m
45 mpw: 7x800m
40 mpw: 6x800m
35 mpw: 5-6x800m
30 mpw: 5x800
<=25 mpw: 4x800m


2. Striders: 4-6 x 100m

3. Optional Thur/Fri workout: 2-5 x 2000m @T pace with 75 seconds rest. Shoot for about 10% of your weekly mileage.


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 9-7-09

Happy Labor Day to all! We have Wears Valley 15k coming up this week, so we'll use that as the focus for Tuesday's workout. We'll do some tempo repeats followed by some R-pace to sharpen up and get the legs turning over a little bit.

Note that final T-pace repeat is longer than the others. Don't switch the order around. Keep the longest one at the end. Also pay attention to the rest to make sure you are getting the right amount. There should not be any extra rest before your first 200.

Week 8 of training for Autumnfest 8k.... Now for the workout summary:

1. T-pace repeats followed by 2x200m @R-pace. Follow these guidelines based on your weekly mileage:
50 mpw: 3x1600@T w/ 60 seconds rest + 2400@T w/90 sec rest + 2x200m@R w/200m jog
45 mpw: 3x1600@T w/ 60 seconds rest + 2000@T w/75 sec rest + 2x200m@R w/200m jog
40 mpw: 2x1600@T w/ 60 seconds rest + 2400@T w/90 sec rest + 2x200m@R w/200m jog
35 mpw: 2x1600m@T w/ 60 seconds rest + 2000@T w/75 sec rest + 2x200m@R w/200m jog
30 mpw: 1600m@T w/ 60 seconds rest + 2400@T w/90 sec rest + 2x200m@R w/200m jog
<=25 mpw: 2x1600@T w/ 60 seconds rest + 2x200m@R w/200m jog

2. Striders: 4-6 x 100m

3. Optional Thur/Fri workout: If you are not racing Wears Valley then do a hilly road run workout of 6-10 miles. Run easy to warmup for the first 1/2 mile to mile. Then whenever you come to a hill, attack like you're running hill repeats. Recover by running easy to the next hill.


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