Running Around 7-26-10

More speed for everyone this week. Those focusing on the mile race on Labor Day will be doing 600 meter repeats at R-pace. Everyone else will be doing 400 meter repeats at R-pace.

These workouts are for strength and running economy, so concentrate on speed while maintaining good, efficient form.

Week 3 of Fall 2010 training. Now for the workout summary:

Milers: 3-9 x600m @R pace. 400m jog recovery. Total distance for the hard running should be 5% of your weekly mileage. Recommendations based on mileage:
50 mpw: 6-7 x 600m w/400m jog recovery
45 mpw: 6 x 600m w/400m jog recovery
40 mpw: 5 x 600m w/400m jog recovery
35 mpw: 4-5 x 600m w/400m jog recovery
30 mpw: 4 x 600m w/400m jog recovery
<=25 mpw: 3 x 600m w/400m jog recovery

-or-

General racers: 3-10 x400m @R pace with 400m jog recovery. Total distance for the hard running should be 5% of your weekly mileage. Recommendations based on mileage:
50 mpw: 10 x 400m w/400m jog recovery
45 mpw: 9 x 400m w/400m jog recovery
40 mpw: 8 x 400m w/400m jog recovery
35 mpw: 7 x 400m w/400m jog recovery
30 mpw: 6 x 400m w/400m jog recovery
25 mpw: 5 x 400m w/400m jog recovery
20 mpw or less: 4 x 400m w/400m jog recovery


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 7-18-10

We'll continue with a similar theme from last week. For general racers, I've got one of our bread & butter workouts on the menu - tempo miles. Great workout for all-around fitness and early season training.

For those interested in racing the mile on Labor Day, we'll do a similar workout to last week. But we're going to bump the 400m repeats up to 800m. I'll admit that 800m @R pace is tough, but the mile is not an easy race. If you want to be fast & efficient during the race, you've got to work on it during training. So, keep it under control on that first lap of the 800m, so you can bring it home strong.

Week 2 of Fall 2010 training. Now for the workout summary:

Milers: Sets of (200m, 200m, 800m) @R pace. Recovery is 200m following the 200m runs and 400m following 800m runs. Total distance for the hard running should be 5% of your weekly mileage. Recommendations based on mileage:
45+ mpw: 4-5 sets
40 mpw: 4 sets
35 mpw: 3 sets + 2x200m @R pace w/200m jog
30 mpw: 3 sets
25 mpw: 2 sets + 2x200m @R pace w/200m jog
<=20 mpw: 2 sets
-or-

General racers: 3-6 x1600m @T pace with 60 seconds rest. Distance should be around 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 7-12-10

My typical approach has been to focus our fall training on peaking during the month of November, and more specifically for Autumnfest 8k on Thanksgiving. This year, I'm adding a new wrinkle. We'll still keep a long-term focus on November/Autumnfest, but we'll start with an (optional) mini-season that focuses on the inaugural Hal Canfield Memorial Mile. It takes place on Labor Day, and the course looks favorable for fast times. It's a point-to-point that is essentially the first mile of the Dogwood 5k course.

The mile requires strength and running economy. That is what we typically work on during the first phase of training anyway, so this will fit well. However, the mile-specific workouts will probably get a little tougher than the usual early season stuff we do. So for the first 8 weeks, I'll give 2 workout options - one for mile focus and one for general racing.

This week, general racers should continue with base by doing a progression run of 6-10 miles somewhere in the neighborhood of 60-80 minutes with the last 30 minutes being 30-60 seconds faster than your regular easy run pace.

For milers, we'll hit the track for some 200m and 400m repeats.

Drink lots, wear sunscreen, be prepared for possibly rain.

Week 1 of Fall 2010 training. Now for the workout summary:

Milers: Sets of (200m, 200m, 400m) @R pace. Recovery is equal distance, so 200m following the 200m runs and 400m following 400m runs. Total distance for the hard running should be 5% of your weekly mileage. Recommendations based on mileage:
50 mpw: 5 sets
45 mpw: 4 sets + 2x200m @R pace w/200m jog
40 mpw: 4 sets
35 mpw: 3 sets + 2x200m @R pace w/200m jog
30 mpw: 3 sets
25 mpw: 2 sets + 2x200m @R pace w/200m jog
<=20 mpw: 2 sets

-or-

General racers: Progression Run. 60-80 minutes duration: 30-50 minutes easy + 30 minutes hard (30-60 seconds faster per mile).


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