Sunday, August 28, 2011

Running Around 8.28.11

Good to see some more new faces again last week. We've had more women than men lately, and I hope that continues. That makes for good groups that can work together.

For everyone who is not racing the mile in about a week, we'll go back to some tempo miles this week. That will serve you well for any of the upcoming fall races including Cross Knox, the trail race at Norris this week or those races a little further out.

For anyone targeting the Hal Canfield Mile coming up on Labor Day, I've got some ideas ....... I'll list a mile workout below, but I'll recommend doing it on Thursday to shift the schedule to match the Monday race. If you want to do it on Tuesday, that's fine too. In either case, I'll list a very light tune-up workout for Saturday. Personally, I'm going to do a long run from the track on Tuesday. That will be similar to a Saturday long run shifted to match the schedule for the Monday mile race. I hope that makes sense. If not, send me an email or talk to me at the track.

Another quick pace review ... I use Jack Daniels' notation for workout paces. This week we are running T pace, which is the slowest of the track workout paces. That also means it has the shortest rest interval. It's close to the pace you could race for an hour. Typically this is around 30s per mile slower than 5k pace. In order to find your personal T-pace, look at the bottom of this message for the links. You can plug in a recent race result, and it will return your proper training paces (R, I and T). Do that before you come to the track so you know your proper pace for the workout. It's important to use a recent race result and not your upcoming race goal. The paces target your current fitness level.

A reminder that next KTC training run for Cross Knox 10-miler will be Saturday, Sept 3 at 8:00 am at Tyson Park. Check the KTC site for more details. Here is the full upcoming schedule. Keep in mind that you can always run longer (or shorter) than the posted distance:

9/3*, Tyson Park, 4 miles
9/10*, Worlds Fair Park, 5 miles
9/17, Volunteer Landing, 6 miles
9/24, UT Ag Campus, 7 miles
10/1,* EarthFare, 8 miles
10/8*, Bearden Elementary, 9 miles

Drink lots, wear sunscreen, respect the heat.

Workout Summary

1. Choose one ....

A. Milers : 4x400m @R pace w/90s rest + 1/2 mile easy + 1 mile @T pace. You can jog the 90 second rest or just get some water, stretch, etc. If you want more mileage, add another T-pace mile at the beginning.

B. Cross Knox and General Racers: 3-6 x 1600m @T pace with 60 seconds rest. Volume should be 10% of your weekly mileage. That means 1 repeat for each 10 miles of weekly mileage. Minimum of 3 miles for everyone.

2. Special weekend tune-up for milers: 3x200m @R pace with 200m jog. This should be a very relaxed R-pace. Concentrate on being really efficient. Pace is largely irrelevant, the R is just a guideline. Stride them out and keep it light.



Plug in a recent race result to get your training paces here ...

posted by Keith @ 9:25 PM   0 comments

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Running Around 8.21.11

I'll keep the narrative short this week. It's going to be a tough week for milers. But the mile is a tough race, so you need to put in the work if you expect the results. For everyone else, we'll just do a basic 400m workout. Both workouts will be at R pace this week. Remember that R-pace is fast, but still in control. It's better to back off the effort a little to maintain your form, efficiency, and running economy. That's what we're working on here. Flailing away to hit a particular split is counter-productive. We want strong, steady, smooth and fast.


We have had a bunch of new runners over the past month. Welcome! I'll take a minute to explain some basics ... I use Jack Daniels' notation for workout paces. This week we are running R pace, which is the fastest. That also means it has the longest rest interval. It's close to the pace you could run for a mile race. In order to find your personal R-pace, look at the bottom of this message for the links. You can plug in a recent race result, and it will return your proper training paces (R, I and T). Do that before you come to the track so you know your proper pace for the workout. It's important to use a recent race result and not your upcoming race goal. The paces target your current fitness level.


A reminder that first KTC training run for Cross Knox 10-miler will be Saturday, August 27 at 8:00 am at Morningside Park. Check the KTC site for more details.


Drink lots, wear sunscreen, respect the heat.

Workout Summary


1. Choose one ....


A. Milers :Pyramid 200m, 400m, 800m, 400m, 200m @R pace with equal distance jog recovery. Recovery jog is based on the interval that comes before. So, 200m jog follows 200m; 400m jog follows 400m, etc. Modifications/recommendations based on mileage:

45+ mpw: Add an extra 1200m or 1600m @T pace with 400m jog recovery at the beginning AND an extra 800m in the middle (2 total): 1600, 200, 400, 800, 800, 400, 200
35+ mpw: Add an extra 800m in the middle (2 total): 200, 400, 800, 800, 400, 200
<=30 mpw: no modifications


B. Cross Knox and General Racers:4-10 x400m @R pace. 400m jog recovery. Total distance for the hard running should be 4-5% of your weekly mileage. Recommendations based on mileage:
50 mpw: 8-10 x 400m
45 mpw: 7-9 x 400m
40 mpw: 6-8 x 400m
35 mpw: 5-7 x 400m
30 mpw: 4-6 x 400m
<=25 mpw: 4-5 x 400m


Plug in a recent race result to get your training paces here ...

posted by Keith @ 7:24 AM   0 comments

Monday, August 15, 2011

Running Around 8.15.11

This week we'll welcome students (and the associated parking challenges) back to UT. While the focus of our training hasn't changed (mini training block for the mile race on Labor Day, and peaking in Nov), we're going to switch things up a little bit this week to give ourselves a break from a full R-pace workout.

Everyone has the same workout this week. We'll do some tempo miles (T-pace) followed by a few hard 200s. A special note for milers: I want the 200s to be run hard! Take your R pace and subtract 1-2 seconds. So if your R pace is 90 seconds for 400m (and 45 for 200m), then run the fast 200s at 43 seconds. Everyone else can run the 200s at regular R-pace.

In addition to milers and November peakers, this is a great workout for those thinking about the Cross Knox 15k Ten Miler coming up in mid-October. KTC will be hosting training runs leading up to Cross Knox, so over the next few weeks I'll try to include some workouts geared toward that race. If you haven't run Cross Knox before, it's a great course! It runs from Morningside Park to Bearden Elementary all on the greenways (with some adjustments this year due to construction). Free transportation is provided back to the starting line. Anyway, the first training run will be Saturday, August 27 at 8:00 am at Morningside Park. Check the KTC site for more details.

Drink lots, wear sunscreen, respect the heat.

Workout Summary

1. 2-5 x1600m @T pace with 60s recovery + 4x 200m @R pace with 200m jog recovery. Milers run your 200s at 2 seconds faster than R-pace. Total volume of the workout (including rest) should be 10% of weekly mileage. Recommendations:

50 mpw: 4x 1600m @T + 4x 200m @R pace with 200m jog
40 mpw: 3x 1600m @T + 4x 200m @R pace with 200m jog
<= 30 mpw: 2x 1600m @T + 4x 200m @R pace with 200m jog



Use a recent race to get your training paces here ...

posted by Keith @ 8:35 PM   0 comments

Monday, August 08, 2011

Running Around 8.8.11

We'll continue with same plan as the past few weeks: one for those focusing on a mini training block for the mile race on Labor Day, and one for general racers.

For general racers (non-milers), the preferred workout is hills. As an alternative, you can stay on the track and repeat last week's workout of 400m repeats. Hills are good for strength and speed. It's a tough workout, but it pays off! Here are all the details about this hill workout location & warmup: http://trackworkouts.blogspot.com/2010/01/hill-workout-details.html

For milers, we're moving up to 800m repeats this week. We'll split them and do both I & R paces much like the 600s from a few weeks ago. The first lap of each 800 should be at I pace, and then pick it up to R pace for the second lap. 400m jog recovery. You can find your I and R paces by using the link at the bottom of this email. Enter a recent race time, and it will give you proper R and I paces.

Milers, if you want to run hills, that's a solid workout for you too. Your choice on 800s or Hills.

Drink lots, wear sunscreen, respect the heat.

Workout Summary

1. Pick one ...

A. Milers: 3-8 x800m @I/R pace with 400m jog recovery. Run the first half of each 800 @I pace and the second half @R pace. Total distance for the hard running should be about 6% of your weekly mileage. Recommendations based on mileage:
50 mpw: 6-7x 800m w/400m jog
45 mpw: 6 x 800m w/400m jog
40 mpw: 5 x 800m w/400m jog
35 mpw: 4-5 x 800m w/400m jog
30 mpw: 4 x 800m w/400m jog
<=25 mpw: 3-4 x 800m w/400m jog

B. General racers: 4-10 x hill repeats. Recommendations based on weekly mileage ...
50 mpw: 8 x hills
45 mpw: 7-8 x hills
40 mpw: 6-7 x hills
35 mpw: 5-6 x hills
30 mpw: 5 hills
0- 25 mpw: 4 hills

Or ....

4-10 x400m @R pace with 400m jog recovery. Total distance for the hard running should be about 5% of your weekly mileage. Recommendations based on mileage:
50 mpw: 7-8 x 400m w/200m jog
45 mpw: 6 x 400m w/200m jog
40 mpw: 5 x 400m w/200m jog
35 mpw: 4-5 x 400m w/200m jog
30 mpw: 4 x 400m w/200m jog
<=25 mpw: 3 x 400m w/200m jog



Use a recent race to get your training paces here ...

posted by Keith @ 8:16 AM   0 comments

Monday, August 01, 2011

Running Around 8.1.11

We'll continue with same plan as the past few weeks: one for those focusing on a mini training block for the mile race on Labor Day, and one for general racers. For general racers, we are in the first phase of fall training cycle with a focus on peaking around Thanksgiving.

I'm sitting here looking at the weather forecast, and it says 97° for tomorrow and 98° for Wednesday!! This is not conducive to hard workouts. I know this is kind of backward, but I recommend that you do not attempt the following workouts at those temperatures. Run in the morning or take the Tuesday evening workout onto the roads or greenways instead. That being said, if you choose to workout on Tuesday evening at the track, be extremely cautious. Start drinking now. Seriously. OK on to the workouts ...

For milers, we've been working on a progression of more volume at race pace but keeping the rest long. Now we're going to start reducing the rest. A few weeks ago we did 400m repeats with 400m jog recovery. Now we're dropping the recovery jog to only 200m. The mile is a tough race. This is a tough workout. The saving grace is that half way through you get to take a 400m jog instead of 200m. So, if you are doing 8x 400m, then do 4 with 200m in between, 400m jog following the 4th one, and then 200m following the remaining repeats.

For general racers (non-milers), we're going to do 400m repeats also, but you get to take the full 400m recovery jog following each one.

Drink lots, wear sunscreen, respect the heat.

Workout Summary

1. Pick one ...

A. Milers: 4-10 x400m @R pace with 200m jog recovery. Substitute a 400m jog recovery half way through the workout. Total distance for the hard running should be about 5% of your weekly mileage. Recommendations based on mileage:
50 mpw: 8-9 x 400m w/200m jog
45 mpw: 7 x 400m w/200m jog
40 mpw: 6 x 400m w/200m jog
35 mpw: 5-6 x 400m w/200m jog
30 mpw: 5 x 400m w/200m jog
<=25 mpw: 4 x 400m w/200m jog

B. General racers: 4-10 x400m @R pace with 400m jog recovery. Total distance for the hard running should be about 5% of your weekly mileage. Recommendations based on mileage:
50 mpw: 7-8 x 400m w/200m jog
45 mpw: 6 x 400m w/200m jog
40 mpw: 5 x 400m w/200m jog
35 mpw: 4-5 x 400m w/200m jog
30 mpw: 4 x 400m w/200m jog
<=25 mpw: 3 x 400m w/200m jog



Use a recent race to get your training paces here ...

posted by Keith @ 9:53 AM   0 comments