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

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

• http://www.panix.com/%7Eelflord/vdot.html
• http://www.runningforfitness.org/calc/racepaces/rp