Running Around 9.5.11

It was a fun race this morning in the pouring rain. No matter what the conditions, the miles is a hard, hard race. Now we'll move on and try to get everyone in sync for fall racing. I'll continue highlighting workouts for those who are targeting the Cross Knox 10-miler.

This is the point in the training cycle where we will switch primarily to workouts that target the V02 max system. That is, helping your body improve its ability to take in oxygen and deliver it to the muscles under the stress of racing conditions. We do that with medium-legth repeats in the 800-1200m range. With these workouts, the rest interval is extremely important. It's essential that you keep the rest interval to a time that is less than or equal to your work time. So if you are running an 800m repeat in 3:30, then your rest time cannot exceed 3:30. Over the next several weeks, we'll actually work to bring that rest time down even further.

Also, I'll be adding a second workout every week. This is an optional workout that is typically done on Thursday or Friday if you are the type of person that wants to do 2 workouts a week. If you've never done 2 workouts a week, try starting with doing it every other week for a while, then 2 out of every 3 weeks, etc. If you are racing, then you drop the second workout.

It's going to be the same workout for everyone this week (including Cross-Knoxers). 800m repeats with equal time jog recovery. Typically that means about half the distance (400m). If you cannot complete 400m in the alotted time, then cut it short. These will be done at I-pace. This is the first time during this training cycle that we've used I-pace, so be sure to plug a recent race result into the calculator linked at the bottom of this message. I-pace is very close to 5k pace, maybe 1-2 seconds per lap faster than 5k pace.

The next KTC training run for Cross Knox 10-miler will be Saturday, Sept 10 at 8:00 am at World's Fair 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:

9/10*, 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

I will not be at the track this week because I'll be out celebrating my son's 4th birthday..

Workout Summary

1. 4-10 x 800m @I pace. Recovery is a 200-400m jog. Rest time must be less than or equal to your work time. Recommendations based on mileage:
50 mpw: 8x800m
45 mpw: 7x800m
40 mpw: 6x800m
35 mpw: 5-6x800m
30 mpw: 5x800
<=25 mpw: 4x800m

2. [Optional Thurs/Fri workout] 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.

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

• http://www.attackpoint.org/trainingpaces.jsp
• http://www.runningforfitness.org/calc/racepaces/rp