Running Around 5•25•14

Week 26 • Spring Training 2014

Yesterday marked the end of our Spring training cycle. I hope everyone got the best out of themselves during this racing season! Now, it's best to take some time off to rest and recuperate. Typically this means some time off from running. Cross training can be done, but it's not a requirement. Anywhere from 7-10 days is an appropriate amount. We use a periodized approach to training, and REST is a very important part of that. You can't be running at your best all the time, so we pick a few times during the year to be in peak shape and build a training schedule around those. After some down time, we start back up with base training. So over the next month or so we'll continue meeting at the track for easy road/greenway runs.  I usually take a week off starting today, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do this year since I had so much time off with a bad knee over the winter. However, during the month of June, I will be coaching kids Summer track on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It will probably be July before I'm back at the track again. I realize not everyone is on the same schedule. If you're still racing, pick any of the workouts from Apr/May at http://trackworkouts.blogspot.com/. Vacations and other Summer activities are frequent during this time of year. This is a good time to use the Facebook group for correspondence with your fellow runners to see who is doing what & when. Also, if you have any feedback about what has worked well for you or what has not, please let me know. If you have a favorite workout, least favorite workout, etc., I'd like to hear about that too.

WORKOUT SUMMARY 1. Time off, recovery, cross-training DETAILS Whatever works for you.     USE THESE LINKS TO FIND YOUR R, I, & T TRAINING PACES http://www.panix.com/~elflord/vdot.html http://www.attackpoint.org/trainingpaces.jsp http://www.runningforfitness.org/calc/racepaces/rp

Running Around 5•20•14

Week 25 • Spring Training 2014

Sorry this is so late! Final week of training before we have Expo 5k/10k on Saturday! We have put in a lot of hard work and many miles during this training cycle. I hope everyone has a good race or two along the way. This is the end of our Spring training cycle, so get out there, run hard, and don't hold anything back!! I'm going to offer a couple of options this week. Typically, I like the patented taper/sharpening mix of a combination of light tempo and short, fast reps. So that will be option #1. However, I ran a hard workout during race week a couple of times last year and had some success with it. Whatever you decide to do is fine with me. The details below are for the maximum amount to run based on miles per week. Feel free to cut either workout down a little bit if you think it will help you race better.

WORKOUT SUMMARY 1. 1-3 x 1200 @T pace w/60 seconds rest  + 1-2 x 400m @R pace w/400m jog  + 1-3 x 200m @R pace w/200m jog   2. 4-8 x 800m @I pace w/ 200m jog recovery     3. Striders DETAILS Recommendations based on your weekly mileage. 45+ mpw: 3x1200@T w/60s + 2x400m@R w/400m jog + 3x200@R w/200 jog 40 mpw: 2x1200@T w/60s + 2x400m@R w/400m jog + 3x200m@R w/200m jog 35 mpw: 2x1200@T w/60s + 2x400m@R w/400m jog + 2x200m@R w/200m jog 30 mpw: 2x1200@T w/60s + 1x400m@R w/400m jog + 2x200m@R w/200m jog <= 25 mpw: 1200@T w/60s + 1x400m@R w/400m jog + 3x200m@R w/200m jog   • Optional alternative to the above workout  • Recovery is a 200m jog with a time that is between 90 seconds and 2 minutes. You be the judge of how much rest you need. Recommendations based on mileage. Feel free to reduce the number if that suits you better for race week: 50 mpw: 8x 800m @I-pace 45 mpw: 7x 800m @I-pace 40 mpw: 6x 800m @I-pace 35 mpw: 5-6x 800m @I-pace 30 mpw: 5x 800m @I-pace <=25 mpw: 4x 800m @I-pace   4-6x 100m striders

Running Around 5•11•14

Week 24 • Spring Training 2014

We're closing in on the end of this training cycle - Expo 5k/10k in 2 weeks. With that in mind, it's going to be a choice of strength or pure speed this week. If you want speed, the choice is 400m repeats on the track. If you want strength, the choice is hills. At this point in the season, I think 400s is appropriate for almost everyone. If you're like me and trying to make up for lost time, go with hills. Details are below. Here are the standard hill workout details: http://trackworkouts.blogspot.com/2010/01/hill-workout-details.html

WORKOUT SUMMARY 1. 4-12 x 400m @R pace w/ 400m jog recovery   2. 4-10 x hill repeats - jog back down for recovery   3. Striders DETAILS Volume (not including rest) should be 5% of your weekly mileage. 50 mpw: 10-12 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   • This is an optional 2nd workout for Thurs/Fri  • Recommendations based on weekly mileage ... 50 mpw: 8+  hills 45 mpw: 7-8  hills 40 mpw: 6-7  hills 35 mpw: 5-6  hills 30 mpw: 5 hills 0- 25 mpw: 4 hills 4-6x 100m striders     USE THESE LINKS TO FIND YOUR R, I, & T TRAINING PACES http://www.panix.com/~elflord/vdot.html http://www.attackpoint.org/trainingpaces.jsp http://www.runningforfitness.org/calc/racepaces/rp

Running Around 5•5•14

Week 23 • Spring Training 2014

I've had some feedback that 800s were working well, so do that again this week. Recovery is a 200-400m jog where the time is less than or equal your work time. We are limiting the rest time to a maximum of 3 minutes. 2:45 rest is better if you can handle that.

WORKOUT SUMMARY 1. 4-10 x 800m @I-pace   2. 3-6x 1600m @T pace   3. Striders DETAILS Recovery is a 200-400m jog where the time is less than or equal your work time, with a maximum rest time of 3 minutes. Recommendations based on mileage: 50 mpw: 8x 800m @I-pace 45 mpw: 7x 800m @I-pace 40 mpw: 6x 800m @I-pace 35 mpw: 5-6x 800m @I-pace 30 mpw: 5x 800m @I-pace <=25 mpw: 4x 800m @I-pace   • This is an optional 2nd workout for Thurs/Fri  • Run 1 mile repeat for each 10 miles of weekly mileage (e.g 40 miles per week is 4 repeats). Three is the minimum. 4-6x 100m striders     USE THESE LINKS TO FIND YOUR R, I, & T TRAINING PACES http://www.panix.com/~elflord/vdot.html http://www.attackpoint.org/trainingpaces.jsp http://www.runningforfitness.org/calc/racepaces/rp