Running Team - plans for the next three weeks...

Hey Gang!

Here are the plans for the next three weeks...

WEEKEND TRAININGS

This weekend, we will run on Sunday at 5PM at Red Bud Park. Depending on which schedule you are using, you could be running anywhere from 3-6 miles. I will more than likely be running 6 miles because my parents are coming in this weekend. I'm sure if I have to drag them to the park on Saturday (for my normally-scheduled 6 miles), they won't want to hang around that long, so I'll do the shorter distance and leave the longer distance for Sunday after they leave. Otherwise, the intermediate runners are scheduled for a 5k race pace on Sunday and a 6 mile on Saturday. How you schedule that is up to you.

The following two weekends, I will be GONE to OREGON, so you guys will have to keep each other accountable. That means no weekly updates next week and the week after. I am going to visit my IN-LAWS and meet the large crew over the holidays. I'm going to say that unless you guys contact each other and decide otherwise, we'll just continue the Sunday park runs at 5PM.

AUSTIN HALF MARATHON

By the time I get back from Oregon (December 28th), we'll only have six weeks until our next event!

Just remember that if you are going, now is the time to register. It's getting pretty full.

TRAINING SCHEDULE


I hope all of you received the training schedule I sent out last week. I also really hope you enjoy the variety of runs: tempo, easy, speed, etc. Try to enjoy the variety AS WELL AS THE EASY RUNS. Really push yourself when the schedule calls for it. When it says speed or tempo (or when and if you do hill training), do it with all your heart. Push your limits. Us it as a "conditioning run," but when it says to recover and enjoy an easy run, do that, as well. You are supposed to allow yourself training downtime. What do we say in RPM? "Recoveries let you work harder!" If you let yourself have an easy, no-pressure run, you'll be able to work harder during the conditioning runs. I'm also mixing a little bit of incline work in there to strengthen my legs and get them used to the hill training - thans to a little inspiration from TERRY.

I do that by picking a warm-up speed and running either a half or full mile. Then, I take my speed just a little below what I would normally run a fast mile in and add a 2% incline... well, heck, if you guys want to give it a shot, here's what it would look like:

Half Mile to Mile warmup
2% grade for 2 minutes at a strong speed (one you'd normally run a strong mile at)
4% grade for 2 minutes, decrease speed just a little (about .2 to .5 points)
6% grade for 2 minutes, decrease speed a little more (ditto above)

Then, I lower the incline to a .5% (that's a half a percent) to 1% and FLY LIKE THE WIND, cranking my speed up until I feel like they are going as fast as they want. When you take the grade off the treadmill, you suddenly feel really, really free and can run faster than what you would normally run your fastest mile at on the treadmill. I maintain this for about three minutes, then repeat the above.

Depending on how much time you have, you can do the above 2-4 times. If you don't have that much time but want to get more cycles in, you can hold each grade for one minute and increase up to an 8% grade - that's four minutes working with a grade. Then drop it and run full blast for 2 minutes (for six minutes total), and repeat 3-4 times.

That's just what I do. Try it. It'll kick yer butt.


Okie dokie, I hope all of you have a great weekend. We'll see you Sunday!

Happy Training!