Spring Break Training

Hey guys:

Here are some ideas for spring break training. As always, if you have your old high school team to train with, all the better. Just do lots of mileage and lots of strength. Please. No 200-meter repeats for workouts. Unless you do about 30 of them with 30 seconds break. It's March. Focus on strength. Speed comes later. Here is a day-to-day schedule. Adjust accordingly. Just run a lot.

Friday, March 14: Easy distance, recovery from workout yesterday.

Saturday, March 15: Dynamic Run. 8-11 miles with 4-6 x 45 seconds hard/1:30 recovery in the middle of the run. Basically, extended stides in the middle of a distance run.

Sunday, March 16: Long run. 11-16 miles.

Monday, March 17: Threshold/tempo style workout. Your choice of any of the following workouts:
-- 5-6 x 1 mile with 1:30 min recovery
-- 6-8 x 1k with 1 min recovery
-- 2 x 10 min tempo pace with 3:00 recovery
-- 1 x 20 min tempo pace straight
If you do not know your thresh pace, call me. Most of you guys should know it. With warmup and cooldown, this should be about a 10-11 mile day.

Tuesday, March 18: Easy distance. Light strides. Double. Total mileage for day 9-13 miles.

Wednesday, March 19: Dynamic Distance. Same as last Saturday. Double. Total mileage for day 10-14 miles.

Thursday, March 20: Strength-based workout. Your choice of any of the following
-- Hill repeats. Simulate 3 sets of 5 midrise hills, 3-4 min recovery
-- Hard hilly run. If you have a 9-11 mile course on hills, warm up 2 miles then run the hilly portion of the run at an uptempo pace. Make sure to have at least an easy jog 1 mile cooldown. This is the preferred workout for the day, if you have an applicable course.
-- Track workout 1: 1 x 400 stride. 1 x 1k at 5k pace. 3 x 1600 at between 5k-10k pace. 1 x 1k at 5k pace. 1 x 400 stride. Interval recoveries (same time as it takes to run the interval), active recovery (jogging)
-- Track workout 2: 1 x 400 stride. 6-8 x 800 at slightly faster than 5k pace. 1 lap jog recoveries. 1 x 400 stride.
-- Track workout 3: 400 repeats. Either 2 sets of 8 x 400 with 1:00-1:30 rec, at a pace between mile and 5k race pace. Or: 3 sets of 5 x 400, everything else the same. Full recovery (1 lap jog) between sets)

Friday, March 20: Same as Tuesday.

Saturday, March 21: Rest day. Very short run (35-45 mins). Light strides.

Sunday, March 22: Long run.

Monday, March 23: Same as Tuesday/Friday. Regular distance. Double. Strides.

Practice resumes on Tuesday, March 24, at 2 p.m. We will go to the track for a workout either Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on weather. Guys racing 10k at Princeton will do a 10k-specific workout on Wednesday, regardless of the weather.

Note to steeplers: The meet on 4.12 at USMMA will NOT have a steeplechase. Keep this in mind. This is OK, since we race every weekend. However, for those not racing the steeple at Princeton, you will have one opportunity early (S. Conn) and then not another until Mets. This is OK! After that gap, there is a steeple every week. This will give us time to practice technique and also give the Weather Gods time for maybe some warm conditions. Just a note for planning purposes. We could switch back to going to Rider for the 4.12 date, but I think we'll keep it as it is.

Any questions, call (845 309 3640) or email (runhed246@hotmail.com) at any time.

Coach Pete