by Larry EderThe tradition of tough workouts on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday is just what was ingrained in me as an athlete and coach. I remember Ron Tabb, a fine marathon in the 1980s, having a ten day week. I remember Rob De Castella having a long run on Sunday, hill workout on Tuesday and a short, fast workout on Thursdays.
Some people run lots of miles (in the 1970s, some runners, including me, tried to run 100 mile weeks in high school, I made it less than 8 weeks, and then, did not return to those miles until a junior in college), some run few ( I recall that Coach Bill Bowerman had a young man break 4 minutes a mile off less than 25 miles a week). It is the quality of workouts, both hard and relaxed, that matter.
Checking shoes before the race, photo by Justin Britton
We do not worry about mileage here. Workouts are key.
This past weekend, while in United Arab Emirates, I shared my workouts with a fine coach who suggested getting you to do 2.30-3 minute repeats, to build your strength. And he spent a long time explaining it. I will do the same. Our lesson: always, always stay open to change and new lessons. And to coaches, these are just parameters, so fine tune as you know your athletes better than me.
Any questions, email me at runblogrun@gmail.com.
Tuesday, February 13, 2018: warm up, Fartlek, six times 3 minutes at 5k pace , 2 minute jog, five minutes moderate pace, then, 8 times one minute hard, one minute easy, nine minutes moderate pace, then cooldown
Week 5, building toward the season
Monday: warm up, 50 minutes, Holmer Fartlek, go out at good pace, and at half way, increase pace and run back a minute faster than first half, then, 4×250 meter stride outs, cooldown
Tuesday: warm up, Fartlek, six times 3 minutes at 5k pace , 2 minute jog, five minutes moderate pace, then, 8 times one minute hard, one minute easy, nine minutes moderate pace, then cooldown
Wednesday: warm up, Easy 55-60 minutes, cooldown, on soft ground
Thursday: warm up, three sets of 6 x 300 meters, at current mile race pace, with 100m jog, and 800 meter jog between sets, , cooldown, and long session of stretching.
Friday: warm up, 4 -5 miles easy, 4 times 150 meters stride outs, cooldown
Saturday: warm up, race 1k, mile or 800 meters, cooldown, if you do not race, then, two miles on track, sprint straights, jog turns, cooldown. Prefered race distance, 1k one week, 1 mile one week, 2 mile another. cooldown.
Sunday: Relaxed Long run, 70 minutes with friends, at pace you can talk. Long runs are all about the socializing and building endurance.
