by Larry EderSaucony 500 Mile Challenge, Week Eleven, Day Four, Thursday, August 28, 2014:
Your first real race will be a revelation. You should be able to handle the distance, but perhaps your pace will be slower than you expect. Don’t worry. You’ll recover quickly and should be racing fit in 3-5 races. Only the 500 Mile group should be doing morning runs beginning this week.
Monday: Warm up; 6-mile run (400 Mile: 5 miles/300 Mile: 3 miles); 8×150 yards relaxed strideouts on grass, jogging back to the start after each, no rest between; cool down.
Tuesday: 1-mile warm up; 20-min. tempo run, 1-mile cool down. To determine your tempo run pace, add a half-minute to your present mile pace for a 5K. So if you can run 18:30 for a 5K now, that’s a 6:00 pace. Add 30 seconds, and your tempo run pace is 6:30 per mile. Recalculate your pace as your fitness improves, perhaps once a month.
Wednesday: Warm up; 6-mile run (400 Mile: 5 miles/300 Mile: 3 miles); 8×150 yards relaxed strideouts on grass, jogging back to the start after each, no rest between; cool down.
Thursday: 1-mile warm up; 8 hill repeats (run 200 yards uphill, turn, jog downhill to the start. Repeat 7 more times, no rests); on the flat at the bottom of the hill, try for 8×150 yards as easy strideouts, jogging back to the start, no rest between; 1-mile easy cool down.
Friday: Warm up; 6-mile run (400 Mile: 5 miles/300 Mile: 3 miles); 8×150 yards relaxed strideouts on grass, jogging back to the start after each, no rest between; cool down.
Saturday: Easy warmup; 5K race for high schoolers/4 miles for college runners. Go out well, but pick it up each mile. With 800 meters to go, see what you can do.
Sunday: Easy 10-mile run on grass or dirt with friends (400 Mile: 8 miles/300 Mile: 7 miles). Keep this on soft ground and run relaxed. If you’re sore from Saturday, then really slow it down. If you have any pain, consider cutting it short.
Week 11 Totals: 500 Mile-52 miles; 400 Mile-37 miles; 300 Mile-29 miles
