Running Times

April's magazine had some good 5k workouts in it. One comment by Pete Magill really struck me. He coaches 1,000's of runners and usually takes them off the track for workouts. I've got to say, I LIKE my track and even though I'd always rather be outside, i LIKE my treadmill! I like the reassurance that I'm on pace, on time. Pete commented on this by describing two such runners who worried that leaving the oval might hurt their specific time goals. These two were running 19 min 5k and trying to get into the 18's. HUM...sound like anyone (me)? A few months after training with Pete one runner PRd with 16:40 and the other with 17:50!!!! So, maybe that treadmill is holding me back :)

Here's one of his workouts. I'm going to leave my comfy 400m tomorrow and race through the neighborhood.

This is a 5k specific workout and such workouts should be run once a week. This is a progression of sessions, so start where you think you are and move up as you train. All reps are followed by 3 mins jogging unless indicated. Oh, you should run these at your CURRENT 5k pace. Don't go too fast or too slow. When you finish you should feel like you could do a couple more. If you don't feel tired, you didn't go fast enough.

*5-10 x 1 min (2-min recovery)
*5 x 2 min
*5 x 3 min
*4 x 4 min
*5 x 4 min
*4 x 5 min
*5 x 5 min

Tomorrow I think I might start with the 5 x 4 or the 4 x 5. This will substitute for my normal mile repeats that I do on the treadmill (oh, the safety!). I've been warming up, running 3 x 1 mile repeats at 6 min mile (my goal pace) and a cool down. Pete commented that we should not be running our goal pace as we train, but running where we're at (which is more like 6:20 for me) and that in doing so we'll lower our times by conditioning properly.

April's magazine also had a big article on barefoot running. Took me back to my college days, when not only did we complete many workouts barefoot, by I got an A+ in Speech 101 for delivering a convincing piece on the topic. Anyway, I still take the shoes off from time to time and love to get my lightweights on for speed stuff. BUT now I'm eyeballing the

VIBRAM FIVEFINGERS

any opinions?

Refining my opinion

Most of you are probably aware by now, that I push speed work. I do this because the majority of high school runners and adult 5k-marathon runners that I talk to go on long, long slow runs and don't try to push their pace much. I'm always telling people to get on the track or throw some intervals and progression runs into their normal running workout. So much, that I may have you doubting the importance of the long run.

The long run. Very important. It builds muscle, grows capillaries (which take oxygen to your muscle), and strengthens tendons, bones and ligaments. All of these things help you to run economically and stronger.

BUT instead of going out and plodding along for 90 minutes to 2 hours, try running the last 30 minutes fast, or progressively getting faster every 30 mins(negative splits), or add 15x15 second sprints throughout. Do this unless you're a newbie to the long run, in which case just plod until you feel comfortable with the distance/time. Having said all of that, make sure your long run is easy! Do some long tempo runs (like 3 miles x 2) or longer intervals (like mile repeats) the day before to make sure your already slightly beat up going into your long run. You don't want the long run to come at the expense of your race specific training.

This post is for everything...the 1 mile to the marathon. Get some distance on.

I would throw in the long run once a week and a shorter, but still long run somewhere else in the week too. And what should you do the other days??? SPEED!

Treadmill Work

Looking for something new to do on the 'mill, I came up wit this...and enjoyed it.

Start at a comfy pace. Every 1/2 mile (or .50 on your 'mill) pick it up .5 mph. So, if you start at 4mph, you'll run that pace for 1/2 mile and then take it to a 4.5 for the next 1/2 mile. Continue adding .5mph every 1/2 mile. I ran 5 miles this way. It's a great way to get a nice warm up jog in and then push it a bit at the end. This is also helpful to practice negative splits...which is a fancy way of saying you get faster as you go.

Oh, if taking it up .5mph at a time is a bit stressful, try just taking it up .2 or .3 mph at a time.

Try it out.

5k ROUNDUP

I'm RUNNING A MARATHON! I just agreed to pull it off with my cousin Kristen, and I'm so excited. I've refused for months, feeling like I didn't have time to train, or rather train the way I like to. The marathon is in ONE MONTH, so this is going to hurt, but like I said, for some reason I'm really excited. My goal has been to run a marathon between each kid, but I kind of gave this up as unrealistic for me and called it good with the 1/2 marathon I did earlier this year. However, I'm glad to have this opportunity to get the goal done.

This post however is not about me, but rather about the 5k race. It's such a great race, difficult, fast, fun, and pretty easy to train for. I've had several friends mention that they'd like to get ready for a 5k, I'd like to run one myself (after the marathon!). I have previously posted some 5k training tips/workouts that you can find in Labels under 5k (tricky tricky). I'd like to add to the collection though.

Here are 5 (4 rather, but 5 sounded better) tips for 5ks. With more to come in the future...

1. Sign up for a race or two. I'd recommend signing up for a race just 2 months after you've begun training. Think of it as a practice race. Even though you may not feel ready in time for the race, it will give you motivation to keep training. If you schedule a race 6 months in advance, you'll have too much time and too many excuses until you get to the starting line. Use this practice race to get a good idea of where you're at. If you've never run a 5k, you'll have your first racing time. You can use this to plug into workouts and to push yourself to improve for the next race. Schedule your next race just a month or two following your practice race. This will give you time to continue training and improving.

2. Start where you're at. If you've just taken up running, try using the 3 to 30 rule. Jog for 3 minutes and walk for 30 seconds. You can also use land marks...run to that pole and walk to the mailbox. Gradually increase your running time and decrease your walking breaks. As a beginner, I would still recommend doing some speed work because the 5k race is a fast one. If you only have 3 days to train, try two days of milage 3-5 miles and one day of speed work like sprints down your road 8 times with 1 minute of recovery. This speed work will actually improve your longer mile days, making your body more efficient and strong.

3. Weight train/yoga. On "rest" days when you're not running, add some strength training and yoga. Doing lunges and pushups in the comfort of your own home are great. Pull out what in-home exercise equipment you do have and USE IT! Look up some moves at Yoga Journal (link supplied at left) and keep yourself flexible and injury free.

4. Don't get bored. Make sure to mix up what you're doing. If you don't naturally LOVE to go out for a run, you might not want to fool yourself into thinking you're going to go out for 5 miles everyday. Use my suggestions and mix in sprints, jump roping, biking, and yoga. Break up the miles by doing 2 minutes fast, 1 minute slow. I LOVE to run and I've been bored before, so I know it can happen to everyone. Don't go out and run around the same 3 blocks everyday or you'll loose the excitement, adventure, and fun that is running!

Fart What?

Fartlek. A fun way to develop aerobic fitness and mix up your speed training a bit. I think it's a stressless way to get some speed on.* Fartlek is the Swedish word for speed play. In this type of training you run continuously in a natural setting, such as a park, the road, a forest, changing the pace at will. If you feel like sprinting from one tree to the next, that's what you do. If, after the sprint, you're in the mood for a long, controlled effort covering one mile, go for it. A fartlek session of 15 minutes and surges of at least 5,000 meter race pace will lead to marked gains in aerobic fitness. (current read: Training for young distance runners by Larry Greene and Russ Pate)

This type of training is great for a variety of races from 5k to marathon by simply adjusting the session time and length of each surge.





* a week ago on the track, I was changing from my running shoes into my flats and some guy asked me why the change. I said, "I'm getting my speed on." ha! Putting cool shoes on and going to a big high school stadium track does motivate me to speed up! I love it!

You've gotta try this!

Just ran in from a new fantastic repeat run. All of you who are reading this and still have not broken out of the rut, running the same miles at the same speed, please try this one out!

In fact, I ran 8 miles on Thursday at a decent pace, but was bored out of my mind on the treadmill and almost talked myself out of it several times. Today I also ran 8 miles, but using this workout and LOVED it. The miles sped by faster and were much more effective and intertaining!

Warm up 2 miles

5x1200 going race pace (early in training you can go a little slower, later in training you can go a little faster)

400 rest jog between each repeat
Cool down 1.5 miles


This workout is also a little less daunting than mile repeat (being that it's just 3 laps!)

Race Specific Training

**Here's a nice little two week program that I just made for a 16 year old high school boy who's on the CC team. He wants to be faster and have more power...sure, why not? I added a lot of Plyo work...which I'm a fan of (you should try it!). Look it over for new most excellent ideas.


If you’re training for a 5k there’s no need to run much more than 6-8 miles in a long workout. MAYBE you can throw in an occasional 10 miler just for fun MAYBE every other week MAX. If you want to be powerful and fast, you have to train that way…which means running fast and power drills.

When training for a 5k, strength training should be used more as a means of injury prevention than as a method of building bigger muscles. You’re muscles will of course become stronger as a result of strength training, but heavy lifting is not the goal. Strength training in the form weights and isometric work should take place 6 out of 7 days a week.

Weights
All exercises will be preformed in a two count and without rest. Athlete will perform the entire list of exercises in order from top to bottom in reps of 10-12, and repeat it 3 times total.


Running and Strength Training Workouts for 2 weeks

6 day guide that should be completed in order of Medium, Hard, Easy, Hard, Medium, Easy, Rest.


Medium

Week 1

1. Run: Must be done on the road or track. Put one minute on your watch alarm. Find a starting point and count each time your right foot (or left) strikes the ground going an easy pace until your watch goes off. Mark where you end. Jog back to start. Add 3-5 foot strikes in the marked distance...this means you have to speed up your turn over but NOT increase your distance. I usually start at around 95 strikes. Continue to increase your turn over about 4 times, until you're going pretty much all out...I'm usually at around 105 strikes. Then repeat this 2-3 times. As I said, you're increasing turn over, NOT distance. By the time you're going all out, you're pretty much running high knees and not moving much distance wise...just trying to get that turn over in. THIS WORKOUT ROCKS and has taken minutes off my time!!!!!
Strength: weights- Bench press, One-arm/one-leg dumbbell row (stand on one leg, other leg raised behind, hips squared to ground, grasp stable surface in front of you with one hand, row with the other), Dumbbell front squat-to-press (squat with dumbbells at shoulders, press overhead when standing up), One legged lunge (put back foot on box or bench), Leg curl, Dumbbell pullover extension (lie supine on bench, dumbbells held with straight arms over chest, bend at elbows and bring dumbbells to eyes and then extend behind head/elbows at ears), Romanian deadlift, Pullups.


2. Run: Start with 2 mile warm-up. 10 minute tempo run 30 seconds slower per mile than 5k goal pace. 1 mile easy and another 10 minute tempo run. Cool down.
Strength: Plyos- Base side-to-side (start in triple threat, feet outside hips, keep feet apart and jump 4 inches to the right, then 4 inches to the left, do as rapidly as possible…as soon as you hit the ground, you should be springing back to the other side…not about height, it’s about quickness), One leg over the line (jump over the “line” and back on one foot as quickly as possible), Split jump (step into lunge position and sit back until your back knee nearly touches the ground, hold for 2 seconds, then explode up, using your hips and legs and throwing your arms up at the same time-extend front leg and land back in lunge position or try alternating feet in the air), Squat jump (squat down and jump up, extend to a straight line and land in triple threat), Get up (assume and hold a pushup position, with feet together, explode forward into a sprint for 10 yards), Side-to-side-jump-to-sprint (jump side to side over 6” high object 10 times then explode into a sprint for 10 yards), Plyo pushup (regular pushup stance, push up hard enough to lift hands off ground, clap while in the air if you can).


Week 2

1. Run: 2 miles normal pace. 4x1:00 faster running (not a sprint) with recovery time until you’re ready to do another. 2 miles normal pace to finish.
Strength: weights- same as week 1 workout 1


2. Run: Hills (if you can find any). Jog 2 miles to warms up. Sprint up 20-30 second hill x 8. Jog 2 miles cool down
Strength: Plyos-same as week 1 workout 2



Hard

Week 1

1. Run: 8 x 200 meters. Run each 200 at a fast clip and rest 2 minutes between each...I recommend slowly jogging to keep your muscles from becoming sore during this time. You’ll probably be around 32 seconds starting out. Just feel out your first one and find the pace that will allow you to work hard, but still be able to finish the workout. To progress the workout, every two weeks take a couple of seconds off your time and run one less 200 until you're running just 3 x 200 AFAP (as fast as possible).
Strength: weights- Pec fly, Lat pull down, Leg extension, adduct/abduct with bungee walk, plank (straight body resting on forearms and toes, raise one arm in front, opposite, raise one leg, then the opposite, raise diagonal arm and leg, then the opposite).

2. Run: Do between 3-5 miles one mile at a time running at your goal pace with an 800 jog in between. If your goal is to run a 5 minute mile, run one mile at 5 minutes and rest for the 800 jog, then run another at 5 minutes and rest...and so on for 3-5 miles.
Strength: Cable work- Cable one-arm rotational row (start in triple threat, reach across body with right hand to grab the handle, turning hips and shoulders to machine, rotate right shoulder back and pull handle to right hip…do all reps, then complete on opposite side), Ax-chop (Standing, pull cable from one side overhead to opposite side knee in squat), Cable lift (start in squat and lift cable to opposite side as you stand, arms extending in air), Cable pull (pull cable across body with arms straight in front-engage core muscles).


Week 2

1. Run: 800 meters (that's .50 on a treadmill)x 6 or 8. Use your goal race time as a guide. If you want to run a 5k in 30 minutes divide that number by 3 which gives you your minutes per mile, in this case 10 minutes. Divide that number in half, 5 minutes. Run each 800 at this 5 minutes pace. This isn't extremely hard, but will push you a bit and help with recognizing your pace. Rest for a 400 meter jog in between and repeat 6-8 times.
Strength: same as week 1 workout 1

2. Run: All work will be done as pace intervals or your 5k goal pace. Jog half the distance run between each as recovery.
Start with a warm up. 1x400 meters. Jog. 1x800m. Jog. 1x1200m. Jog. 1x800m. Jog. 1x400m. Jog.
Strength: same as week 1 workout 2


Easy

Week 1

1. Run: Mileage
Strength: 30 minute minimum yoga

2. Run: Cross-train (bike, swim, jump rope, tennis, have fun!)
Strength: 30 minute minimum yoga

Week 2

SAME

3 days to a 5k

By popular request I'm posting some good 5k workouts and suggestions. What most people don't know about 5k's is that they're FAST! Even as a beginner, you should get some fast track/treadmill/road workouts in to feel MUCH better in your race. Instead of just plodding along, mile after mile after mile (and .2 of another mile) which will only serve to help you plod along during the race, you should include speed workouts to improve lung capasity, lactic acid threshold and will help burn fat and produce more muscle than your average plodding session.

...and you can do it in just 3 days a week (of course more is better, but give what you've got to give).

Just chose two of the following track/treadmill/road/hill workouts per week and then add on a decent distance run of between 4-6 miles for your 3rd workout of the week. Space these workouts out and get some weight training/yoga/walking/fun in on the days between.

THE WORKOUT
Warm up before each workout with a little jog and some faster accelerations

1) 200 meters x 8: Run each 200 at a fast clip and rest 2 minutes between each...I recommend slowly jogging to keep your muscles from becomming sore during this time. Beginners should range between 45-50 seconds for each 200. This may seem slow, but remember you have to do 8! Intermediate runners should range 40-45 seconds and advanced runners around 35 seconds each. Just feel out your first one and find the pace that will allow you to work hard, but still be able to finish the workout. To progress the workout every two weeks take a couple of seconds off your time and run one less 200 until you're running just 200 x 3 AFAP (as fast as possible).

2)800 meters (that's .50 on a treadmill)x 6 or 8: Use your goal race time as a guide. If you want to run a 5k in 30 minutes divide that number by 3 which gives you your minutes per mile, in this case 10 minutes. Divide that number in half, 5 minutes. Run each 800 at this 5 minutes pace. This isn't extremely hard, but will push you a bit and help with recognizing your pace. Rest for a 400 meter jog inbetween and repeat 6-8 times.

3)MY FAV! Must be done on the road or track. Put one minute on your watch alarm. Find a starting point and count each time your right foot (or left) strikes the ground going an easy pace until your watch goes off. Mark where you end. Job back to start. Add 3-5 foot strikes in the marked distance...this means you have to speed up your turn over but NOT increase your distance. I usually start at around 95 strikes. Continue to increase your turn over about 4 times, until you're going pretty much all out...I'm usually at around 105 strikes. Then repeat this 2-3 times. As I said, you're increasing turn over, NOT distance. By the time you're going all out, you're pretty much running high knees and not moving much distance wise...just trying to get that turn over in. THIS WORKOUT ROCKS and has taken minutes off my time!!!!!

4) Mile repeats: Do between 3-5 miles one mile at a time running at your goal pace with an 800 jog in between. If your goal is to run a 6 minute mile, run one mile at 6 minutes and rest for the 800 jog, then run another at 6 minutes and rest...and so on for 3-5 miles. Super hard workout for me, but good!

5) Hill WORK: Find a steep but short hill. One that will take you about 40-60 seconds to sprint up or elevate your treadmill all the way and crank it up to a 10 speed. Anyway, do between 5-7 sprints up the hill and jog back down...throw in some bounding too...long hard jumping bounds. Jog a mile to cool down.


Cool down after each workout with a 1/2 mile to mile or more jog. Stretch (as in sun salutaion, not just touching your toes and done stretch).

Any questions? Ask away! Try a few out and let me know what you think!