Ready to Race

You'll never beat the summer heat in the Lowcountry but you can alleviate some of the effects by doing track workouts early in the morning.

We have four runners who all doing the Floppin Flounder Race tomorrow on Sullivans Island. Today’s workout was all about preparing for the race. Some might argue that to be truly primed for a PR, that the runner needs to take the day off. I wouldn’t disagree but I also would argue that you can’t run every race for a PR so today we simply worked on maintaining pace and feeling the pace so the runner knows what that feels like the next day.

Every runner starts with an 800m warm up and ends with an 800m cool down.

Group 1 - all repeats are at race pace

• 2 x 400
• 2 x 800
• 2 x 1200
• 2 x 400

The athlete starts his next repeat when his heart rate falls below 120 in order to give him time for a more complete recovery. This is a passive recovery time. If he is not within 2 seconds of his split time on the first set of 400’s then he continues to do 400’s until he can nail that pace.

Group 2 - The second group is working on maintaining intensity at their new 5K pace.

2 x 2000m at race pace - Recovery=800m split time

This workout lasts about the same amount of time as it should take the athlete to run 4800 meters but there is a break thrown in there for recovery. This is not a workout that I normally recommend the day before a race but the runner showed up and found that others were racing tomorrow and decided he wanted to race as well but also wanted to do this workout.

We closed out the session by doing 100m repeats for form. A camera is very helpful to be able to show the athlete where he can improve.

Friday Track Workout

• 800 m Warm-up
• 6 x 200, 100 recovery
• 6 x 300, 200 R
• 5 x 400, 300 R
• 800 m cool down

Each athlete ran between 15 and 25 seconds faster than their 5K pace. The intensity of the workout strengthens the runner, making him or her faster. Stamina at speed is built by the amount of time each athlete runs at speed. When the runner can complete the workout at the proscribed pace, they run the next workout (in two weeks) at a faster pace.

Ready to Race?

One athlete on the track this morning. Even though I have five runners who regularly do track workouts, only one was able to be there this morning. That’s good for him because he gets my full attention for an hour.

Today’s workout was to dial in the pace for tomorrow evening’s 5K.

• 800m warm-up
• 2 x 400 m
• 2 x 800 m
• 2 x 1200 m
• 2 x 400 m
• 800 m cool down
• Recovery - HR<120

All of the repeats were done at race pace. The athlete was able to hit his pace until he got to the 1200 repeats. At first I thought it was because I had him running too fast but he was immediately able to nail his pace for the last two repeats. I think it had more to do with the mental part of it. We do these drills so that we learn to listen to what our body is saying. The runners needs to listen to the body and remember what that pace feels like. He needs to feel the slow accumulation of lactate in his legs. He needs to feel what the breathing feels like. The runner must gain a sense of what the body goes through when it’s being pushed to the brink of failure.

Run at the red line and then beyond when racing a 5K.

Marathon Long Runs

Charleston Runs athletes on the Cooper River Bridge.

Athletes training for fall marathons should not wait until July or August to begin building mileage. Those that are contemplating a race should be working up to doing a long run of at least 10 miles every other week and should also be working up to doing at least 20 miles each week by the time they get to July 1.

Charleston Runs runners are adding one mile to their long run every two or three weeks and will do so through June when they’ll begin adding two miles every other week. Our bodies adapt fairly quickly to the increase load of running in terms of the cardio vascular system, the pulmonary system, and the muscular system. Our bones and connective tissue don’t respond as rapidly. It takes about 90 days for the skeletal system to adapt to an increased workload. Therefore, we want to spend some time letting our bodies adapt before we get into runs beyond ten miles.

Powering up the incline increases strength which leads to an increase in speed. The athlete on the right is displaying great form.

I try to do something different during every one of our long runs. With widely varying abilities I try to throw something in that will challenge all of them. Last week it was a fast finish. The last mile was run at race pace or faster. This week, we ran across the Cooper River Bridge and threw in a few hill repeats. Many people don’t run the bridge regularly unless they’re preparing for the Cooper River Bridge Run. Running the bridge regularly as part of our long runs will prepare us for the hills we encounter in D.C.

Track Workout

This is a track workout that is good for almost every runner. One size never fits all and anybody just starting with track workouts should approach things cautiously. All of the Charleston Runs athletes doing this workout have been running consistently for at least two years and have been racing for at least one year.

I start every athlete at a pace that is 15 seconds per mile faster than their 5K pace. As runners get used to this workout, I speed up their workout in subsequent weeks.

The recovery interval should take just as long as the effort. For instance, if the runner does a 55 second 200 m, then they should take 55 seconds to recover during the 100 m. At first this was  difficult for the runners but by the time they’re doing the 400 m, they’re happy to take all of the time allotted. The workout should be continuous - effort - recovery - effort with no breaks.

Today’s workout

• 800 m warm-up
• 6 x 200 m, 100 m recovery
• 6 x 300 m, 200 m recovery
• 6 x 400 m, 300 m recovery
• 1 x 400 m, all out
• 800 m cool down

Do You Need a Coach?

The NY Times recently explored the topic of how coaching can help athletes of all abilities.

…training, if done right, is the ultimate performance enhancer, with effects that can dwarf those of illegal drugs, like the blood-boosting drug EPO, as well as legal stimulants like caffeine. Still, it seems, too few amateur athletes take it seriously and fewer still do it right. Exercise physiologists and coaches say most people who want to run, swim, cycle or row faster or improve in almost any sport do not appreciate what can be accomplished with training nor how to do it.

Read it all.

Hell Hole Swamp 10K Gator Run

I’m sad to say that my athlete didn’t do as well as we expected. The day was not hot and there were about 100 people in the field. There were three things that contributed to not meeting his goal time of 50 minutes.

• Road Surface - 4 of the 6.2 miles were run on dirt/gravel roads. Maintaining a smooth stride is not possible.
• Preparation - As a coach, I didn’t have the athlete running as fast as maybe I should have. However, I don’t push athletes beyond a level that hasn’t been demonstrated.
• Pacing - The athlete started out running a 7.45 first mile and his goal was an 8 minute mile. He never really recovered and wasn’t able to adjust his pace adequately.

Obviously, we can’t do anything about the road surface, it is what it is. Preparation - we’ve already begun addressing this for the next race. I’m pushing him a little faster in workouts but not so fast that he’ll break down. For me, it means carefully monitoring his workouts and races. The pacing will come with race experience. He was very excited and the field was small which meant he ran his own race most of the way.

More Half-Marathon Results

My athlete training for the More Half-Marathon in NYC on April 26 didn’t record a score for the race - and neither did anybody else. The temperature at race time was 92 degrees so the organizers cancelled the full marathon and didn’t score the half-marathon. My athlete told me she crossed the start about 5 minutes after the gun and crossed the line in at 2 hours 2 minutes. And this was in the heat. She was justifiably proud of herself. She’s 52 and ready to qualify for Boston when she runs the Marine Corps Marathon in October.

Friday Track Workout

I have one athlete training for  the Hell Hole Swamp 10K Gator Run and Walk on May 2. Last Friday we worked on speed - same thing today but we umped up the speed just a bit. We’re talking about literally a few seconds difference in split times between last week and this week. Last week, his 400m split time was 1.52. Today we started at 1.48. 4 seconds/lap = 16 seconds/mile = 1:40/10K. That’s a lot when you’re looking to better your PR by over 2 minutes.

This workout was designed to further tax the athletes system and push his lactate threshold. We 3×400, 3×400, 2×1200 with a one-minute rest in between. He really blew his pace during the first 1200 and then got it together on the last 1200 and nailed his pace. Physically, he is ready for next week’s race. He’s now ready mentally as well, if he remembers what he learned today about how his body responds to the increased stress.

Weekly Track Workout

A weekly track workout can really sharpen an athlete for an upcoming race. Endurance is built through weekly long runs at varying distances and paces and speed is built through tempo runs, intervals, and track workouts. They are actually more ways to build speed but they are all variation of tempo runs and intervals.

I believe there are two big advantages of the track - the removal of the distractions of the road and having the athlete run a proscribed distance at an exact pace. Running on the road means paying attention to the surface, your surroundings, and the traffic. On the track, it’s just you and the distance.

This morning I had two athletes at the track. One was continuing to work on her half-marathon pace and the other wanted to improve his time in an upcoming 10K race. My half-marathon runner, after an 800m warm up, ran 4×1200 at race pace with a one minute break between sets. All I want from her two weeks out from the race is for her to dial in her pace - she’s actually very good at intuitively figuring it out.

The second runner ran an 800m warm up and then ran 2×400, 2×800, 2×1200, and 2×800. His paces were designed to stretch his capacity for speed by pushing him to a limit over a shorter distance. These were not race pace distances. We’ll do a similar workout next week and then the following week, we’ll do 6×400 at race pace the day before his race. This is an athlete who has a great capacity to improve and enter the age-group awards arena.