This weekly message keeps active members informed of the Dashing Whippets training activities for the next seven days.

For runners who are racing in the Washington Heights 5K this weekend, we wish you the best of luck!  Make sure you have RSVPed in advance at this calendar entry so we can let you know about the pre-race meeting and warm-up: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/212680362/

Dashing Whippets Training Plan for the Week

This is week 11 of a training plan for Boston marathoners, week 9 of a training plan for NYC Half and New Jersey Marathon competitors, and week 8 of a training plan for 5K/10Kracers.

Please click on the links below to RSVP if you are planning to come out to one of these training events!

Note: Almost all training paces, such as 5K, 10K, half marathon, should be your estimated pace if you ran the race today — not your goal or PR pace. (Exception: Marathon pace is your goal pace or best guess of your well-trained marathon speed.) You can use the Daniels VDOT calculator to estimate your pace from a recent result.

Monday 2/23: Easy day

• Spring marathoners and NYC Half competitors should run 45-70 minutes easy, optionally followed by 4-6 strides of 150m each
• Everyone else should rest or run 30 minutes easy
• Monday Morning Mileage (Central Park) option: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/qtnrgkytdbfc/

Tuesday 2/24: Long speedwork day: Warm up 1-1.5 easy mile, then…

• Spring marathoners and NYC Half competitors: 6-7 miles at half marathon pace, followed by 1.5-2 easy miles to cool down.
• Short distance (5K-15K) specialists and Runners who are building a base: 40-50 minute progression run. Start a 30 seconds/mile slower than marathon pace, then speed up 30 seconds/mile every 10 minutes, so that by the end you are going substantially faster than half marathon pace. Finish with a 1-mile cooldown.
• Manhattan group workout in Central Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/219943086/
• Brooklyn group workout in Prospect Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/ddlxrhytdbgc/

Wednesday 2/25: Recovery day

• Spring marathoners and NYC half competitors should do 45-65 minutes of easy running followed by 4 x 100m strides, or rest
• Other runners should do 20-30 minutes of easy running or aerobic system cross training
• Morning group run, Central Park: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/220321992/

Thursday, 2/26: Short speedwork day: 15-minute warmup, including jogging/drills/strides, then…

• Short distance (5K-15K) specialists, as well as Runners who are building a base (not much recent speedwork): Short descending ladder: 800m, 600m, 400m @ 5K pace. Jog just 200m after each segment to recover, and finish with 15 minutes of jogging and stretching to cool down.
• NYC Half competitors and Spring marathoners…
  • If you plan to race this weekend’s 5K at full intensity: 50-65 minutes of running, mostly easy, but do the middle 25 minutes at marathon pace. No cooldown required.
  • If you aren’t racing this weekend: 4 repeats of 1000m at 10K pace (2:00 jog recovery after each), followed by 4 repeats of 400m at 5K pace (1:30 recovery after each). Finish with 15 minutes of jogging and stretching to cool down.
• Morning group workout in Central Park: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/bnqfdlytdbjc/
• Evening Manhattan group workout in East River Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/220086998/
• Evening Brooklyn group workout in Prospect Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/qtkbxgytdbjc/

Friday 2/27: Very easy day

• Optionally, advanced marathoners and half marathoners may do 30-55 minutes of easy running, followed by 6 x 150m strides
• Everyone else should rest, or do the Monday or Wednesday workout today if you missed it

Saturday and Sunday, 2/28-3/01:

• If you’re running the Washington Heights 5K, rest or go short/easy on Saturday, and best of luck on Sunday!
• Boston and NJ marathoners: Add 1:10-1:20 easy running after racing the 5K, or do a total of 2:00 of running at long run pace (if you don’t race the 5K)
• NYC Half competitors: Add 1:10-1:20 easy running after racing the 5K, or do a total of 1:30-1:40 of running at long run pace (if you don’t race the 5K)
• Runners who are building a base: Run 1:00-1:15 at long run pace (if you don’t race the 5K)
• Long run pace is 45-60 seconds per mile slower than marathon pace — a little faster than easy pace, but still not challenging.
• There are weekly team long runs around the city. To see all options for weekend training runs with the Whippets, please view the calendar: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/

Training Calendars

• Training plan for the Boston Marathon (18 weeks): http://files.meetup.com/1454408/DWRT%202015%20Boston%20Marathon%20Plan.pdf
• Training plan for New Jersey Marathon (17 weeks): http://files.meetup.com/1454408/DWRT%202015%20NJ%20Marathon%20Plan.pdf
• Training plan for NYC Half (11 weeks): http://files.meetup.com/1454408/NYC%20Half%20Training%20Plan.pdf
• Training plan for March Washington Heights 5K race (8 weeks): http://files.meetup.com/1454408/DWRT_TrainingPlan_Winter2015_5K10K.pdf