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

What a thrill to watch our many competitors in the NYC Half today. Congratulations to everyone who raced, and huge THANKS to team volunteers and cheerers — you really gave everyone a boost!

For those who ran the NYC Half at full effort, plan on taking a short break from training to give yourself time to recover. This is especially important to keep in mind if you have a major goal race coming up — it’s far better to take your time, rather than risk injury by pressing too soon.

Dashing Whippets Training Plan for the Week

This is week 14 of a training plan for Boston marathoners, week 12 of a training plan for New Jerseymarathoners, and week 3 of a 5-week training plan for 10K racers. If you raced the NYC Half as your goal race for the spring, this is an easy week.

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 3/16: Easy day

• If you ran the NYC Half at full race pace, rest on Monday and take the first few days of the week off, or limit yourself to short easy runs
• Spring marathoners should run 55-70 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/221013329/

Tuesday 3/17: Long speedwork day: Warm up 1-1.5 easy mile, then…

• NYC Half competitors who ran at full effort: Rest today, or do at most 30 minutes of easy running — there is plenty of time for harder stuff later.
• Spring marathoners (who didn’t race hard this weekend): 2 repeats of 40 minutes at marathon pace, with a steady half mile recovery jog between them. Finish with 1-2 miles of easy jogging to cool down.
• Short distance (5K-15K) specialists (with a solid base of speedwork): 2 repeats of 3 miles at half marathon pace, with 5:00 jogging recovery between them, then a 1-1.5-mile cooldown jog.
• Runners who are building a base (not much recent speedwork): 3 miles at half marathon pace, then a 1-1.5-mile cooldown jog.
• Manhattan group workout in Central Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/220893503/
• Brooklyn group workout in Prospect Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/213037922/

Wednesday 3/18: Recovery day

• NYC Half competitors should rest
• Spring marathoners should do 90 minutes of easy running followed by 4 x 100m strides
• Other runners should do 25-35 minutes of easy running or aerobic system cross training
• Morning group run, Central Park: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/221003276/

Thursday, 3/19: Short speedwork day: 15-minute warmup, including jogging/drills/strides, then…

• Short distance (5K-15K) specialists (with solid base of speedwork): 4-5 repeats of 1200(10K)400(5K) supersets, which is 1200m at 10K pace and 400m at 5K pace with no rest between pace changes. Jog just 400m to recover. Optionally, add two more repeats of 200m at mile pace with 200m jog at the very end. Finish with 15 minutes of easy running and stretching.
• Spring marathoners: 5-7 Canova miles, which alternate every mile between half marathon pace and marathon pace, with no rest between pace changes. Finish with a 15-minute cooldown.
• Runners who are building a base (not much recent speedwork) and NYC Half competitors who raced at full effort: 3-4 repeats of 1200m at half marathon pace, with 400m jog recovery, and finish with a 15-minute cooldown.
• Morning group workout in Central Park: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/221043274/
• Evening Manhattan group workout in East River Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/220811338/
• Evening Brooklyn group workout in Prospect Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/220675001/

Friday 3/20: Very easy day

• Optionally, advanced marathoners may do 55 minutes of easy running, followed by 6 x 150m strides
• Everyone else should rest

Saturday and Sunday, 3/21-22: On one day, do 40-65 minutes of easy running plus 4 x 100m strides. On the other day, do a long run…

• Boston and NJ marathoners: 19-20 miles at progression pace
• Short distance (5K-15K) specialists: 1:40-1:50 of running at progression pace
• NYC Half competitors who are looking to maintain fitness: 1:15 of running at long run pace
• Runners who are building a base (including runners who are getting ready for the Brooklyn Half): 1:15-1:30 of running at long run pace
• Long run pace is 45-60 seconds per mile slower than marathon pace — a little faster than easy pace, but still not challenging. Progression run pace starts at long run pace for the first half — but the second half gradually accelerates to half marathon pace (or marathon pace for marathoners) — and do the last 10 minutes at an easy pace.
• 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 Scotland Run 10K race (5 weeks — see page 2): http://files.meetup.com/1454408/DWRT_TrainingPlan_Winter2015_5K10K.pdf
• Starting soon: Training plan for the Brooklyn Half