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

We’re looking forward to our Dashing Whippets Track Meet on Saturday. This annual event is always made special both by the participation and volunteering of our team, as well as by the great support of runners from other clubs. Please be sure to let your friends know that all are welcome. Details here: http://www.dashingwhippets.org/dashing-whippets-annual-track-meet/

And whether your specialty is 26.2 miles or 200 meters, now is a great time to come out and take part our workouts. We are in a short period of fitness building and maintenance to help runners do well in summer races, or build a solid base for fall marathon training. Join us!

Dashing Whippets Training Plan for the Week

This is week 2 of a training plan for summer races and base-building for fall marathon training.

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 5/25: Easy day

• Everyone should rest or run 30-40 minutes easy

Tuesday 5/26: Long speedwork day:

• ALL runners: Warm up 1-1.5 easy miles, then do 4 controlled sprints uphill of about 25 meters, walk back after each. Emphasize staying relaxed, coordinated and in control while displaying good running form. Then…
• Brooklyn Half competitors and Runners who are building a base: 45 minutes at a pace that is around a minute per mile SLOWER than marathon pace; no cooldown is required.
• Short distance (5K-15K) specialists (with a solid base of speedwork): Do 3-5 miles at marathon pace. Discipline yourself to NOT go faster than marathon pace; the purpose of this workout is a sustained effort that gently increases the efficiency of your cardiorespiratory system. Finish with 1-1.5 miles of easy running to cool down.
• If preparing for the Dashing Whippets track meet on May 30: After warming up, do twenty minutes of running as a speedplay workout: repetitions of four minutes at a pace between marathon and half marathon pace, followed by one minute at 5K pace. After the twenty-minute speedplay run, jog three minutes easy to slightly recover. Then run 4 repeats of 200m uphill at one mile race pace; walk back downhill to recover. Finish with a 1-1.5-mile cooldown jog.
• Manhattan group workout in Central Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/222318817/
• Brooklyn group workout in Prospect Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/221407700/

Wednesday 5/27: Recovery day

• Most runners should do 20-35 minutes of easy running or aerobic system cross training
• If you are preparing for a fall marathon, aim for 40+ minutes of easy exercise today
• Morning group run, Central Park: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/wpqbdlythbkc/

Thursday, 5/28: Short speedwork day: 15-minute warmup, including jogging/drills/strides, then…

• If you are competing in the Dashing Whippets track meet on Saturday: Two miles of jogging, with one 100-meter “stride” (gradual acceleration and deceleration) out of every 400 meters. Finish with a short easy cooldown run.
• Short distance (5K-15K) specialists (with solid base of speedwork), and Runners who are building a base: Pyramid workout: 400m, 800m, 1200m, 1600m, 1200m, 800m, and 400m, all at 15K pace, with a 400m easy jog between each segment. Be sure to keep the pace consistent rather than giving in to the temptation of running the shorter segments faster than 15K speed. Finish with 15 minutes of jogging and stretching.
• Evening Manhattan group workout in East River Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/222405841/
• Evening Brooklyn group workout in Prospect Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/221407690/

Friday 5/29: Very easy day

• Everyone should rest, or do the Monday or Wednesday workout today if you missed it

Saturday and Sunday, 5/30-31:

• Good luck, Dashing Whippets Track Meet competitors! On Sunday, do an easy run of 30-40 minutes.
• Everyone else (who didn’t race in a track meet): On one day, do 40-55 minutes of easy running. On the other day, do 60-80 minutes 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 overly 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 short summer races and a base-building period for fall marathoners (6 weeks): http://files.meetup.com/1454408/DWRT_TrainingPlan_Spring2015_PostBKHalf.pdf