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

Kudos to all the Whippets who represented us so well at races this past weekend!

This week is the start of an 18-week training program for the NYC Marathon. The plan begins with five weeks of strength development, including lots of running at speeds that are very fast compared to marathon race effort. But in the months of August and September, we gradually extend your ability to do sustained running at the pace you plan to execute on November 1. By training with teammates, you will build your aerobic conditioning, neuromuscular strength and race-specific fitness.

You can also easily adopt the plan to a different fall marathon by working backwards from your race date to figure out the recommendation in the current week.

We also continue to offer recommended workouts for the many team members who aren’t planning on a fall marathon. This training will get you into top shape for the NYRR Club Championships in early August, as well as key fall races like the Fifth Avenue Mile and the Bronx Ten-Miler.

There is a link to both plans at the bottom of this message, or you can follow along in these weekly messages.

Dashing Whippets Training Plan for the Week

This is week 1 of both the NYC Marathon training program and the summer short race training plan.

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 6/29: Easy day

• Fall marathoners should run 40-50 minutes easy, followed by 3-5 repeats of 100m strides
• Everyone else should run 30-40 minutes easy
• Monday Morning Mileage (Central Park) option: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/qtnrgkytjbmc/

Tuesday 6/30: Long speedwork day:

• ALL runners: Warm up 1-1.5 easy miles, then do controlled uphill sprints: 4 sprints of 50 meters, then 1-2 sprints of 75 meters. Walk back. Stay relaxed, coordinated and in control while displaying good running form. Then…
• Fall marathoners and Short distance (5K-15K) specialists (with a solid base of speedwork): 4-5 miles mostly at marathon pace. However, pick a route with two long uphills, and surge to 15K pace on those uphills. Finish with 1.5+ miles of easy running to cool down.
• Runners who are building a base (not much recent speedwork): 3 miles at marathon pace, then 1-2 miles at easy pace.
• Manhattan group workout in Central Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/222990320/
• Brooklyn group workout in Prospect Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/223164213/

Wednesday 7/01: Recovery day

• Marathoners should do 30 minutes of easy running, followed by 4 repeats of 100m strides, or rest
• Everyone else should do 25-40 minutes of easy running or aerobic system cross training
• Morning group run, Central Park: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/223173639/

Thursday, 7/02: Short speedwork day: 15-minute warmup, including jogging/drills/strides, then…

• Short distance (5K-15K) specialists (with solid base of speedwork) and Fall marathoners: 3-5 repeats of 1 mile at 15K pace, with just 1:15 of jogging recovery after each. Finish with 15 minutes of jogging to cool down.
• Runners who are building a base (not much recent speedwork): 3-4 repeats of 800m at 15K pace, with 400m jogging recovery after each. Finish with a 15-minute cooldown.
• Morning Manhattan group workout in Central Park: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/bnqfdlytkbdb/
• Evening Manhattan group workout in East River Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/njqchlytkbdb/
• Evening Brooklyn group workout in Prospect Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/qqwwglytkbdb/

Friday 7/03: Very easy day

• Optionally, advanced marathoners may do 40 minutes of easy running followed by 4 repeats of 100m strides
• Everyone else should rest, or do the Monday or Wednesday workout today if you missed it

Saturday and Sunday, 7/04-05: On one day, do 40-55 minutes of easy running followed by 4 repeats of 100m strides. On the other day, do a long run…

• NYC Marathoners: 1:50-1:55 of running at long run pace
• Short distance (5K-15K) specialists (with a solid base): 1:15-1:30 of running at long run pace
• Runners who are building a base: 1:00-1:15 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.
• 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

• Dashing Whippets NYC Marathon training plan (18 weeks): http://files.meetup.com/1454408/DWRT_NYC_Marathon_2015.pdf
• Training plan for short summer races (weeks 7 onward, starting on page 2 of this file): http://files.meetup.com/1454408/DWRT_TrainingPlan_Spring2015_PostBKHalf.pdf