Dashing Whippets Training Plan, March 14 – 20, 2016

The Running Dog

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

Best wishes to everyone racing the NYC Half this weekend, and thanks to the many other members who are supporting our runners by volunteering or cheering. Have a great race!

Dashing Whippets Training Plan for the Week

This week 12 of training plans for Boston and New Jersey marathoners, the final week of a training plan for NYC Half competitors, and week 2 of a training plan for the Scotland Run 10K.

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 3/14: Easy day

Tuesday 3/15: Long speedwork day: Warm up 1.5-2 miles. Then…

  • Spring marathoners: 60-70 minutes at marathon pace. Finish with 1-2 miles of easy jogging to cool down.
  • NYC Half competitors and Scotland Run 10K specialists (with a solid base of speedwork): Do a five-mile tempo run: first and last mile at 15K pace, middle 3 miles at half marathon pace, with no rest between pace changes. Finish with a 1-2-mile cooldown jog.
  • Runners who are building a base (not much recent speedwork): 3 miles at marathon pace, followed by 2 miles at an easy pace to cool down.
  • Manhattan group workout in Central Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/229272081/
  • Brooklyn group workout in Prospect Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/228962122/

Wednesday 3/16: Recovery day

  • If your spring goal race is the NYC Half, rest or do at most 25 minutes of easy jogging. Otherwise…
  • Spring marathoners should run 50-65 minutes easy with 4 x 100m strides, or optionally 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/wxmmnlyvfbvb/

Thursday, 3/17: Short speedwork day: 20-minute warmup, including jogging/drills/strides, then…

  • If your spring goal race is the NYC Half, do 2-3 miles of easy jogging, but after every half mile, do a 100-meter pickup to 5K pace. No cooldown is required.
  • Scotland Run 10K specialists (with a solid base of speedwork): 4-5 repeats of 400(5K)1200(10K) supersets. Each of these is 400m at 5K pace followed by 1200m at 10K pace, with no rest between pace changes. Finish with 15 minutes of easy jogging to cool down.
  • Spring marathoners: 3-5 repeats of 1600m at 15K pace, with just 1:30 of recovery jogging between them. Finish with a 15-minute cooldown jog.
  • Runners who are building a base (not much recent speedwork): Do the workout recommended for NYC Half competitors.
  • Lower Manhattan group workout in East River Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/229154115/
  • Brooklyn group workout in Prospect Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/227401031/
  • Upper Manhattan group workout in Riverbank State Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/pnwznlyvfbwb/

Friday 3/18: Very easy day

  • Most runners should rest, or do the Monday or Wednesday workout today if you missed it
  • Optionally, advanced marathoners may run 40 minutes easy, followed by 4 x 100m strides

Saturday and Sunday, 3/19-20:

  • Good luck, NYC Half competitors. Rest or do a short easy run on Saturday, and enjoy the ride on Sunday. (If you’re training for a spring marathon, do an extra long warmup of 2+ miles before, and an extra long cooldown of 1-2 miles after.)
  • If you aren’t racing this weekend: On one day, do 35-55 minutes of easy running followed by 4 repeats of 100m strides. On the other day, do a long run…
    • Boston and New Jersey marathoners: 18 miles of total running. Do the first 3 and last 3 miles at long run pace, but speed up for the middle 12 to about 5% slower than marathon pace (20-30 seconds/mile slower).
    • Scotland Run 10K specialists with a solid base, and Runners who are building a base: 1:15 – 1:45 of running at easy or 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

More about Matt

Matt is one of the co-founders of the Dashing Whippets with Rich.

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