Dashing Whippets Training Plan, March 2 – 8, 2015

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

Great work by everyone who ran so hard in the cold at this past weekend’s Washington Heights 5K!

Looking ahead, if you’re hoping to peak at the Scotland 10K in early April, this is the first of a five-week program to get you ready. If, instead, you are aiming to peak at the Brooklyn Half, we are preparing a six-week program that starts in early April — join us at workouts this month to get ready.

And if your goal race this spring is the NYC Half or a spring marathon, our plans are reaching a peak point — be sure to monitor how your body is responding and reduce the demand if you are feeling worn out. With hard work and good judgment, these workouts should gradually build you up to your best possible performance — but you are the best person to assess what’s right for you!

Schedule note: As in past weeks, we have taken some workouts off the calendar if the running conditions seem unworkable — but most of workouts are still on schedule despite the cold and the snow. Keep an eye on our Meetup calendar for details: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/

Dashing Whippets Training Plan for the Week

This is week 12 of a training plan for Boston marathoners, week 10 of a training plan for NYC Half andNew Jersey Marathon competitors, and week 1 of a 5-week training plan for 10K racers.

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 3/02: Easy day

• Spring marathoners and NYC Half competitors should run 40-65 minutes easy, optionally followed by 4-6 strides of 150m each
• Everyone else should rest or run 30 minutes easy
• Monday morning group workout is cancelled this week

Tuesday 3/03: Long speedwork day: Warm up 1-1.5 easy mile, then…

• Spring marathoners: 65-70 minutes of running at marathon pace. Finish with 1-1.5 miles of easy jogging to cooldown.
• NYC Half competitors and Short distance (5K-15K) specialists (with a solid base of speedwork): 3-4 repeats of 2000m at 15K pace on a hilly course, with 2:00 recovery jog after each. Finish with a 1-1.5-mile cooldown.
• Runners who are building a base (not much recent speedwork): 3-4 miles at marathon pace, followed by a 1-1.5-mile cooldown.
• Manhattan group workout in Central Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/219943090/
• Brooklyn group workout in Prospect Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/219349888/

Wednesday 3/04: Recovery day

• Spring marathoners and NYC half competitors should do 45-55 minutes (half marathoners) or 65-85 minutes (marathoners) of easy running followed by 4 x 100m strides
• 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/220776109/

Thursday, 3/05: Short speedwork day: 15-minute warmup, including jogging/drills/strides, then…

• NYC Half competitors and Short distance (5K-15K) specialists (with solid base of speedwork): 2 x 1200m @ 10K pace, with 2:30 recovery after each. Then 3 x 800m @ 5K pace, with 2:00recovery. Then 4 x 400m @ faster than 5K pace, with 1:30 recovery. 10K specialists should add 2 repeats of 200m at mile pace with 200m recovery after each. Finish with 15 minutes of jogging and stretching to cool down.
• Spring marathoners: 10-14 Ks worth of Canova Ks, which are repetitions of 1000 meters alternating 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): 3 x 800m at 10K pace with 400m recovery jog after each, and end with a 15-minute cooldown.
• Morning group workout in Central Park: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/220799298/
• Evening Manhattan group workout in East River Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/220510745/
• Evening Brooklyn group workout in Prospect Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/209658032/
• Evening Manhattan group workout in Central Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/220730861/

Friday 3/06: 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, 3/07-08: 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: 18 miles at 5% slower than marathon pace
• NYC Half competitors: 2:00-2:10 at long run pace
• Short distance (5K-15K) specialists: 1:30-1:40 at long run pace
• Runners who are building a base: 1:00 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

• 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 Scotland Run 10K race (5 weeks — see page 2): http://files.meetup.com/1454408/DWRT_TrainingPlan_Winter2015_5K10K.pdf