Dashing Whippets Training Plan, April 27 – May 03, 2015

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

Huge congratulations to everyone who killed the Boston Marathon last week, and we hope everyone who ran the New Jersey Marathon today had a great race. Recent marathoners should take the next few weeks as a very easy recovery period.

For everyone else, we are reaching the peak period of training for the Brooklyn Half. And looking ahead, a new training cycle starts in mid-May, to help runners prepare for summer races, or to build a strong aerobic base for fall marathon training.

Dashing Whippets Training Plan for the Week

This is week 6 of a training plan for the Brooklyn Half. If you ran a marathon in the second half of April, we are in a recovery period. If you are training for shorter races like 5K-15K, or are looking ahead to a fall marathon, join us for modified workouts that will help you build and maintain fitness.

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 4/27: Easy day

• Congrats, NJ marathoners! Take this week off, or if you must run, limit yourself to easy running for no more than 30 minutes.
• Brooklyn half marathoners should run 45-60 minutes easy, optionally followed by 4 strides of 100m each
• Everyone else should rest or run 30 minutes easy
• Monday Morning Mileage (Central Park) option: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/221674481/

Tuesday 4/28: Long speedwork day: Warm up 1-1.5 easy mile, then…

• Brooklyn Half competitors and short distance (5K-15K) specialists (with a solid base of speedwork): 4-7 miles at half marathon pace. Brooklyn Half specialists should pace yourself to hit 6-7 miles; shorter-distance specialists can wrap up at 4-5 miles. Finish with 1-1.5 miles of easy running to cool down.
• Runners who are building a base (not much recent speedwork): 4 miles at marathon pace, followed by a 1-1.5-mile cooldown.
• Recent marathoners: NJ marathoners should rest. Boston marathoners may rest or just do 30-45 minutes of easy running.
• Manhattan group workout in Central Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/qhnwgkytgblc/
• Brooklyn group workout in Prospect Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/221405158/

Wednesday 4/29: Recovery day

• Boston and NJ marathoners should rest
• Half marathoners and shorter distance specialists should do 25-50 minutes of easy running or aerobic system cross training
• Morning group run, Central Park: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/221725472/

Thursday, 4/30: Short speedwork day: 15-minute warmup, including jogging/drills/strides, then…

• Brooklyn Half competitors and short distance (5K-15K) specialists (with solid base of speedwork): 4 repeats of 1000m at 10K pace (2:00 jog after each). Then 4 repeats of 400m at 5K pace (1:30 recovery after each). Finish with 15 minutes of jogging and stretching to cool down.
• Runners who are building a base (not much recent speedwork): 4-6 repeats of 400m at 5K pace with 400m jog recovery after each. Finish with a 15-minute cooldown.
• Recent marathoners: NJ marathoners should rest. Boston marathoners may rest or just do 45 minutes at easy pace.
• Morning group workout in Central Park: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/bnqfdlytgbnc/
• Evening Manhattan group workout in East River Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/dwmjqgytgbnc/
• Evening Brooklyn group workout in Prospect Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/221405176/

Friday 5/01: Very easy day

• Optionally, advanced Brooklyn half marathoners may do 30-35 minutes of easy running, followed by 4 x 100m strides
• Everyone else should rest, or do the Monday or Wednesday workout today if you missed it

Saturday and Sunday, 5/02-03:

• NJ marathoners: Rest all weekend, or optionally do 30 minutes of easy running on one of the two days
• Everyone else: On one day, do 40-65 minutes of easy running plus 4 x 100m strides. On the other day, do a long run…
• Brooklyn Half competitors: 2:00-2:10 of running at progression pace
• Short distance (5K-15K) specialists: 1:30 of running at progression pace
• Runners who are building a base, as well as Boston marathoners: 1:00-1:15 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. 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 Brooklyn Half (7-8 weeks): http://files.meetup.com/1454408/Brooklyn_Half_Training_2015.pdf
• Coming in mid-May: training plan for short summer races and a base-building period for fall marathoners