Dashing Whippets Training Plan, July 27 – August 2, 2015

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

Best of luck to everyone representing the team at this Saturday’s NYRR Club Championships race!

For those who are training for the NYC Marathon, Saturday’s five-mile race is a great checkpoint on your current fitness. And for the many team members who aren’t doing a fall marathon, next week is the start of training programs for shorter distances (5K to half marathon) as well as a special plan for one-mile specialists getting ready for the Fifth Avenue Mile. The plans are linked at the bottom of this message.

Dashing Whippets Training Plan for the Week

This is week 5 of NYC Marathon training program and 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 7/27: Easy day

• Fall marathoners should run 40-55 minutes easy, followed by 5 repeats of 100m strides
• Everyone else should run 30-40 minutes easy, or rest
• Monday Morning Mileage (Central Park) option: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/qtnrgkytkbkc/

Tuesday 7/28: Long speedwork day:

• ALL runners: Warm up 1-1.5 easy miles, then do controlled uphill sprints: 2 sprints of 75 meters, then 2 sprints of 100 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): 5 mile continuous run: first and last mile at half marathon pace, but do the middle 3 miles at 15K pace (no rest between pace changes). 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 estimated marathon pace, followed by a 1-mile cooldown jog.
• Manhattan group workout in Central Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/223683380/
• Brooklyn group workout in Prospect Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/ddlxrhytkblc/

Wednesday 7/29: Recovery day

• Marathoners should do 40-55 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, or optionally rest
• Morning group run, Central Park: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/223808567/

Thursday, 7/30: Short speedwork day: 15-minute warmup, including jogging/drills/strides, then…

• If you are racing Club Championships this weekend: 30-60 minutes of easy running (aim for 50+ minutes if you are training for a fall marathon) — with a 100m pickup at the end of every mile. No cooldown is required.
• If you are NOT racing this weekend: 3-4 repeats of 1200m at 15K pace with 400m recovery after each, and finish with 10-15 minutes of jogging to cool down.
• Morning Manhattan group workout in Central Park: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/bnqfdlytkbnc/
• Evening Manhattan group workout in East River Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/223693676/
• Evening Brooklyn group workout in Prospect Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/223693673/

Friday 7/31: Very easy day

• Almost everyone should rest
• Optionally, advanced marathoners may do 40 minutes of easy running

Saturday and Sunday, 8/01-02:

• Good luck on Saturday, NYRR Club Championships competitors! On Sunday, do 40-60 minutes of easy running
• For runners who aren’t racing this weekend, do 40-60 minutes easy on one day, and 1:30–2:00 of running at a minute slower than marathon pace on the other.
• 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
• Starting NEXT WEEK, 6 week training program for the Fifth Avenue Mile: http://files.meetup.com/1454408/2015%20Fifth%20Avenue%20Mile%20Plan.pdf
• Starting NEXT WEEK, 9 week training program for late summer races (5K-half marathon): http://files.meetup.com/1454408/DWRT_Summer2015_ShortRacePlan.pdf