Dashing Whippets Training Plan, August 24 – 30, 2015

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

Dashing Whippets Training Plan for the Week

This is week 9 of NYC Marathon training program, and week 4 of a late summer short race training plan for Fifth Avenue Milers (6 weeks) or 5K-half marathoners (9 weeks).

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 8/24: Easy day

• Fall marathoners should run 50-65 minutes easy, followed by 5 repeats of 100m strides
• Everyone else should run 35-60 minutes easy
• Monday Morning Mileage (Central Park) option: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/224342417/

Tuesday 8/24: Long speedwork day: Warm up 1-1.5 miles. Then…

• Fall marathoners and Short distance (5K-half marathon) specialists (with a solid base of speedwork): 4-6 miles at half marathon pace. Aim for 6 if you are targeting a fall marathon; stop at 4-5 if your goal race is shorter — but whatever you do, keep the speed at your current half marathon pace (rather than goal/PR speed). Finish with 1.5-2 miles of easy jogging to cool down.
• Fifth Avenue milers: 16 repeats of 200m uphill at 3K pace. Jog back down after each to recover, and finish with a 1.5-2-mile cooldown jog.
• Runners who are building a base (not much recent speedwork): 3-4 miles at half marathon pace, followed by 1-1.5 miles easy to cool down.
• Manhattan group workout in Central Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/224624341/
• Brooklyn group workout in Prospect Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/224624341/

Wednesday 8/26: Recovery day

• Marathoners should do 50-65 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/224446708/

Thursday, 8/27: Short speedwork day: 15-minute warmup, including jogging/drills/strides, then…

• Fifth Avenue milers: Do an extra mile of easy jogging to warm up. Then do 8 x 200m at mile pace, with 2:00 of jogging recovery after each. Finish with 15 minutes of jogging to cool down.
• Short distance (5K-half marathon) specialists (with solid base of speedwork): Do a single 1600m repeat at 15K pace, followed by 400m of easy jogging to recover. Then do 8 x 200m at 5K pace, with 2:00 of jogging recovery after each. Finally, add another 1600m repeat at 15K pace. Finish with a 15-minute cooldown.
• Fall marathoners and Runners who are building a base (not much recent speedwork): Do 48-64 minutes of running. Start and end easy, but do the middle 24 minutes at marathon pace. No cooldown is required.
• Morning Manhattan group workout in Central Park: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/224624355/
• Evening Manhattan group workout in East River Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/224484431/
• Evening Brooklyn group workout in Prospect Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/224230049/

Friday 8/28: Very easy day

• Optionally, advanced marathoners may do 50-55 minutes of easy running followed by 5 repeats of 100m strides
• Everyone else should rest, or do the Monday or Wednesday workout today if you missed it

Saturday and Sunday, 8/29-30: 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: 18 miles at 5% slower than marathon pace (but do the first and last mile a little easier as a warmup/cooldown)
• Short distance (5K-half marathon) specialists and Fifth Avenue Mile specialists (with a solid base): 1:20-1:30 of running, mostly at long run pace, but do the middle 3 miles at marathon pace
• Runners who are building a base: 1:15-1:30 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

• Dashing Whippets NYC Marathon training plan (18 weeks): http://files.meetup.com/1454408/DWRT_NYC_Marathon_2015.pdf
• 9 week training program for longer late summer races (5K-half marathon): http://files.meetup.com/1454408/DWRT_Summer2015_ShortRacePlan.pdf
• 6 week training program for the Fifth Avenue Mile: http://files.meetup.com/1454408/2015%20Fifth%20Avenue%20Mile%20Plan.pdf