Dashing Whippets Training Plan, February 29 – March 6, 2016

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

Best wishes to everyone competing on Sunday in the first NYRR Club Points race of the year, the Washington Heights 5K.

We are nearing the peak point of our NYC Half program — these final few weeks will get you ready to shine on March 20. And we’re in the final one-third of our marathon training plans for Boston and New Jersey — now that you’ve built a strong aerobic base, we’re pushing hard to elongate the distance at which you can manage your goal marathon pace.

Looking ahead, next week is the jumping-off point for a four-week plan to help runners do well in the Scotland Run 10K, which is ideal for those whose spring goal race is not a marathon or half marathon. And if you’re planning to compete in the Brooklyn Half, this is a great time to join us at our workouts to help you build a solid base of fitness before the more intensive half marathon training begins in early April.

Dashing Whippets Training Plan for the Week

This week 10 of training plans for Boston and New Jersey marathoners, and week 9 of training plans for competitors in the NYC Half or Washington Heights 5K.

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 2/29: Easy day

• Spring marathoners and half marathoners should run 50-70 minutes easy, followed by 5 x 100m strides
• Everyone else should run 30-40 minutes easy, or optionally rest
• Monday Morning Mileage (Central Park) option: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/qtnrgkyvdbmc/
• Monday Evening Easy (East Village) option: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/hpfzklyvdbmc/

Tuesday 3/01: Long speedwork day: Warm up 1.5-2 miles. Then…

• Spring marathoners: 55 minutes of running at marathon pace, followed by a 2-mile cooldown jog.
• NYC Half competitors and Short distance (5K-15K) specialists (with a solid base of speedwork): 3-5 repeats of 800m uphill at 15K pace. Jog back down to recover after each, and finish with a cooldown jog of at least 1 mile.
• Runners who are building a base (not much recent speedwork): 2-3 repeats of 800m uphill at half marathon pace. Jog back down after each, and finish with a 1-mile cooldown.
• Manhattan group workout in Central Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/gfhpllyvfbcb/
• Brooklyn group workout in Prospect Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/ddlxrhyvfbcb/

Wednesday 3/02: Recovery day

• Spring marathoners and half marathoners should run 50-65 minutes easy with 4 x 100m strides, or optionally rest
• Everyone else should optionally rest, or do no more than 20-25 minutes of easy jogging
• Morning group run, Central Park: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/wxmmnlyvfbdb/

Thursday, 3/03: Short speedwork day: 20-minute warmup, including jogging/drills/strides, then…

• Short distance (5K-15K) specialists (with a solid base of speedwork) and Runners who are building a base (not much recent speedwork): Short ladder: 800m, 600m, 400m — all at 5K race pace. Jog 200m to recover after each, and finish with at least 15 minutes of easy jogging to cool down.
• Spring marathoners and NYC Half competitors: 60 minutes total of running. Start and end easy, but do the middle 4 miles at marathon pace. (No cooldown required.)
• Lower Manhattan group workout in East River Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/qhczmlyvfbfb/
• Brooklyn group workout in Prospect Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/228087186/
• Upper Manhattan group workout in Riverbank State Park at 7pm: http://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/pnwznlyvfbfb/

Friday 3/04: 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, 3/05-06:

• Good luck, Washington Heights 5K specialists! Rest or do a short easy run on Saturday, and make sure to do a generous warmup before racing on Sunday.
• If your spring goal race is a marathon, do 15-17 miles at easy or long run pace if you’re racing the 5K, otherwise 18-20 miles at long run pace.
• If your spring goal race is a half marathon, do 1:00 easy if you raced the 5K, otherwise do 2:00-2:15 at long run pace.
• Runners who are building a base: do 1:00-1:30 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

• Boston Marathon training plan: http://files.meetup.com/1454408/2016%20Boston%20marathon%20training%20plan.pdf
• New Jersey Marathon training plan: http://files.meetup.com/1454408/2016_NJ_Marathon_Plan.pdf
• NYC Half training plan (11 weeks): http://files.meetup.com/1454408/DWRT_TrainingPlan_Winter2016_NYCHalf.pdf
• Washington Heights 5K (9 weeks): http://files.meetup.com/1454408/DWRT_TrainingPlan_Winter2016_5K10K.pdf