Dashing Whippets Training Plan, February 6 – 12, 2017

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 7 of training plans for the Boston and New Jersey marathons, week 7 of a plan for the NYC Half, and week 6 of a plan for spring 5K/10K races.

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 2/06: Easy day

• Spring marathoners and NYC Half competitors should run 50-60 minutes easy, followed by 5 100m strides
• Everyone else should run 30-45 minutes easy, or optionally rest
• Monday Evening Downtown group run: RSVP

Tuesday 2/07: Long speedwork day: Warm up 1.5-2 miles. Then…

• All well-trained runners (Spring marathoners, NYC Half competitors, and Short distance (5K-15K) specialists with a solid base): 4-6 mile Lactate Alternation Run. A Lactate Alternation Run is a continuous run changing speeds every half mile between 10-15 seconds faster than half marathon pace and 15-20 seconds slower than half marathon pace, with no rest between pace changes. Finish with 2 easy miles to cool down.
• Runners who are building a base (not much recent speedwork): Do the Lactate Alternation Run described above, but stop at 3 miles, and finish with at least 1 easy mile to cool down.
• Manhattan group workout in Central Park at 7pm: RSVP
• Brooklyn group workout in Prospect Park at 7pm: RSVP

Wednesday 2/08: Recovery day

• Spring marathoners and half marathoners should do 20-40 minutes of aerobic cross-training or easy jogging, with form drills and strides
• Everyone else should do 20-40 minutes of easy running or aerobic system cross training, or optionally rest
• Wednesday morning run in Central Park: RSVP

Thursday, 2/09: Short speedwork day: 20-minute warmup, including jogging/drills/strides, then…

• Short distance (5K-15K): 3-4 repeats of 1600m at 10K pace with 400m jogging recovery between them. Optionally, add 2-4 repeats of 200m at mile pace, with 200m jog between them. Finish by jogging 20 minutes to cool down..
• Spring marathoners and NYC Half specialists: 4 repeats of 2000m at 15K pace with 2:00 jogging recovery between them. Finish with a 20-minute cooldown.
• Runners who are building a base: 3-4 repeats of 800m at 10K pace with 400m jogging recovery between them. Finish with a 15-minute cooldown.
• Lower Manhattan group workout in East River Park at 7pm: RSVP
• Brooklyn group workout in Prospect Park at 7pm: RSVP
• Upper Manhattan group workout in Riverbank State Park at 7pm: RSVP

Friday 2/10: Very easy day

• Most runners should rest, or do the Monday or Wednesday workout today if you missed it
• Optionally, advanced marathoners and half marathoners may add up to 40 minutes of easy jogging or cross-training

Saturday and Sunday, 2/11-12: On one day, do 40-55 minutes of easy running followed by 4-6 repeats of 100m strides. On the other day, do a long run…

• Boston marathoners: 18 miles at 5% slower than marathon pace (do the first and last mile a little slower)
• New Jersey marathoners: 2:30 – 2:45 of running at long run pace
• NYC Half specialists: 15-16 miles at long run pace
• Shorter-distance specialists with a solid base: Optionally, run the 3000m or 5000m at Sunday’s USATF-NY Indoor Championships (open to all USATF members who preregister by Thursday, February 9). If not racing, do 1:20-1:30 of running at progression pace (described below)
• Runners who are building a base: 1:00 – 1:20 of running 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. 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 weekend team long runs in Manhattan and Brooklyn. 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 (UPDATED Jan 20): http://dwrt.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Boston_Marathon_Plan_2017.pdf
• New Jersey marathon training plan: http://dwrt.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/NewJersey_Marathon_Plan_2017.pdf
• Winter 5K/10K training plan: http://files.meetup.com/1454408/DWRT_TrainingPlan_Winter2017_5K10K.pdf
• NYC Half training plan: http://dwrt.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/DWRT_TrainingPlan_NYCHalf2017_v1.pdf