Dashing Whippets Training Plan, March 6 – 12, 2017

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

Congratulations to all the runners who represented us so well at the first NYRR Club Points race of the year this past weekend in Washington Heights!

Dashing Whippets Training Plan for the Week

This is week 11 of training plans for the Boston and New Jersey marathons, week 11 of a plan for the NYC Half, and week 10 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 3/06: Easy day

• If you are sore from Sunday’s 5K race, go easy for the first half of the week; rest entirely or cut the recommended training effort in half. Otherwise…
• 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 3/07: Long speedwork day: Warm up 1.5-2 miles. Then…

• Spring marathoners and Short distance (5K-15K) specialists with a solid base: 8-14K of Canova Ks. Canova Ks are a continuous run alternating every 1000m between half marathon pace and marathon pace, with no rest. NJ marathoners and short-distance specialists should aim for 8-11K; Boston marathoners should reach 11-14K. Jog 2 miles easy after to cool down. (If you are sore from Sunday’s race, replace this workout with 8-12 easy miles.)
• NYC Half specialists: 4 repeats of 2000m at 15K pace, ideally on a hilly surface, with 2:00of jogging between them. Finish with a 2-mile cooldown.
• Runners who are building a base (not much recent speedwork): Do the Canova Ks as described above, but stop at 6K, and add a cooldown of at least 1 mile.
• Manhattan group workout in Central Park at 7pm: RSVP
• Brooklyn group workout in Prospect Park at 7pm: RSVP

Wednesday 3/08: Recovery day

• Spring marathoners and half marathoners should do 30-50 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, 3/09: Short speedwork day: 20-minute warmup, including jogging/drills/strides, then…

• Short distance (5K-15K) and Spring marathoners: 3-4 repeats of 2000m at 15K pace, ideally on a hilly surface, with 2:00 of jogging between them. Finish with at least 15 minutes of jogging to cool down.
• NYC Half specialists: 2 repeats of 1200m at 10K pace (2:30 jog after each), 3 repeats of 800m at 5K (2:00 jog), 4 repeats of 400m at faster than 5K (1:30 jog). Finish with a 15+-minute cooldown.
• Runners who are building a base: 3 repeats of 1200m at 15K pace with 400m easy jog 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 3/10: 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 50 minutes of easy jogging or cross-training

Saturday and Sunday, 3/11-12: 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: 20 mile progression run
• New Jersey marathoners: 2:35-2:50 at long run pace
• NYC Half specialists: 12 miles of running, the first 10 at long run pace, the last 2 at marathon pace
• Shorter-distance specialists with a solid base: 1:45-1:55 at long run pace
• Runners who are building a base: 1:00-1:20 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 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: 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
• Early Spring 10K training plan (see page 2): 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