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

This week marks the beginning of the Dashing Whippets training programs for the Chicago and New York City marathons. The program is intended for runners who have already built a base by running 4-6 times per week for the past few months, including long runs and some speedwork. Although the initial intensity of the plan is easy to moderate, it slowly builds over time, and we highly recommend that you stay within its boundaries rather than pushing too hard to soon. And even if you’re following a different training plan for a fall marathon, we encourage everyone to join us at our group workouts to find training partners and support as you work toward your goals.

Schedule Note: This week’s Tuesday night Central Park group workout is cancelled, and the Prospect Park group workout has changed to start at 9 am. Enjoy your holiday!

Dashing Whippets Training Plan for the Week

This is week 8 of a summer-long short distance training program, and week 1 of an 18-week plan for the NYC Marathon and a 14-week plan for the Chicago Marathon.

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 7/03: Easy day

• Fall marathoners should run 45-55 minutes easy
• Everyone else should run 30-45 minutes easy, or optionally rest
• Monday Evening Downtown group run: RSVP

Tuesday 7/04: Long speedwork day: Warm up 1.5-2 miles. Then…

• After warming up, Everyone should start with short uphill sprints: 3 sprints of 50m uphill, then optionally 1-2 sprints of 75m uphill at 90-95% effort. (Stop at 3x50m sprints if it’s your first time doing hill sprints.) Walk back down after each, and don’t go crazy — the purpose is to “wake up” the nervous system and do basic strength work.
• Fall marathoners and Short distance (5K-15K) specialists with a solid base(frequent recent speedwork): 4-5 miles, mostly at marathon pace, but surge to 15K pace on two long uphills in the middle of the run. Finish with 1-2 easy miles to cool down.
• Runners who are building a base (not much recent speedwork, or coming back after time off): 3-4 miles at marathon pace, then a 1-mile cooldown.
• Brooklyn group workout in Prospect Park is at 9 am this week: RSVP
• Manhattan group workout is CANCELLED this week

Wednesday 7/05: Recovery day

• Fall marathoners should do 35-55 minutes of easy running, or optionally rest
• Everyone else should do 25-40 minutes of easy running or aerobic system cross training, or optionally rest
• Wednesday morning run in Central Park: RSVP

Thursday, 7/06: Short speedwork day: 20-minute warmup, including jogging/drills/strides, then…

• Short distance (5K-15K) specialists and Fall marathoners: 3-5 repeats of 1600m at 15K pace, with a short 1:15 jog between them. Finish with 15 minutes of easy jogging to cool down.
• Runners who are building a base: 3-4 repeats of 800m at 10K pace, with a 400m jog between them, and a 15-minute cooldown.
• Early morning Manhattan workout: RSVP
• 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 7/07: Very easy day

• Most runners should rest, or do the Monday or Wednesday workout today if you missed it
• Optionally advanced marathoners may do 20-45 of jogging, strides and/or drills

Saturday and Sunday, 7/08-09: On one day, do 40-55 minutes of easy running followed by 3-4 repeats of 100m strides. On the other day, do a long run…

• NYC marathoners: 2:00-2:10 of running at long run pace
• Chicago marathoners: 2:10-2:20 at long run pace
• Shorter-distance specialists with a solid base: 1:40-1:50 at long run pace
• Runners who are building a base: 1:00-1:30 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 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/

NEXT Monday 7/10: Easy day

• Same workout as most Mondays: Marathoners run 45-55 minutes easy; Everyone else runs 30-45 minutes easy, or optionally rest

Training Calendars

• Summer short distance training plan: http://dwrt.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/dwrt_trainingplan_summer2017_shortdistance.pdf
• New York City Marathon training plan, STARTING THIS WEEK: http://dwrt.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/2017-NYC-Marathon-Plan.pdf
• Chicago Marathon training plan, STARTING THIS WEEK: http://dwrt.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/2017-Chicago-Marathon-Plan.pdf