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

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 various online race pace calculators to estimate your pace from a recent result.

Monday 1/29: Easy day

• Spring marathoners and half marathoners should run 40-60 minutes easy (advanced marathoners should add 3-5 x 100m strides after)
• Everyone else should run 30-45 minutes easy, or optionally rest
• Monday Evening Downtown group run at 7pm: RSVP here

Tuesday 1/30: Long speedwork day: Warm up 1.5-2 miles. Then…

• Boston marathoners, New Jersey marathoners, NYC Half specialists (with a solid base): After warming up, do 3 repeats of 15 minutes at marathon pace, with 2:00 of jogging between the segments. Finish with 1-2 easy miles to cool down.
• Short-distance (5K-15K) specialists (with a solid base), and Runners who are building a base (not much recent speedwork): After warming up, do 8-16 repeats of 200m uphill at 5K pace. Jog back downhill to partially recover. Seasoned runners should aim for 12-16; those new to speedwork should stop at 8-10. Finish with 1-2 easy miles to cool down.
• Manhattan group workout in Central Park at 7pm: RSVP here
• Brooklyn group workout in Prospect Park at 7pm: RSVP here

Wednesday 1/31: Recovery day

• Everyone should do 20-40 minutes of easy running or aerobic system cross training, or optionally rest
• Wednesday morning run in Central Park: RSVP here
• Wednesday evening run in Brooklyn: RSVP here

Thursday, 2/01: Short speedwork day: 20-minute warmup, including jogging/drills/strides, then…

• Short-distance (5K-15K) specialists (with a solid base): After warming up, do three sets of four short repeats: 4 x 400m @ 5K pace (60 second jog after each). Jog 3:00 after the set. Then 4 x 300 @ 8sec/mile faster than 5K pace (45 seconds recovery after each). Jog 3:00 after the set. Finally, 4×200 @ 16 sec/mile faster than 5K pace (30 second jog after each). Finish with 15+ minutes of easy jogging to cool down.
• Boston marathoners, Advanced New Jersey marathoners, and NYC Half specialists: After warming up, do 8-10K of Canova Ks. Canova Ks are a continuous run alternating paces every 1000m between half marathon pace and marathon pace, with no rest between speed changes. Finish with 20 minutes of easy jogging.
• Intermediate New Jersey marathoners and Runners who are building a base: Do a total of 60-65 minutes of easy running (including warm-up), with strides & drills.
• Lower Manhattan group workout at 7pm (East Side Esplanade): RSVP here
• Brooklyn group workout at 7pm (Prospect Park): RSVP here
• Upper Manhattan group workout at 7pm (Central Park): https://www.meetup.com/dashing-whippets/events/247091640/

Friday 2/02: 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 run easy for up to 40 minutes, or do aerobic cross-training today

Saturday and Sunday, 2/03-04: On one day, do 35-55 minutes of easy running followed by 3-4 repeats of 100m strides. On the other day, do a long run…

• Boston marathoners, Advanced New Jersey marathoners and Intermediate New Jersey marathoners: 2:15-2:30 of running at long run pace
• NYC Half specialists: 14-15 miles at long run pace
• Short-distance specialists with a solid base: 1:20-1:30 of running at progression run pace
• Runners who are building a base: 1:00-1:15 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 pacestarts 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/

NEXT Monday 2/05: Easy day

• Same workout as most Mondays: Run 30-60 minutes easy, or optionally rest

Training Calendars

• Boston Marathon plan: http://dwrt.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2018-Boston-Plan.pdf
• New Jersey Marathon plan (advanced): http://dwrt.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2018-NJ-Plan-Advanced.pdf
• New Jersey Marathon plan (intermediate): http://dwrt.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2018-NJ-Plan-Intermediate.pdf
• NYC Half training plan: http://dwrt.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2018-NYC-Half-Plan.pdf
• Winter 5K/10K training plan: http://dwrt.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2018-Winter-Short-Distance-Plan.pdf