Monadnock Regional Milers

5K/10K workout

800 meters @ 5k pace, then 400 meters up to 5 sec faster, 100 meter walking water break, 400 meter jog, 2x / 3x

Distance Focus (training for more than 10K as max race distance), 4x / 5x

The torture 1200 is designed to mimic the workload of mile repeats without the repetitiveness and competitiveness that mile repeats induce. Everyone knows their mile PR and every time they run mile repeats that time lingers in their subconscious. While they might not intend to “go after it” is latently hidden there, asking for the pace to be picked up. Thankfully, no one keeps track of their 1200 meter PR, so running at the proper pace is a simpler task.

The idea of the torture 1200 is to run 800 meters @ goal 5K pace, then at the completion of the second lap immediately increase the pace to run approximately 5 seconds faster per lap. After finishing the third lap, the athlete jogs over to their waiting water bottle, walks 100 meters or so, drops the bottle, jogs 400 meters back to the water bottle, jogs across the infield, and immediately gets into the next repeat.

The workout gets more difficult as the repeats add up, with the benefit of the workout coming after the second or third repeat. We usually look for an athlete to complete at least three, with the next opportunity, increasing the repeats by at least one or more. Well trained athletes could start with four to five, adding one more the next time the workout is run. This workout shouldn’t be done closer than four weeks apart.

Beginning runners

Prepare to cover 10 laps (2 and ½ miles) by running as easily as you can for one lap, then walking for one lap. As your fitness improves add one lap of running to the workout, while keeping the walking lap the same until you can run for 10 laps straight. Now you are ready to begin the 5K/10K workout regime.  

5K/10K workout & Distance Focus (more than 10K as max race distance)

This workout is great because it varies the length of the repeats being run and puts the “owness” of the workout on the shoulders of the participants. Ideally, the workout would incorporate three similarly paced individuals per group. Each teammate would be responsible for flipping a coin to determine the number of laps run per repeat. Three heads would mean three laps, or 1200 meters. The group would then go out and run a 1200 together, at a pace that wasn’t easy but within their ability. Two heads would mean two laps, or 800 meters, one head would be one lap, or 400 meters. All tails would mean that zero laps would need to be run, and that group would be one repeat closer to being finished.

Obviously the team can be made up of more or less partners, just still flipping three coins. This workout varies distance, varies speed, builds camaraderie, and gives teams something to cheer about (NO HEADS!)

Quarters Mad- training group flips three coins, then runs the same # of laps as there are heads showing @ the appropriate pace, 6 sets

Beginning runners

Prepare to cover 10 laps (2 and ½ miles) by running as easily as you can for one lap, then walking for one lap. As your fitness improves add one lap of running to the workout, while keeping the walking lap the same until you can run for 10 laps straight. Now you are ready to begin the 5K/10K workout regime.

We’ve now endured two months of track workouts at ConVal that for most would signify a turn towards summer. If you’ve been coming to the track however, you would realize that summer has been slow to come and spring hasn’t really gotten out of the late March-early April phase yet. Here at Mascenic my track kids are preparing for the Divisional championships and the Senior class is getting ready to graduate. As we wind down towards the end of their seasons, and for some, their high school careers, it’ll be a time of change, a time for preparation.

Four years ago I choose to advise this year’s senior class as they came to Mascenic as freshmen. I had a great mentor who was advising that year’s senior class and I wanted to model this years seniors off the mold of the Class of 2008. The four years have proved challenging, leaving me with more grey hair and a greater respect for those who can get things done when you have 112 different opinions on a subject. In preparing for this classes farewell address , I’m choosing to look at the change the students and I have seen and gone through, over these last four years.

Wednesday Night Workouts down at the track, has seen some change as well. Last year, a dozen runners at most, joined the weekly excursion looking to improve their times or at least find some sort of routine to their training. This year, with track sessions hovering in the mid fifties and drizzle par for the course, we’ve seen the numbers grow to about thirty athletes per week.

It would be self serving of me to think that I’m that brilliant a coach that the workouts are so great that everyone’s setting PR’s left and right. And I know it’s not my mesmerizing charm and grace.

I believe the interest in track work this season comes from every runners inherent desire to be faster at what they do. We all have a resistance to change, we do what we do because it feels familiar and comfortable to us. I’ll be the first to admit, the thought of running a “comfortable” half marathon at 1:37 to 1:39 holds a lot of weight measured against “gutting out “ a 1:33 half marathon. We do what we like because we like it.

But we’re all drawn to trying to run a little bit faster. For many that simply means focusing every now and again (like on Wednesdays) at a pace at or faster than their goal pace. I remember early in my own training when the goal was simply to run my normal run a little faster than I did the last time and while that works for a while, eventually in order to make true gains, a more systematic approach provides a better stimulus.

This season at the track has seen the natural development of some training groups, meeting the vast majority of the athletes needs for training partners. We have groups and individuals on the track training at anywhere from 17:30 5K goal pace to 31 minute goal pace. We’ve made arrangements for a 5:30 and 6:30 start time, and there are groups that go off at 6 and 6:45 as well. New runners show up every week, and I think they find the camaraderie as well at the incentive of others, pushing, struggling, and excelling, at paces similar to theirs, a benefit they just can’t get by training alone.

I’ll admit, last year I had some real questions whether my effort in coaching the Wednesday night sessions was worth it for both me and the athletes, but sometimes change takes time, sometimes it’s not comfortable in the beginning, but in the end, it usually pays of in results.

And those results become more evident every Wednesday night.

See handout for more on Track etiquette....

5K/10K workout

10 x 200 meters CONT with 200 meter recovery

10 continuously run 200 meter repeats, at goal 5K race pace, with a recovery jog of 200 meters, starting with a recovery 200 as well

Distance Focus (more than 10K as max race distance)

10 x 200 CONT w/200m R 10 minutes easy recovery running 10 x 200 CONT w/ 200 m R

This workout can be measured many different ways which is why I consider it my bread and butter workout. If your tuning up for a race, by running the “quick” repeat section at race pace you prep your legs for the speed you want them to move at ofr the race. Run the recovery real easy and it’s a nice tuneup before the race. If you want more strength from the workout, add an extra set of CONT 200 repeats to bulk up the mileage. If you want a more tempo based workout, run the “quick” repeats at race pace, but only back off a little on the recovery sections. If we are doing more than one set, we’ll run right at pace for the first ten, recover how we need, and time the entire workout. On the second set, we’ll decrease recovery time and towards the end of the set, start cutting down the at pace time so we are going faster. Then a comparison of the two sets can be measured against each other.

Beginning runners

Prepare to cover 10 laps (2 and ½ miles) by running as easily as you can for one lap, then walking for one lap. As your fitness improves add one lap of running to the workout, while keeping the walking lap the same until you can run for 10 laps straight. Now you are ready to begin the 5K/10K workout regime.

Medium pace work 5K/10K workout

300 meters “at pace”, with 200 meters of recovery running 6x / 7x / 8x

Distance Focus (more than 10K as max race distance)

as above 10x / 11x/ 12x

This workout is a hybrid between the CONT 200 workout and the 500/300 workout. It stretches out the “at pace” while offering the same recovery the athlete has gotten used to. Again the stress of the workout (both physically as well as physiologically) is in the later repeats, not the early ones. Make sure that you adhere to the pacing goals early on so you can be on track and even get aggressive at the end of the workout. The workout can always be “toughened up” by running the recovery as quickly as possible while still getting enough rest to complete the appropriate number of repeats.

Beginning runners

Prepare to cover 10 laps (2 and ½ miles) by running as easily as you can for one lap, then walking for one lap. As your fitness improves add one lap of running to the workout, while keeping the walking lap the same until you can run for 10 laps straight. Now you are ready to begin the 5K/10K workout regime.