The West Valley Track Club has been an institution on the Northern California and national running scene for almost forty years. Founded in 1964, it is the oldest track club in Northern California. The club has been active across the spectrum of the sport, including track and field, road racing, cross country, and ultrarunning.

WVTC Tuesday night workouts at Kezar Stadium

Week of May 22 to May 28

Well,for the first time in quite a while, the program is a bit adrift right now. It is not clear that anybody is focused on racing either of the two PA races on the scheule in May/June, and the attempts to translate the strenght work done since January into some race-ready speed is being further hampered by the problems getting onto the Kezar track during this supposed peaking phase. I still like the idea of working at faster then race speeds, and at building endurance at race speeds by some race simulation workouts, but those have been difficult to pull off, and the races on the schedule (10K and 8K) can effectively be run off the base we've done to this point anyway.

At any rate, the schsduled workout this week was for 12 x 200 just to sharpen up for a peak performance this weekend. We will try to stick with some variation of this depending on the status of the Kezar track Tuesday. Those not trying to peak at the Marin 10K or the PA T&F Champs will have a slightly tougher workout (more or longer reps at this speed) to build toward summer racing on the track or the road mile.

The intervals we do at 5K to 10K pace are almost all focused on building endurance at that pace. The fast speed work we do can have 2 different purposes. The first is to build comfort and form at high end speeds. This is what we have worked on to this point and where the focus will remain for a week or two. After this our speed will focus on building endurance at these speeds. We should get enough of those workouts to get all interested parties ready to run the road mile. Others interested in building mileage and strength over the summer in preparation for cross country will do modified versions of these track sessions designed with the first goal in mind, that will not interfere with their main goal of the summer, to build over all strength.

Week of May 15 to May 21

Kezar is likely to be cloased again, so we may need to improvise. I'd like everyone to get in another 800/300 session. I use this often, but change the format depending on where we are on the calendar. Originally a Bill Dellinger U of Oregon workout, it featured the 800s as cutdowns and the 300s are really not that fast, around 5K pace. The cutdowns are a great way to get both volume and speed in, since you get a fair number of reps under your belt before they get hard. Now, however, we are more interested in the repetitions done at speed than getting in the volume at easier paces. So, the 800s will be hard, around 3K pace, with a 100 jog and a similar pace for the 300. Go for 3 to 4 reps with full 400 jog recovery between.

The workout to be done later in the week kind of depends on goals. If you're gearing up for the Marin 10K I would suggest mile repeats at your goal pace done on the roads. 3 to 4 total. If you're looking toward shorter races, especially looking ahead to Summer all comer meets or the Davis Road mile in 2 months, then try to get on the track for repeats at mile pace. Try to ladder your way into getting comfortable at that pace. If you're ready for the work, and recovered from Tuesday than go 200-400-600-400-200 x 2 with full recovery between sets. To ease into this, or make it a half workout, alternate 200s and 400s until you leave your comfort zone.

You can also get in a tempo effort at easy to moderate effort. Overall, though keep it to 2 3/4 workouts this week; 2 strong track sessions means you can only go into the well again on a long run or a tempo effort, and not too deep in either case.

If we meet at Kezar and can't use the track we'll come up with an alternate plan for getting in some 3K pace work.

Week of May 8 to May 14

The Kezar closings over the next few weeks are presenting some challenges to staying on course for the workout progression. As you know, our goal is to move into race-specific workouts that focus on speed and race simulation efforts (long fast intervals or short/active recoveries) that will get you fully prepared for spring races.

In preparation for any shorter Spring races we may do, I'd like to focus more on 3K to mile paces to get race sharp. This week, would feature longer intervals at 3K pace, with a ladder that looks like this: 600/800/1000/(1000)/800/600. The extra middle 1000 is only for those who have the legs for this sort of high intensity workout. Recovery should be 1:1 for time, so jog for as long as it took to complete the preceding interval.

If there is no track available. Keep to longer, faster repeats. With no Kezar access we may go into the park for mile loop repeats, These will not be as fast as 3K pace, but should be run hard, with adequate recovery.

Later in the week get in some tempo work, 3-4 miles if hard tempo 5-6 if easy (around marathon pace).

Week of May 1 to May 7

All,

As we hit May we'll start focusing on faster than race pace work to top off the strenght work we've been doing since the beginning of the year. Usually at this time we're focusing on the 5K distance, but we've only got 10K and 8K on the PA circuit this year, so we have not done as much fast work on the track as usual. Overall, I think it's not always worth getting to the track for anything at 10K or slower pace, for those of you who do not get in the tempo work on your own it makes sense to try to mix all the elements of the training program into the Tuesday rotation.

The May calendar is posted here:

May%202006%20Kezar%20Training.doc

The calendar is not gospel at tyhis point, because it is written around an end of the season peak for the weekend of the PA T&F Champs and the Marin 10K. For many of you these are not goal races so it makes no sense to back off the training in the latter half of the month. I'll post different options for different programs on those weeks.

This week features mile repeats on Tuesday, cutting down from 10K pace until you get in 1 or 2 reps at 5K and faster speeds.

Later in the week, try to either get in a tempo run one day and some strides on another, or hit the track for shorter faster intrervals, 400s or shorter at 3K to mile pace.

Week of April 24 to April 30

All,

This week's schedule was designed with last Sunday's Zippy race in mind. We had a pretty strong turnout for the mens team, so the Tuesday track session will be able to accomodate any tired legs out there.

Right now we are only looking at May's Marin 10K, June's 8K, and the July mile on the PA schedule. That's not a lot of racing, and no clear race ot focus our efforts on, despite the fact that veryone should just be rounding into prime shape right now. So, put some thought into what events you'd like to put your best efforts into.

Today, we'll be mixing up some 300s and some tempo work. The total track work is low, and the effort is flexible, so that folks who raced Zippy, and those coming back to race on the track Saturday, can keep from pounding themselves, but those looking for a good workout can get it. Everyone starts with 5 x 300. Do these in a cutdown fashion. If you're sore, start easy (around 3K pace) and move toward whatever pace feels comfortable (dropping 1-2 seconds per rep), nothing faster than mile pace. To get some speed work in start at mile pace and drop a second per rep. Take a longer recovery at the faster speeds.

After this short set, take a 3-4 mile continuous moderate tempo run. Then repeat the 5 x 300. Although this is somewhat vague, I'll be there to help you fine tune this workout to your needs and abilities.

Most runners should get in another tempo effort midweek, keepoing it very easy if racing Saturday. If your are skipping the track meet, try to get in some hard running on Saturday by incorporating a fartlek session into your normal run. Do this on trails or roads. The pattern is 2-3-2-3-2 minutes hard with equal recovery (2 minutes of jogging after a 2 min interval, and 3 min jog after the 3 min bursts. This shoudl be hard, faster than 5K pace.

Easy on Sunday

Week of April 17 to April 23 2006

This is Zippy week, so we'll try to get the legs ready for a quick race on Sunday. Since most of you have packed a 5000 on the track and a set of mile repeats at this same pace in the last few weeks, I think we're good with drilling at your projected race pace. This week, let's work at a faster pace to sharpen your speed, prepare you for the last half of the race, and to make the 5K pace seem easy by comparison. The balancing act here is to not introduce speed that you legs are not accustomed to, so that you'll beat yourself up more than you want to on race week. So, the key to this workout is holding back enough or stopping early enough to keep from draining your energy.

Tuesday's workout is 600/400/200 at roughly 3K/mile/800 pace. There is a 200 jog between reps and a 400 between sets.

Pace suggestions below are for those who have raced recently and who have been injury free recently.

Todd Rose 1:44(69-70)/65-6/31-2
Craig 1:47(71.5)/66.5/31-2
Thomas 1:55(76-7)/71-2/32-3

Later in the week get in a set of strides and keep the rest of your runs relatively easy if you are focused on doing well at Zippy. If not, a short tempo run on Thursday is ok.

Week of April 10 to April 16

This is full on taper week for the Boston team. All the training is done, and all you can do now is screw up the great work you've done these past months. With that in mind, keep all your running easy. That doesn't mean completely slow, but your ventures into speed work should just be to get a bit of activity to the fast twitch muscle fibers. Just wake them up, remind them about the task ahead, and let them go to back to sleep. You'll have a little bit of work Tuesday to keep sharp (2-3 x 1 mile at goal pace followed by a couple of 400s at 5K pace), a few brisk but relaxed strides Thursday a max of 2 miles at race pace Friday, but mostly short easy runs until race day.

Everyone else: The Tuesday track workout is a tough one. Mile repeats at 5K pace. Take full recovery (say 400 jog) and see if you're good for 4. We had some good performances at Johnny Mathis in the 5000, especially considering that we have barely gotten into the race-specific workouts. Most of the early season was strength work (10K to tempo pace) balanced with short turnover work. We've done a few sessions working on bringing up the stamina at 5K pace (800s, 1000s), and now we're ready for miles. We've got Zippy in 2 weeks, and we will be ready. However, due to the fact that Zippy is several weeks earlier than it has been in the past, we may not hit a 5K during the peak for this training cycle. If running a fast 5K is on yoour agenda we may need to find a non-PA race to dominate, or run the PA T&F Champs instead of the Marin 10K (same weekend).

Later in the week, allow for recovery from this workout with some strides and then come back hard on Saturday with some hard 60 second surges sandwiched by 2 minutes at a jog (not too slow) for recovery.

Long on Sunday (of course).

Week of April 3 to April 9

First off the Boston group: You guys should really be backing off now. The general rule of thumb is to maintain intensity but cut back on the volume of all runs, be they easy runs tempo or intervals. Especially for guys like Dave, who ran hard last Tuesday, there is no way you'll be fresh now, even after taking what must have seemed like a very easy Sunday, after registering successive weeks of over 20 mile runs. This week, the schedule called for a last minute tuneup race, so that really won't be an easy effort. Therefore, that race at the Johnny Mathis meet, or wherever you run will be THE hard workout for the week. For your track work, use it to keep the legs sharp without fatiguing them. A good session would be 2 x 1 mile at 10K pace, followed by 2 x 800 at 5K pace. Full recovery is fine. The point is to give the muscle some activity, but not to burden them. None of these workouts will make you any fitter for the Boston, so get the idea of training out of your head, and embrace the concept of balancing full recovery with a mild yet continuous stimulus to the muscles you'll need race day. This will keep you sharp. Your other runs this week are easy, but you can toss in a few strides Thursday. Sunday, drop the long run mileage again, keep it about half of your peak distance, but hit your goal pace again for the final several miles.

All others: we'll have a big group out there on Saturday in the 5000. Everyone who got back to me was entered, plus a few others just in case they change their mind. Without Chuck it seems unlikely we'll field a 4x4, as it will be tough filling that race with guys who have just finished the 5000. Today, let's get in a bit of sharpening for Saturday. We'll do the 800/300 drill in a cutdown fashion. Start out with the 800s at 5K pace and drop 2 seconds each repetition. There is no dallying on the 100 jog between the 8s and 3s. The 300s stay at mile pace. We'll do 4-5. If you're racing, stop short of pushing out a final rep once you're close to spent. Strides Thursday and race well at Mathis. If you're not entered in the meet, 4 miles of hard tempo will substitute.

Here is the April calendar:
April%202006%20Kezar%20Training.doc

Week of 3/27 to 4/2/2006

All,

The Boston group is now getting to the point where there are few hard workouts left. You have two training weeks left, a taper week and you're there. At this point total mileage should start coming down. We wil ltry to keep the same intensity, but the volume of everything will be coming down. This means the interval sessions and the long runs as well. We want to keep emphasizing your marathon goal pace, with a little bit of faster work to keep those muscle fibers primed as well. The key workout this week will be another continuous run that alternates between 10K pace and your marathon effort. If your legs are OK from Sunday, whatever you ended up doing, try this workout on Tuesday, otherwise, do it midweek. If you come to Kezar ready to do it on the track where you can track your splits precisely, that would be great. If the track is closed we'll move it to the mile loop that is fairly accurate and I'll call splits from there. Your other main wokout this week will be the Sunday long run, where the mileage is around 2/3 of your peak, but the final 5 to 6 are at goal pace. I know a lot of folks fear dropping off the mileage of their Sunday long runs, before the race, and there often resistance to my plans that have the peak mileage runs being well out before the event, my philosophy is that while it can be important to get your body acquainted to the 22 or 23 milers, what makes the marathon hard is not distance, but distance at race pace. After all, none of your ate TNT runners, looking for the thrill of finishing. It is adjusting to long distance at race pace that will build the adaptatins you need to succeed at this event.

Your other runs this week will be largely easy. If you do the workout Tuesday, get in some extra easy miles on Thursday, but start the process of getting your legs fresh. We don't just want them fresh by Boston, but we want to get a good confidence building race effort a week before Boston, so we need to start cutting back now.

The 5K and 10K group will bust some longer reps at 10K pace. Miles or 2Ks, depending on circumstances and preferences. These will be either on the track or on the loop in Golden Gate Park.

Secondary workout is some basic fartlek. On an easy run, incorporate surges of 1/2/3/2/1 minutes. This is only 12 minutes of work, so keep the effort appropriately hard. Recovery time is up to your discretion. While it should not be full recovery, I'd rather have you take a longer recovery while maintaining a good pace than drop into the kind of dragass jog we do on the track.

For our 2.5 hard days of running this week, the half-hard day calls for you to get in some easy tempo work, 4-5 miles at a relaxed pace (think marathon pace or 1 minute/mile slower than 5K pace for the fast guys, maybe 1:15 if your 5K pace is 6:00 or slower (that's probably no one but me, but it's just to give an example of the sliding scale). It should feel good when you stop, not tiring.

Week of 3/20 to 3/26

All,

It is a tricky week. Most have you are coming off a hard Sunday race, and many of you are coming off two races in the last two or three weeks. Combined with the closure of Kezar track Tuesday, I understand if some of you want to take a break from the track this week. If so, let your legs be your guide. Tuesday can be an easy day if you need the recovery, just come back and emphasize workouts Thursday and Saturday. For those who will be working out Tuesday, the basic plan is to do Ottaway 200s, or 200m repeats that start every 60-70 seconds. This workout is good following a race, because you can adjust it based on how you feel, by backing off the pace due to fatigue, you reduce the recovery and get more of a continuous run effect. The total amount of running (12 x 200 for 2400m) is light, so it is not asking too much of your legs, nor will it interfere significantly with recovery. However, it is not an easy workout to do away from the track. Therefore, the schedule for all groups will de-emphasize the Tuesday session as described below, and we will just meet at Kezar, take inventory of who is doing what, and I will set a plan for what everyone can do in the park.

5K/10K group
Primary workout: With Tuesday off or easy, Thursday becomes your focus workout. We will again do a 1.5 tempo, so 6-8 miles easy (the equivalent of your normal daily run) followed by another half of this distance (3-4 miles, say) at moderate tempo pace.

Secondary Workout: Getting in some race paced work is the second goal for the week. If your legs are fresh, you can use the Tuesday interval session for this purpose. Otherwise get a hard effort in on the weekend in one of two ways: either by adding 6-8 60 second surges into your normal run, or by supporting a worthy cause and running a low key 1 mile race on Sunday in Mountain View. The 7th Annual Run for Zimbabwe Orphans is put on by longtime WVTC members Ellen and Bill Clark.
Race Details

Tertiary Workout: The tertiary workout will almost never be too taxing. This week, for those coming off the race, it is optional.

For the Boston group, you have 3 training weeks (and one rest week) left. At this point, the hard work is mostly done, with just a few hard workouts remaining as we move into taper mode. As the total mileage and the distance of the long runs come down, we will spend some time further emphasizing the marathon pace work.

Your primary workout will be your Sunday long run, while the distance will be around 25% below your peak distance (say 15-18) you will run at marathon goal pace for at least the final half.

Week of 3/13 to 3/19/2006

All,

It appears that most of the Pacific Association took a pass on the 50+ 8K this past weekend. That might be because this race has long appeared only on the circuit for Senior runners. More likely, everybody knew that the race counted, but were not enamored with the prospect of PA races on three consecutive weekends. It seems like every Spring there is some glut of races that interfere with a solid progression of Tuesday track workouts geared toward a May/June peak. This year it seems less of a problem, with the NorCal 10 coming on a Saturday, the 8K being mostly blown off, and just this weekend's 12K looming large. Still, big congratulations are in order for Sissel, who scored a PA masters win, and Kim Rupert, who was second in the always hotly contested 50+ age group.

Today, we'll have both the Boston and track groups doing the same workout. We'll do the first of a few 5K simulation workouts we'll attempt during the Spring. This will be a continuous run alternating 600s at 5K goal pace, with 800 "cruise recoveries" at approximately marathon pace. The final 800 is all at 5K pace. While the workout is the same, the focus is different for the 2 groups. For the 5K/10K group, the active recovery stresses the capacity to hold 5K pace for an extended period without real rest. For the marathoners, the 800s at marathon race pace train you to be able to relax and even recover from a buildup of lactic acid at your goal pace. Everybody wins.

The workout will be over quickly, so additional work will depend on the individual. Marathoners do not need to focus on quality work at the expense of mileage, and if you have been racing the last few weekends and will race this weekend just finish the workout with an extended warmdown. 5 miles in the park, for example. Depending on the freshness of your legs and your race plans for Sunday, others can add some additional 600s at 5K pace with a 200 jog, or can just get in a bit of turnover work with 6 x 200 at mile pace.

Assuming your running the 12K, and focused on running well at this competitive race, Thursday will not be a hard run, but do get in some extra mileage. Marathoners should be sure to hit the double digits here. If anyone on the Boston plan is not racing the 12K, turn this into a 1.5 tempo run, where you add 4 or so marathon pace miles onto the end of your normal run distance. Roadies not pushing the mileage should top their easy Thursday effort off with some strides.

The rest of the week is easy for all the 12K racers. For those skipping the race, do get a hard workout in Saturday or Sunday. If your on the Boston plan, this means cutting back from your peak mileage run (assuming you've reached 20-22 for your long run, drop to 15-17) but dropping down to marathon pace for the final 4-7 miles. Others can follow the same basic plan, but on a shorter run.

Week of 3/6 to 3/12 2006

All,

I've put separate March training schedules together for both the PA LDR and the Boston Marathon groups. You can download the appropriate calendar for your goals HERE:
March%202006%20Kezar%20Training.doc
March%202006%20Boston%20Buildup.doc

This week, I should start off with congratulations to those who ran at Redding. I'll talk to each of you to discuss how you felt the race went.

This week, the non-marathon group will focus on 2 key workouts. The first is Tuesday's track workout. It's a 1200/300 treat, where a 1200 at 10K pace is followed by a 100 jog directly into a 300 at 3K pace or faster. Aim for 4-5 sets, with 400 slow jog between sets. The second workout is a 1.5 tempo. Again this combines a bit of distance work with a tempo run. So, if normal run distance is 6 miles, and your long run is 12-14, this will be 6 miles (1) easy plus 3-4 miles (.5) at easy to moderate tempo.

The Boston group has their Key workout being In-N-Out miles, a continuous run that alternates miles at 12K and marathon pace for a total of 6, 8 or 10 miles (depending on normal training volume). This is key enough that you can do it on the track on Tuesday if you wish. Otherwise do the 1200/300 workout. If you do the miles on Tuesday, come back with hard 3 mile surges in a Thursday or Friday run. Don't kill yourselves on the 1200/300 or the surges, however, as neither will be the other key workout of the week.

The second key workout is your Sunday long run. If you havent hit your peak distance goal yet, this is the day. If you hit the distance you wanted last week, you have the option of doing the same run this week, or starting the trend well be following in leading up to the race. The focus now becomes swapping volume for pace work. The Sunday long runs, as highlighted in the calendar, will be getting progressively shorter, but with more and more work done at the end of these runs at your marathon goal pace. If you've ramped up quickly to your mileage peak, spend another Sunday there, otherwise cut 3 or so miles off the peak distance and hit your goal pace over the final 3 or 4 miles of the run.

See you at the track,

Jack

Week of 2/27 to 3/5/06

First off, a reminder about the track regulations at Kezar. Kezar regulars need to watch this short instructional video about track etiquette:
Link

I hear there was a fantastic group run on Sunday. The goal this week for most runners is to now recover somewhat from that effort, and from a few weeks of really tough workouts we stacked together, and get ready to race on Saturday. I know many of you have raced in the interim, but in terms of the PA schedule, that was as big of a break as we will see until midsummer, when we start to gear up for cross country. For now, we can take advantage of some uninterrupted ramping up of our workload to back off just enough to ensure that we make a big mark on the PA in the first race of the season.

This week, the track work will be 1000m reps at 10K pace. The goal for most folks racing is to keep these relaxed and use it as a sharpening effort 4 days before the race. The number of reps is entirely up to you. The only commandment is to stop before feeling fatigue. Take a slow 200 between reps. For those not racing, or for those building up for Boston and for whom the 10 miler is more of marathon race preparation think 7 to 10 reps depending on your normal weekly mileage, your ability to handle high volume workouts, and how you've recovered from your mileage buildup.

If racing this weekend keep the rest of the week easy. The Boston group should keep the mileage up, but the efforts easy. Some easy strides on Thursday, ideally in the morning, and you should be set for Redding.

Week of 2/20 to 2/26/06

All,

First off, I'd like to congratulate the WVTC members who braved the elements at the Marathon yesterday in Austin. Wicked cold from what I hear, and the results were on the opposite ends of the spectrum for our three participants. Chris Zieman has to be elated at qualifying for the Olympic Trials with his PR 2:20:54. It was not so rosy for the Kezar group however, Thomas reported from the road that he was not fully recovered from the bug he caught in the final week leading up to the race, and just managed to hold his goal pace through 18 before bagging it to save something for the upcoming PA season. Craig had a rough time after holding 2:30 pace for about the same distance before a case of hypothermia brought him crashing down. Craig finished his first marathon, but it apparently was not pretty at all. He certainly earned all the beer we can buy him Tuesday after the workout.

Speaking of the workout. We'll be moving back toward the speed end of the spectrum this week. 200s at the track (10 reps) with a 2:1 (by time) recovery. If we have enough bodies we may do this as 3-person relays. After the fun, recover fully with an 800 jog or whatever you need, and hit that same hard tempo pace we did the 2 mile repeats at last week. This time it will be 3 total miles. If you are not dead from the 200s, try for 3 continuous. If you flogged yourself in a particularly brutal manner, which many of you are likely to do, do 2 x 1.5 or 3 x 1 mile.

For the Boston group, the schedule is basically the same. The important elements in the week are Sundays long run the midweek secondary long run and the marathon paced effort on Saturday, in that order. So, don't run hard enough on Saturday to sacrifice your ability to hit peak mileage on Sunday. Don't kill yourself on Tuesday so that you end up taking too many recovery runs this week. It's all about mileage right now, and we use March to start substituting mileage for marathon paced work. If you're hitting 18-20 on Sunday, your midweek long run should be 12-14 easy. Keep the Track work manageable. Do the 200s, but don't sprint them...focus on form instead. Your focus on Tuesday will be on the 3 mile hard tempo.

Week of 2/13 to 2/19/06

On the track, in celebration of Valentine's day well be running couples. In other words, 2 mile repeats, These will be done to concentrate our efforts on the upcoming 10 mile race. Run these at your goal pace. Boston and 5K/10K groups both.
Later in the week, get in a 1.5 tempo run. So, you're secondary long run (between the distance of your normal run and your sunday long run) will finish up at marathon pace (or almost 10% slower than the 10 mile race pace workout) for the miles beyond the regular run distance. This workout should not be too taxing. If so take the Saturday workout a bit easier.

Saturday add in 60 second bursts to your regular paced run. If your building up for Boston do not let this workout get in the way of building up your Sunday long run distance. Or, if tired from Thursday, also keep the number of reps down somewhat. These will be crisply paced, faster than 5k. Do 5-10. This is not a primary workout for the week, so keep your effort in check, either by keeping the pace relaxed or the number of reps comfortable.

Sunday is loooong. Ideally the Boston group will hit peak long run distance in 2 weeks.

Week of 2/6 to 2/12/06

Today on the track, in my absence we'll take advantage of the lack of early season racing to do another volume interval session. Running at an honest present day 5K race pace, do sets of ladders at 400-600-800-600-400. Don't try to kill these like the 400s the other week, since the longer intervals will take a toll. Two sets are good for low mileage folks (just over 5K at 5K pace. Higher mileage folks should consider another half set starting at 800s. A third set will be a challenge for those that can handle it, but that's a lot of distance at a pace we haven't really worked at this year. This, like most every workout is just part of an overall schedule, so the amount it takes out of you should not be disproportionate to the rest of your week's efforts. Recovery is the key to getting a volume workout in, so make sure rest is adequate. A 1:1 time ration of intervals t rest should be adequate but feel free to adjust this. Take an easy 400 between sets.

Keep the remaining weekdays easy with a longer run on Thursday or Friday. Saturday is the next key workout. Get in an easy to moderate tempo effort. Marathoners should focus on this as goal pace training and get in maybe 6 miles at this pace. Everyone else can up the tempo just a bit, but keeping it well slower that race pace for the upcoming 10 miler, and keep it at 4 or so miles.

Run long and easy on Sunday. The Boston group should be about 2 weeks away from the peak long distance effort according to my favored plan. After that we back off the distance and replace some of the easy miles with race pace work. If you're not close enough in your long run build up to peak by the end of February, we'll adjust the schedule and focus on the marathon pace work in other workouts during the week.

You can access the february training calender here:
Feb%202006%20Kezar%20Training.doc

Week of 1/30 to 2/5/06

All,

We've got a good bit of energy going at Kezar right now, and while I hope that continues and even grows, there will be times when we need to rein in the enthusiasm a bit. Last week the 400s were a bit fast for some of you, but the main point of the session was to get in the volume, and everyone certainly did that. Hopefully no one was burnt the rest of the week. Later in the season the workouts will be harder (longer reps at a given pace, eventually with less recovery) so that there will not be as much opportunity to run over your heads.

This week we're back to slower paced track work focusing on volume. The workout is designed with an eye to our PA debut 10 miler 4+ weeks away. We'll do long intervals at 10 mile goal pace. Previously we did a 3 miler tempo run at this pace and followed it up with some turnover work. Now, in order to get in a little more volume at pace, we'll be doing these as long intervals (or cruise intervals for you Jack Daniels devotees). My recommendation is for 4 x 2400, but I am flexible.

This is a good workout for the Boston group as well. Your focus at this point should be building the mileage and starting to focus on the tempo work for strength. The heavy volume of tempo will come after peak mileage is reached, so for now don't let these workouts beat you down to the point you can't get the mileage in.

Later in the week get in your secondary long run. We never like to ignore turnover for too long, so some super strides (generate some sprint power rather than just smooth striding, but no strain) are appropriate. The original calender calls for long on Thursday and turnover Friday. This should not be a hard effort, because Saturday should be the second main workout of the week. Boston group should add in some easy tempo (no faster than marathon pace). The calender calls for 6 miles, but if that will hinder Sunday's long run doing a progression run that only reaches that pace for the last few miles is just fine.

Other roadies can shoot for the easy tempo on Saturday, or get a bit of race pace work in during a continuous easy run by tossing in a series of 60/60s. That's 60 secs on pace anywhere around 5K or just quicker and 60 seconds of cruise recovery.

Sunday is long and easy for everyone.

See you at the track.

Week of 1/23/06 to 1/29/06

All,

During the build up to the Spring track and shorter distance road seasons we are balancing three essential training components at the same time we are (hopefully building up total mileage). These aspects are (1) relatively stress free turnover work (2) moderate tempo/threshold work, and (3) introductory race pace work. The second two components, are for the time being geared toward providing volume rather than intensity. Last week, we cut the intensity of the mile repeats down to a hard tempo pace to get the total volume in. Well, a few individuals ran them a bit hard, but that's OK. Many of the workouts in this period are not so difficult that you couldn't go much harder than prescribed, just keep in mind the goal of the workout, and how the individual days fit into the overall program.

This week's workout is typical for early season 5K/10K race pace buildup. As indicated on the calender, Tuesday's workout is 12-16 x 400 at current 5K race pace. 400s at 5K pace is not very difficult, so you might be tempted to run them faster. Many schedules will have 5K pace intervals set at 800m reps. However, I favor building up the total volume, so by introducing shorter intervals we should be able to get in more total work at this pace. That's the focus of Tuesday's workout. Just to save you in case you get too aggressive in your pacing, the workout can be broken into sets of 4 reps, with a 200 jog between reps and 400 between sets.

Now, quite often distance runners distrust shorter intervals in the first place, and when combined with full recoveries it causes a complete incredulity. Well, you do intervals in the first place because running exactly 3.1 miles at the maximal pace you could hold for that distance would beat you up every week. First, with rest breaks you can do more than the race distance at that pace. Second, with rest breaks, you won't be nearly as thrashed even when putting in more mileage at the same pace. In fact we'll eventually work up to more than the 4 miles at 5K pace we have scheduled for this week. So, to meet the two goals of the early season we will be keeping the recovery adequate so that we can first adapt to over distance work at race pace, second, increase the amount of overdistance work at race pace, and third, accomplish all this while being able to get in decent mileage the rest of the week and add in one or two other quality days each week.

For you marathoners eyeing Boston, there is some rationale for doing this sort of workout that focuses on faster paces. The bottom-up approach suggests that to succeed at the longer distances you first must be able to run relaxed and efficiently at faster than marathon pace. The backdoor approach to marathon training suggests working on faster paced running earlier in the program rather than later in the "sharpening phase". This allows you to do your race specific (eg marathon pace) work during the sharpening phase and not beat yourself up with a lot of fast stuff when you're trying to taper down for the race.

Later in the week, try to get in a longer run with tempo work. This will combine your secondary distance day with your tempo work. Again 1.5 tempo is short hand for a run that is about 50% longer than a typical easy run, with the additional mileage tacked on as an easy tempo effort. Easy tempo is done near marathon pace. The Boston group should use this as the focused workout of the week, shooting for marathon goal pace over those 3-5 miles added on to your run.

Let's keep the current trend toward high turnouts going. There's a lot of great energy there on the track, and the more folks that are out there, the more likely it is that everyone will have someone to run with.

Week of 1/16/06 -- 1/22/06

All,

Please notice that the full calendar for January is available for download, but first off, let's take a moment to acknowledge our club's marathoners. The unofficial list of the top US marathoners has come out, and WVTC was well-represented. Hats off to:

#24 Chris Zieman 2:21:49 CIM
#121 Kevin Beck (emeritus) 2:28:31 Disney
#125 Chris Knorzer 2:28:46 Chicago
#388 Neil Gilfedder 2:36:15 CIM
#393 Eric Albrecht (m) 2:36:18 CIM
#575 Jonah Backstrom 2:39:33 Chicago
#807 Thomas Jensen 2:42:43 Boston
#983 Aaron Pierson (m) 2:44:56 Maui

Since we have a handful of folks setting their sights on Boston this year, there will be a separate training schedule for that group starting next month. For the time being, the workouts being done by the 5K/10K group will crossover well for those starting their marathon buildup, as they are primarily focused on strength and endurance. Take this week for example:

Tuesday we'll warm up with a quick set of turnover drills. We'll do 8 x Kezar hills, short striders up the ramp at the end of the track. After that, in honor of Boston Daves fine work in setting up last weekend's party, it's time for Kyle Miles. These are mile repeats at hard tempo pace. You might call these cruise intervals. The pace will be similar to what many of you ran for the 3 mile tempo a couple of weeks ago. They are run as mile repeats, rather than a continuous run, to enable you get a little more volume in at the same pace.

Suggested paces for the Kezar group (again, adjust as you feel appropriate, I will get more precise with these as I get more feedback on everyone's fitness). These are slow for track work, and I know you can all run faster, but that's not the point yet.

Todd & Craig: 5:30
Chuck: 5:40
Neil: 5:45
Thomas: 5:55-6:00
Dave & Steve 6:05-6:10
Pontus: 6:20-6:25

Everyone else I am less sure of, pace yourself off these guys based on who you have been running with lately.

Later in the week, get in a second longer run at a relaxed pace.

On Saturday, try a progressive run. Rather than a continuous pace tempo run, slowly increase your pace easing into marathon/half marathon pace for a couple of miles, and ease the pace down over the next 2 miles so that you finish your last mile at 10K pace or so. Don't worry about the exacts, just run whatever feels comfortable on the day.

Sunday go long and easy, with a goal of building up the mileage now before we start the intense workouts. The Boston schedule calls for runners to reach peak mileage at the end of February, but the key is to get close to the distance goals well before hand, and to absorb the benefits of the mileage over time.

See you all at Kezar,

Jack

Week of 1/9/06 -- 1/15/06

All,

The training calender for Spring 2006 is not finalized yet, so please let me know if you have a preference for what the focus events will be. I know there are a few Boston-bound runners on the d-list, and I'm assuming everyone else may want to peak for the Zippy 5K or the Marin 10K in May. The PA track Champs are the day before Marin, so some may be eyeing that event as well.

At any rate, we are in the very early stages of training. At this point our focus is not on accentuating either quantity or quality, but on building up our tolerance of each before getting into race-specific training in February. So, these January workouts are not designed to beat you down at all, as they should allow you to complete them while you are concurrently getting your total mileage back after the end of the season break.

This week's key workouts:

1. On the track: (Tuesday for the Kezar regulars): 800/300s. For these, run your 800s at around 10K pace, jog 100 and jump directly into a fast 300 (think of a pace about 8 seconds faster per lap). Take 2-3 minutes recovery after the 300s. A slow 200 or a faster 400 is fine, but the recovery should be adequate so that fatigue does not build up rapidly. Remember, we're not about that right now.

Suggested splits, Kezar group:
Todd 2:38/53
Chuck 2:44/54
Neil 2:46/56
Dave 2:54/59
Steve 2:54/58
Thomas 2:50/58
Pontus 3:02/62

I don't know what kind of shape everyone else is in, and these are all my best guesses about current fitness level. for instance, I don't know where Jonah is in coming back from surgery. You may find that you can run the workout much faster than the times I gave, but this is not the kind of workout that pushes you to your max, so if you do the workout faster than these times (and many of you will) it doesn't mean I necessarily am wrong about your current abilities.

2. A longer easy tempo effort. This is 6 miles at no faster than marathon pace. For many of you, that term has no meaning. So this will be no faster than:

Todd 5:48-6:00
Chuck 6:01-6:12
Neil 5:57-6:12
Dave 6:30-6:42
Steve 6:30-6:42
Thomas 6:15-6:28
Pontus 6:46-7:00

Week of 1/2/06 -- 1/8/06

All,

Welcome back, at least to those of you who are back, and those who actually were gone in either a geographic or mental/emotional aspect.

In a sense, this week contains all forms of work we'll be focusing on in the early season. In order to re-establish basic speed, and set the table for longer harder intervals once we reach the race simulation and peaking phase, we'll be pounding out some 200s on the track this week. In fact, to celebrate the new year, we'll call the workout 200x6. This will be sets of 6 x 200m at a nice snappy pace. The first set will be between mile and 3K pace. The next set will be closer to mile pace. The third set is optional, but lets not get much faster than mile pace. Let's focus on form and keep the heavy breathing to a minimum, at least for the early season. recovery should be sufficient to keep the effort controlled, but let's not take all day, so try to jog 45 seconds to a minute. You might try a 100 recovery, if you can handle starting and stopping away from the traditional 200m markings. Jog a lap between sets.

We'll also be working on base endurance this week with 6 miles at tempo pace. Your options are running this as a continuous easy tempo (think equal to or just faster than marathon pace), or as so=called "cruise intervals" broken into 1 to 2 mile reps at moderate to hard tempo. Do not get faster than 10 mile race pace.

Two hard workouts should be sufficient for this stage of the season. Focus on getting in generous mileage while we're keeping the intensity low. You'll go long on Sunday. Building strength on a well-paced hilly run would be icing on the cake.

See you at Kezar. However, if it turns into an ugly night of inclement weather, we may switch the workout schedule to the tempo-based work tonight to keep the speed down and the recovery minimal.

Jack