Training Plan for Week 0: Aug 25-31

The first few days of organized practice are behind us, with school not starting until next month the upcoming week can be devoted to continuing a pattern of training similar to last week. A couple of things to note:

• Overall the pattern this week is A-B-C-A-B-C, where A is a shorter run, B is a medium length run, and C is a longer run. Not everyone will be running all six of those days however, those that are adjusting to the amount of training will go directly to the town beach on Tuesday and Thursday for aquajogging in lieu of running. This leads me to my next point...

• The forecast is for increasing temperatures through midweek, particularly Tuesday and Wednesday. Not coincidentally everyone will be at least stopping by the town beach at some point on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday if only to cool off. Bring your water bottle and carry it with you on your runs, especially the longer ones.

The week's plan as it stands, any changes will be announced on this blog:

• Monday 8/25 - shorter run, 20-40 minutes. Between the warmup and the run we'll be doing hill drills on the short steep slope near the student parking lot.

• Tuesday 8/26 - medium length run, 30-50 minutes (in all likelihood, to and from the town beach) or aquajogging 30-40 minutes. Those that are meeting at the school can add in some aquajogging if they like, I recommend it. Practice at the school starts at 3 PM, Those meeting at the town beach should show up at 3:45. Before leaving the beach, everyone will do a core circuit on the grassy area near the parking lot.

• Wednesday 8/27 - longer run, 40-60 minutes. It's going to be hot, be prepared with your water bottle. Take it slow to start and perhaps slow throughout.

• Thursday 8/28 - shorter run or aquajogging, 30-40 minutes. Practice at the school starts at 3 PM, Those meeting at the town beach should show up at 3:45. Before leaving the beach, everyone will do a core circuit on the grassy area near the parking lot. The coaches hope to begin distributing uniforms to registered athletes today at the end of practice.

• Friday 8/29 - medium length run, 30-55 minutes, with a conscious effort to progress the pace over the course of the run. This is the closest thing we've done yet to an organized, structured hard workout. The idea is that the pace starts out quite slow and the last 5-10 minutes are at or close to a race effort. I'll explain in further detail after the warmup, but a good description of this style of running can be found here. Hill drills like Monday between the warmup and the workout. We hope to continue distributing uniforms today.

• Saturday 8/30 - longer run, 45-75 minutes easy. Once again we'll meet at the Lincoln commuter rail parking lot for those that can make it; otherwise, do this run on your own. If your family's travel plans make running today inconvenient or impossible, do the run tomorrow instead.

• Sunday 8/31 - off.

See you Monday afternoon!