Week 6 Training Plan - 10/3-10/9

This week the nature of the training we do changes. The circuit training and short interval sets that we did last month will give way to longer, continuous workouts that emphasize running for sustained periods of time at or a bit slower than your race pace. The first of these types of workouts is on Friday; next week there will be two such workouts leading up to our next invitational meet on October 15th. These workouts are challenging, but you've built up your fitness over the past month. The overall training volume will remain high for the next two weeks before dropping down towards the end of October and championship racing season.

Sunday October 9th is the Wayland XC Festival which is our major fundraiser. Last week I posted a list of volunteer opportunities for this event and thus far I've heard back from over a dozen people. If you're not one of those, please let me know which of the remaining slots you'd be interested in:

• 1-2 Course Marshals - direct the athletes the correct way on the course (9-11:30 AM)
• 1-2 Parking - direct those that are arriving into the various parking areas as they fill up. (7:30-9:30)
• 2 Finish Line - help move people through the finish chute (9:30-11:30)
• 1 Registration - sign in athletes and distribute bib numbers (7:30-10)
• 1 photographer (9:30-11)

Mon 10/3 - off. There is no practice today. My expectation is that instead of running today you will run on Sunday. If this isn't possible and you're not observing the holiday today, you can do Sunday's workout today.

Tue 10/4 - hill drills followed by 40-50 minutes including 8x10 second pulses at faster than race pace with 60 second recovery jogs after each one in the middle of the run. Today is team picture day; bring your uniform to practice in addition to clothes you can wear for the day's run which you won't be doing in your uniform.

Wed 10/5 - Dual Meet #4 vs. Bedford and Boston Latin at Bedford High School. Bus time 2:15. With three teams participating the meet will be a "double dual" format, i.e. three separate dual meets contested at once. With three teams present, it's most likely that there will be separate varsity and JV races for each gender. In this case, the boys JV race is first, followed by girls varsity, boys varsity, and girls JV. Bedford's course map can be seen here, the first mile is mostly on pavement and overall the course is quite flat. Regardless of when you're running, take the time beforehand to do a thorough warmup incorporating most of what we do on a daily basis at the start of practice. After your race at least 10 minutes of light jogging is expected, and your legs will thank you for it over the next few days. Don't forget there's an assigned bib number for each member of the team.

Thu 10/6 - followed by 45-70 minutes at a low to moderate intensity heading west along the Weston Aqueduct towards Framingham. Some people will be heading out along the Weston aqueduct and back along the Hultman. The intensity level of this run should start at a 3 or 4 out of 10 and progressing to 6 or so for the trip back to the school. Don't overdo it today given yesterday's race and tomorrow's longer workout. We'll be looking for volunteers to ride the elliptigo bikes.

Fri 10/7 - 10-15 minute warmup, progression run on the WHS athletic fields, 10-15 minute cooldown. The progression run is broken up into thirds; the first third is at "fresh" intensity, the middle third at "good," the final third at "hard" i.e. race pace. The overall duration of the progression will be either 24 or 27 minutes.

Sat 10/8 - 50-90 minutes. Start out easy today and if you're feeling tired or worn out from this week keep it easy. For those that are interested we'll meet at the Lincoln commuter rail parking lot at 9 AM.

Sun 10/9 - 30-40 minutes including 6-8x10 second pulses at faster than race pace in the middle of the run. Today is the Wayland XC Festival, if you like you can do the day's run from the school after you're done with your volunteering duties.