Week 9 Training Plan - 10/24-10/30

This week championship season begins in earnest, with the DCL Championship meet on Friday. For some, this will be their final meet of the season; others will have one and in some cases two meets beyond this Friday and thus continue with practice. This won't be the last time I mention this, but whenever your season does end, you're responsible for handing in your uniform. I'll be getting in touch with the people whose seasons are ending this Friday; they can return their uniforms to me when we return from the meet and thus avoid any difficulties or headaches.

From a training perspective, things focus down in earnest for everyone as the DCL meet on Friday is definitely a high priority for us. The main workout of the week from a fitness building perspective is on Monday; those that can't make it for that can do it on Tuesday if need be. Wednesday and Thursday are a controlled descent into Friday's meet. Note that an early dismissal from class is required on Friday as the bus will be leaving soon after noontime; more details will be forthcoming, but know that you'll need to make arrangements with your teachers of classes that meet Friday afternoon for any work you'll miss.

Finally, be aware that the long range forecast calls for progressively cooler days, with some windy conditions as well. Dress appropriately for the conditions with layers as needed.

Mon 10/24 - 10-15 minute warmup followed by 3-4 runs of 50 meters or so at race pace. Then, 4-6 sets of 600 meters at tempo pace, 200 meters jog recovery, 200 meters at race pace, 200 meters jog recovery. 10-15 minute cooldown. Your tempo pace can be calculated from the pace and effort chart I've added to the training links sidebar. We'll be doing this workout atop the Weston aqueduct behind the school, where we did a few of the short interval workouts earlier in the season. Every 100 meters along the aqueduct will be marked out over a distance of 600 meters; you'll go back and forth once for each set. Each set begins immediately upon concluding the previous one; the only recoveries are the 200 meter jogs.

Tue 10/25 - Resistance work in the fitness center followed by 30-45 minutes at a low to moderate intensity with 4-6 pulses of 10 seconds or so of faster than race pace running mixed in during the second half of the run. Site of this run TBA. The elliptigos are available to anyone who wants to ride them today. 

Wed 10/26 - hill drills followed by 50-70 minutes starting out easy and progressing to a moderate intensity. Throw in 4-6 faster than race pace pulses of 8-10 seconds on the way in. I'd like to do this run along the Hultman aqueduct but I'm open to suggestions if people have other ideas. This is the longest run of the week. Elliptigos are again available.

Thu 10/27 - 25-30 minutes at a moderate intensity. The last 5 minutes or so of the run will consist of 4-5 runs of 100 meters at race pace on the practice football field.

Fri 10/28 - DCL Championship meet, Franklin Park. More details forthcoming in a future post. Don't forget your warmup and cooldown.

Sat 10/29 - off

Sun 10/30 - Same as Tuesday for those still competing.