Week 3 pre-season (transition) training schedule - 9/7-9/13

 Before the week's training outline, a couple of notes:

- If you haven't registered and/or submitted a training log from the summer, please do so. Some people have done one or the other of these two things. A link to the WHS Athletics registration page is the first item in the "Useful Links" sidebar just to the right. Athletes who are new to the team aren't required to hand in a log from the summer but are welcome to do so if they've been keeping track of their training; everyone who submits a log is eligible for the various prize incentives described in the summer training guidelines. Returning athletes are required to submit a training log.

- The fall sport coaches will be having a meeting with the Athletic Director on Tuesday afternoon. If anything particularly noteworthy or critical comes out of that meeting it will be shared on this website. 

This week follows a similar overall pattern as the last two. Originally, this was to be the week with the first meet, the regrettably canceled Clipper Relays. In its place I'd like for you to do a tempo run which is NOT a simulated race or time trial; more details below. The meet would have been on Saturday; you can do the tempo run on whichever day you like, but not the day before or after the long run or timed repeats. 

It's worth noting that the guidelines below are written for someone that's been training consistently over the summer months. If you're new to the team and the sport and/or haven't been able to train as much as what's listed below you should scale back the training to 3 or 4 runs in the week instead of 6. Try to do a longer run and a couple of shorter runs if this applies to you. Finally, if you can please start off each day's workout with the lunge matrix and leg swings.

This week you should hopefully be doing a total of six runs (or mix of runs and cross training workouts) with a day off. The breakdown of the workouts is laid out below. Note the different length of the workouts depending on your level of experience (Level 1-4). These levels are explained in the "Breakdown" tab of the summer training spreadsheet.

3 short runs - for Level 1 athletes these should be 20-25 minutes in length; Level 2, 25-30 minutes; Level 3, 30-35 minutes, and Level 4 should be at 40-50 minutes.

2 medium length runs - Level 1 - 25-30 minutes, Level 2 - 35-40 minutes, Level 3 - 45-50 minutes, Level 4 - 55-60 minutes. One of these two medium length runs should include a series of 4-6 sets of running 2 minutes at pace somewhere between "good" and race pace with a 1 minute jog between each. Note the adjustment in pace here--the length of the repeats and the recovery jogs is such that you shouldn't try to run the repeats at race pace. After completing the 2 minute repeats, finish things off with 4-6 shorter faster repeats of 30 seconds at race pace with a 1 minute recovery between them. A description of how to approach the timed repeats can be found in the "workout descriptions" tab of the summer training spreadsheet. 

The other medium run should be a tempo run. For this workout the goal is to be running at an "uncomfortably sustainable" pace for about one third of the length of the overall run. This is done in the middle third of the run; the first third is a warmup, the final third is a cooldown. Level 1 should aim for a 10 minute tempo run; Level 2, 12 minutes: Level 3, 15 minutes; and Level 4, 20 minutes. If done properly, you should finish the tempo run feeling like you could have gone further at that pace if you had to. The pace of the tempo run should be similar to what you do in the "good" phase of the long run. It's better to start a bit too slow than a bit too fast! If you finish the tempo segment and still feel frisky, feel free to do 3 or 4 20 second pickups during the cooldown phase.

1 long run - Level 1- 36 minutes, Level 2 - 48 minutes, Level 3 - 60 minutes, Level 4 - 72 minutes. We alternate between doing Progressive Long Runs (PLRs) and Cyclic Long Runs (CLRs). This week is a CLR which means you should be changing gears between an easy (40% effort), fresh (60%), and good (80%) effort. It's fine to take a brief break once or twice during the run, just be sure to stop your watch while you've stopped. A more thorough breakdown of how this is done can be found in the "long run breakdown" tab of the summer training spreadsheet. 

Since we're not meeting in person, you have some flexibility in how you structure your week. That said I would avoid doing the timed repeats and long run on consecutive days, and in general it's best to alternate the medium and long runs with the short runs. The weather this week is generally favorable for running in the afternoon if that's what you prefer, although it might be a little hot on Tuesday afternoon. In general the morning is even better if your schedule allows for it.