Week 2 Training Plan, 8/29-9/4

The first week of practice was a good one, it's on to Week 2. This week features the start of school of course. Once school starts we plan on getting in to the regular routine of practice starting at 3:30 in the afternoon. That being said, based on the current weather forecast practice on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday will be in the morning.

The pattern of this week's practices is overall similar to last week with a maximum of six runs that includes three shorter runs, two medium runs, and a long run. One of the two medium length runs, on Monday, will also include a series of timed pickups.

If you haven't already please hand in your summer training log (optional for new athletes, required for returning athletes) by the first day of school (Thursday) at the latest. Rewards will be distributed once the coaching staff has tabulated the logs, hopefully at the beginning of next week. If you're an 11th or 12th grader with at least one year of prior experience and would be interested in being a captain of the team, please contact me via e-mail or in person to declare your interest. The prerequisites for being captain are described at the bottom of page 6 of the team policies and FAQ document.

Finally, there will be an optional day trip to Western Massachusetts on Saturday. We'll be taking one of the school's booster buses leaving at 7:30 AM and returning around 5:30 PM with a full day of running and other activities planned. If you're interested let the coaches know. There's room for 14 people on the booster bus. Please let me know if you're interested in coming along.

With all that out of the way, here's the plan:

• Mon 8/29 - Practice 6:45 AM at the High School. Warmup including BURPEES followed by a medium length run that will incorporate timed pickups of 1 minute in length, at a "race pace" (90%) effort. In between the race pace pickups is a recovery of 1 minute, ideally run at a 60% effort (this is not a slow jog). This will be followed by a few pickups of 30 seconds in length at a speed faster than race pace, with the same 1 minute recovery. Level 1 athletes may find it more realistic to walk the first 30 seconds of each recovery interval. Everyone will begin and end their run today with a warmup and cooldown that are at an easy pace, with the timed pickups sandwiched in between. Time for today's run is as follows, with number of pickups indicated as well:

Level 1: 22-26 minutes: 4x 1 minute pickups, 4x30 second pickups (warmup and cooldown 5-6 minutes each)
Level 2: 34-38 minutes: 6x 1 minute pickups, 4x30 second pickups (warmup and cooldown 8-10 minutes each)
Level 3: 43-47 minutes: 8x 1 minute pickups, 6x30 second pickups (warmup and cooldown 10 minutes each)
Level 4: 52-56 minutes: 8x 1 minute pickups, 6x30 second pickups (warmup and cooldown 12-15 minutes each)

• Tue 8/30 - Practice 6:45 AM at the Town Beach. Warmup followed by a short, easy active recovery run. Up to half the run can be done in the lake in the form of aquajogging. We also hope to have multiple elliptigo bikes available for use.

Level 1: 18-20 minutes
Level 2: 22-26 minutes
Level 3: 28-32 minutes
Level 4: 38-42 minutes

• Wed 8/31 - Practice 6:45 AM at the Town Beach. Warmup including BURPEES, then a cyclic long run (CLR). The total time of your run will be broken down into 12 equal segments. The first segment is run at an easy (40% or so) effort. The next is run at a "fresh" (60-65% or so) effort, and the one after that at a "good" (80-85%) effort. Then this easy-fresh-good cycle is repeated three more times. The countdown timer function on your watch is a good way to keep track of these time segments. Total length of the run as follows:

Level 1: 36 minutes (12x3 minute segments)
Level 2: 48 minutes (12x4 minute segments)
Level 3: 60 minutes (12x5 minute segments)
Level 4: 72 minutes (12x6 minute segments)

We will discuss a route for today's run at the start of practice. 9th graders: I know the 9th grade orientation starts at 8:30, precluding you from attending this practice. I'll send directions to you via e-mail regarding what to do instead.

• Thu 9/1 - Practice 3:30 PM at the High School. Warmup followed by a short, easy active recovery run, with a series of hill drills (8x each, hill springing and high knee running) in the corner of the practice field area. Level 1 and 2 runners will do this after the warmup and before the run itself, Level 3 and 4 runners will do it after their run. We also hope to have multiple elliptigo bikes available for use.

Level 1: 18-20 minutes
Level 2: 22-26 minutes
Level 3: 28-32 minutes
Level 4: 38-42 minutes

• Fri 9/2 - Practice 3:30 PM at the High School. Warmup including BURPEES and then a short, easy active recovery run. We will be doing a series of bounding run throughs over cones and a few short intense sprints as well.

Level 1: 18-20 minutes
Level 2: 22-26 minutes
Level 3: 28-32 minutes
Level 4: 38-42 minutes

• Sat 9/3 - Western Mass. day trip (assuming sufficient interest). For those not coming along for the Western Mass. day trip, either:

- a cross training workout of 30 minutes to an hour plus (depending on what the activity is)

- a run of 25-45 minutes with the last 5-10 minutes being run at about a 75-80% effort. Up to that point, take it easy.

Regardless of which workout you choose to do, please remember to do the warmup routine beforehand and SAM afterward. The specifics on these can be found in the "Training Links" sidebar of the team website.

Sun 9/4 - off

Week 1 Training Plan, 8/22-8/28

Welcome to the 2022 season! This is the first post outlining the scheduled training for the upcoming week. Each weekly training plan begins on Monday and covers up to the following Sunday. Typically the plan will be published by the previous Sunday evening, but certainly no later than lunchtime Monday. 

Remember that while the plan is a good outline of what we will most likely be doing, there are sometimes unforeseen factors (mainly weather) that can change things. When this happens we'll do our best to get the word out quickly. In addition, note that there's a wide variation in the length of each day's run among the different levels. This is because we have a diverse group of athletes on the team with a wide range of experience and incoming fitness levels. If you have any questions about how far or how hard to go on a particular day don't hesitate to ask one of the coaches. 

Because this is the first week of the season, there's a lot to go over here besides the actual workouts which are listed below. For the rest of the season, this "preamble" section of the weekly training plan will be much shorter, I promise.

You should bring the following items with you to practice:

• running shoes

• comfortable clothes in which to work out. You might also want to wear a hat. 

• running watch, either your own the one you borrowed from the team supply. If you don't have a watch one will be assigned to you from the team supply.

• sunscreen

• water bottle - Very important item, should hold 32-48 ounces (1-1.5L). Please bring a water bottle which you can use during breaks in practice and after practice has ended. Bring your water bottle already filled.

• towel for drying off after aquajogging (Thursday through Saturday)

Week 1 of official practice is also week 11 of the summer training period I outlined in the summer training guidelines. The training pattern for the week reflects this fact. There are six runs total, three shorter length efforts, two medium length days (one of them with timed pickups), and one long run. If you haven't been training much or at all over the summer, start at Level 1. We'll also employ cross training options, open to anyone, that can be done as a supplement or in place of running as need be. These include the elliptical bikes, aquajogging in the lake, or riding your own bike if you have one and can bring it to practice. If you haven't been running consistently over the summer, it's best to avoid jumping right into 5 or 6 days of running per week. Cross training is the best way to accomplish this.

Practice this week will be held either at WHS or at the Town Beach which is located at 25 Parkland Drive. The meeting point at the high school is under the large trees next to the field house, on the southwest side of the field house. The plan is to meet at the high school Monday through Wednesday, then at the Town Beach Thursday through Saturday. The time of the weekday practices this week is determined by the forecast heat index. The default time is 3:30 PM. If the predicted weather warrants it we'll go at 6:45 AM. Based on the upcoming week's forecast, we're planning on holding practice in the afternoon Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday through Friday, practice will be at 6:45. Saturday's practice is at 8:30 AM.

Please hold off on handing in your summer training log (optional for new athletes, required for returning athletes) until the end of this week. Rewards will be distributed once the coaching staff has tabulated all the logs, hopefully no later than next Tuesday September 6th.

With all that out of the way, here's the plan:

• Mon 8/22 - Practice at WHS @3:30 PM. Warmup including BURPEES followed by a medium length run broken down as follows:

Level 1: 22-26 minutes
Level 2: 34-38 minutes
Level 3: 43-47 minutes
Level 4: 52-56 minutes

Ideally the pace will pick up gradually towards the end of the running portion of the day. 

• Tue 8/23 - Practice at WHS @3:30 PM. Warmup followed by a short length run that will incorporate hill drills (springing AKA bounding for height and high knee running). For those that have been on the team in the past, you'll notice that the hill drills have been streamlined and moved on to grass this year. 

Level 1: 18-20 minutes
Level 2: 22-26 minutes
Level 3: 28-35 minutes
Level 4: 38-45 minutes

• Wed 8/24 - Practice at WHS @6:45 AM. Warmup including BURPEES followed by a medium length run that will incorporate timed pickups of 1 minute in length, at a "race pace" (90%) effort. In between the race pace pickups is a recovery of 1 minute, ideally run at a 50-60% effort (this is easy but not a slow jog). Level 1 athletes may find it more realistic to walk the first 30 seconds of each recovery interval. Everyone will begin and end their run today with a warmup and cooldown that are at an easy pace, with the timed pickups sandwiched in between. Time for today's run is as follows, with number of pickups indicated as well:

Level 1: 22-26 minutes, 6-8x 1 minute pickups (warmup and cooldown 5-6 minutes each)
Level 2: 34-38 minutes, 8-10x 1 minute pickups (warmup and cooldown 8-10 minutes each)
Level 3: 43-47 minutes, 8-10x 1 minute pickups (warmup and cooldown 10-12 minutes each)
Level 4: 52-56 minutes, 10x 1 minute pickups (warmup and cooldown 16-18 minutes each)

• Thu 8/25 - Practice at Town Beach @6:45 AM. Warmup on nearby softball field followed by a short run. Most if not all of the run should be done at an effort level of "easy," perhaps progressing to moderate ("fresh") in the last quarter of the run if you feel up to it. If you like you can do up to half of the length of the run in the lake in the form of aquajogging, but no one is required to do so. Do not get in the water without a coach present on the dock.

Level 1: 18-20 minutes
Level 2: 22-26 minutes
Level 3: 28-35 minutes
Level 4: 38-45 minutes

• Fri 8/26 - Practice at Town Beach @6:45 AM. Warmup including BURPEES and then a short easy run followed by run throughs (accelerations) on the nearby softball field. The run throughs are short accelerations building up to 95% or so of maximum speed. If you like you can do up to half of the length of the run in the lake in the form of aquajogging, but no one is required to do so. Do not get in the water without a coach present on the dock.

Level 1: 18-20 minutes
Level 2: 22-26 minutes
Level 3: 28-35 minutes
Level 4: 38-45 minutes

• Sat 8/27 Practice at Town Beach @8:30 AM. Warmup on nearby softball field, then a progressive long run (PLR) as follows:

Level 1: 36 minutes (12 minutes easy - 9 minutes fresh - 9 minutes good - 6 minutes easy)
Level 2: 48 minutes (16 minutes easy - 12 minutes fresh - 12 minutes good - 8 minutes easy)
Level 3: 60 minutes (20 minutes easy - 15 minutes fresh - 15 minutes good - 10 minutes easy)
Level 4: 72 minutes (24 minutes easy - 18 minutes fresh - 18 minutes good - 12 minutes easy)

Today's run will be an out and back mostly along the Hultman aqueduct, which can be accessed where it crosses either Sycamore road or Cochituate Road. There will be at least two water stops during the run. If you like, the final segment of the run can be done in the lake in the form of aquajogging but this isn't a requirement.

Sun 8/28 - off (no running), if you like you're welcome to go for a bike ride or hike on your own.