Week 4 Training Plan, 9/11-9/17

SK videos: straightforward, informative (and long, skip to 16 minute mark), and really dumb

This week features the first of five dual meets with other schools in the Dual County League. That will be on Thursday, at Cold Spring Park in Newton vs. Newton South and Acton-Boxborough. The long run will be done on Monday and the other major workout of the week will be Saturday for those that are able to make it. The Saturday practice will meet at the Lincoln Station parking lot. 

Uniforms will be distributed at the end of practice starting on Monday; remember that athletes must have the user fee paid or a financial waiver approved before receiving a uniform. The uniform is school property and is to be worn only on meet days. The uniform consists of a singlet (sleeveless jersey) and shorts. All athletes must have a singlet in order to race; if you prefer you can wear your own shorts but they must be solid black in color with no stripes or trim.  

There are three race-related topics that will be covered in practice this week in advance of the meet on Thursday. These topics are racing shoes, race day warmup and cooldown protocols, and racing strategy. The talk on racing strategy (i.e. tactics) will be at the end of practice and is mandatory for new athletes; returning athletes can attend if they would like to. Ideally we would have talked about shoes last week, but the delayed practice start times due to last week's high temperatures made that impossible. It will be hectic but we'll get this important material covered.

Mon 9/11 - Practice 3:30 at the high school. Warmup including BURPEES followed by cyclic long length run. This is the same idea as a cyclic long run only shorter in duration. 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 the easy-fresh-good cycle is repeated three more times.

Level 1: 36 minutes (3 minute segments)
Level 2: 48 minutes (4 minute segments)
Level 3: 60 minutes (5 minute segments)
Level 4: 72 minutes (6 minute segments)

We plan on distributing uniforms at the end of practice today.

Tue 9/12 - Practice at 3:30. Warmup followed by a short length run at an easy to moderate effort level. Upon your return to the school we'll be doing high stepping run throughs (high knees) and bounding over cones on the softball field and a few "fly zone" accelerations incorporating turns. The hope is to continue distributing uniforms as needed today.

Level 1: 22-26 minutes
Level 2: 26-30 minutes
Level 3: 32-36 minutes
Level 4: 42-46 minutes

Wed 9/13 - Practice at 3:30 at the high school. Warmup including BURPEES, followed by a short length run at an easy to moderate intensity. At the end of the run we'll do 4-5 run outs of about 80 meters at race pace. Anyone who hasn't yet gotten a uniform should get one today.

Level 1: 22-26 minutes
Level 2: 26-30 minutes
Level 3: 32-36 minutes
Level 4: 42-46 minutes

Thu 9/14 - Dual Meet #1 at Cold Spring Park vs. Newton South, Acton-Boxborough. The bus will leave (hopefully) by 3:30. More information on this meet will be forthcoming in a subsequent post. Today is a medium length day in terms of how much running you should be doing overall:

Level 1: 28-32 minutes
Level 2: 36-40 minutes
Level 3: 43-47 minutes
Level 4: 52-56 minutes

Depending on what level you're training at, this may mean either a very short or rather long cooldown jog after your race.

Fri 9/15 - Practice at 3:30. Warmup including BURPEES followed by a short run at an easy to moderate pace. In addition we'll be doing hill drills on the Hultman Aqueduct between Cedar Crest and Pine Ridge road.

Level 1: 22-26 minutes
Level 2: 26-30 minutes
Level 3: 32-36 minutes
Level 4: 42-46 minutes

Sat 9/16 - Optional practice 9:00 AM at Lincoln Station- Timed progression repeats of 3 minutes in length, followed by a separate set of 200 meter repeats with a 200 meter jog recovery. Each 3 minute repeat should follow this pattern: first minute fresh, next minute good, last minute hard. The recovery after each repeat is 2.5 minutes of very easy jogging/fast walking. After finishing the last 3 minute repeat, take about 5 minutes break for water and then a series of 200 meter repeats at an intense (faster than race pace) effort. Number of reps as follows:

Level 1: 3x3 minutes, 3x200 (warmup and cooldown of 5-6 minutes apiece)
Level 2: 4x3 minutes, 4x200 (warmup and cooldown of 5-6 minutes apiece)
Level 3: 5x3 minutes, 5x200 (warmup and cooldown of 6-8 minutes apiece)
Level 4: 6x3 minutes, 5x200 (warmup and cooldown of 8-10 minutes apiece)

Sun 9/17 - Off. If you were celebrating Rosh Hashanah yesterday, you can do yesterday's workout today on your own.