CMM training week 4

Location and Time

Saturday 1/26 or Sunday 1/27

9 a.m. outside the nature center in Shelby Park

Injury Screening

Once a month, Leah Sawyer, a PT from Results Physiotherapy and one of our 1:45 pace group leaders, will be offering free injury screenings!  This week it will be on Sunday either before or after the run.  She will be arriving at 8:30, and staying after the run until everyone has been seen.   If you want to get a free screening, either come at 8:30, or bring a warm change of clothes and stay after the run.

The workout

Most of our weekend runs will just be conversational long runs.  But we will have: one time trial (last week), three tempo workouts, one 8-mile goal pace run and two long runs with fast finishes.  This week is our first tempo workout.

During this workout, we will be running at three different paces:

E Pace (easy) = 1:30 to 2:30 minutes per mile slower than 5k time trial pace.

T pace (Tempo) = 25 - 40 seconds per mile slower than 5k time trial pace. (Or better yet, 90% max heart rate)

R (recovery) = barely running or walking

The workout

novice: 20 minutes E + 5 x (5 minutes T + 1 minute walking) + 20 minutes E (70 min total)

intermediate: 20 minutes E + 5 x (5 minutes T + 1 minute recovery) + 30 minutes E (80 min total)

advanced: 20 minutes E + 5 x (5 minutes T + 1 minute recovery) + 45 minutes E (95 min total)

Here is an example for an intermediate runner who ran 8 minutes per mile last week at the time trial.

20 minutes (9:30 - 10:30 pace) + 5 x (5 minutes @ 8:30 pace + 1 minute slow jogging) + 30 minutes (9:30 pace)

How do you pace yourself?

This is a great question.  GPS watches do a great job with distance and average pace - but I think that the instantaneous pacing function is only okay.  It's better than nothing, but it's not perfect.  I think that a better way is to learn your pace per 1/4 mile, and then watch your stopwatch.

For example:   If I want to run 8:24 pace, that means that I need to run every 400 meters in 2:06.  So having a stopwatch and knowing the quarter mile marks, allows you to lock onto your pace pretty accurately.

We'll be running the 3 mile loop in the park, and the quarter miles are marked with cones, so work with your coach if you need some help with pacing.

See you this weekend.

Mark