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Welcome to the DCRRC Wednesday Night Track Workouts. In conjunction with our year-round distance-specific training programs, and our regular Saturday Long Runs, these workouts aim to give runners of all abilities the fitness to reach their goals. For the novice or casual runner, these workouts will challenge you to a higher level of running fitness. For the competitive runner, track workouts are an essential means to reaching personal bests and to succeed at whatever level you are competing.
Where & When
Unless otherwise noted, workouts are held on the track at Washington-Liberty (formerly Washington-Lee) High School in Arlington. We meet near the concession stand (northwest corner) at 6:45pm and start the workout at 7:00pm. Warmups, drills, etc. are on your own.
Philosophy
Our workouts focus on two of the three forms of speed work used by distance runners from the 5K to the Marathon: Stamina Training (10K race pace or slower) and Interval Training (around 5K race pace). We also do a limited amount of Speed Training (faster than 5K race pace) especially during the summer.
Do not worry if this is new to you, and especially if you feel that track workouts are for "fast" runners. Our posted workouts are suggested "maximums," and can be individually tailored to your current level of fitness and specific running goals. Our coach, Ed Grant, has been leading these workouts for 20 years, and is happy to customize a workout plan to meet your needs.
Paces
To get a sense of how fast you should run during these workouts, we encourage you use the McMillan Running Calculator. You can plug in a recent race time and a goal race time, and the Calculator will churn out Training Paces (click on that term) for everything from long runs to speed paces. We recommend applying Mark Hadley's temperature + dew point adjustments in warm and humid weather. Temperature and dew point forecasts are available from the National Weather Service.
Track Workouts -- May 2013
All --
Apologies for the late posting.
It appears that the track will be pre-empted for a few evenings in May; May 1 is currently listed as having a soccer game. Thus, I will post the following workouts; should the track be unavailable, we will do equivalent workouts on the Custis Trail.
May 1: 2 x 400M at 10K pace; 200M recovery. 5 x 600M at 5K pace; 400M recovery. 2 x 400M at 3K pace; 200M recovery.
May 8: 2 x 400M @ 5K pace; 200M recovery. 4 x 1000M @ 5K pace; SLOW 400M recovery (outside lanes).
May 15: 2 x 400M @ 5K pace; 200M recovery. 6-8 x 600M @ 5K pace; 400M recovery (norma recovery pace).
May 22: 12-16 x 400M @ 10K pace; 100M jog recovery.
May 29: 12 x 400M @ 5K pace. 200M recovery.
Coach Ed
Track Schedule for March & April
All --
Unfortunately, the track will not be available to us for many Wednesday nights in March and April. However, please do not let that deter you from coming to track! Let's try to make it more fun by hanging out at Rockland's after these workouts.
The dates that track WILL be available are March 6 (tentative) and March 27. In April, the only available date is April 17.
(In past years, we have moved the Wednesday night workout on some nights to Yorktown HS/Greenbrier Park. We may do that for April this year, depending on what we can learn about the availability of the Yorktown track, and the response/feedback I get from the group.)
For March & April, these will be our proposed workouts. They are subject to change, which will be posted. Even for weeks when the the W-L Track is not available, I am posting a proposed track workout for the benefit of those who want to do their workout at another time, as well for the benefit of our Thursday morning group. This is a reminder to all: There is an "alternate" track workout each Thursday morning at 6:00 AM at the Yorktown/Greenbrier track; the group generally does the same workout we do on Wednesday nights.
The Workouts:
MARCH
For March 13 and March 20, the Wednesday night group will do a workout on the Custis Trail that closely resembles the proposed track workout. Custis Trail workouts start at the same time, with a prompt 7:15 departure from W-L stadium. We cross the I-66 bridge on Stafford St. and proceed West on the Custis Trail and then west on the W&OD Trail. Headlamps or other twilight/night running gear is encouraged.
March 6: (1) 1 x 800M @ 10K pace. Slow 400M recovery. (2) 3 - 4 x 1600M @ 10K pace, 400M recovery. (3) 1 x 800M @ 5K pace. Note: Weather may be a factor, depending on whether predicted storm occurs.
March 13: 6 x 800M @ 10K pace; 400M recovery. Followed by 2 x 400M @ 5K pace, 200M recovery. [Trail workout will be 3 minutes "on" followed by 2 minutes "off." Sunset = 7:13 PM].
March 20: 12-16 x 400M. 10K pace. 100M jog recovery. [Trail workout will be 2 minutes "on," 1 minute "off". Sunset = 7:20 PM].
March 27: "Distance Medley" Ladders: 800M - 400M - 1200M - 1600M. Two sets. All at 10K pace (except for 400M, which should be faster), all with 400M recovery. Two sets with 3-4 minute recovery between.
APRIL:
For April 3, 10, and 24, we will EITHER do workouts on the Custis Trail or move the workout to Yorktown/Greenbrier. Further updates will be posted as April approaches.
April 3: Ladders: 400M (200M recovery) - 500M (300M recovery) - 600M (400M recovery) - 800M (400M recovery). TWO sets. All at 5K pace. [Trail workout: 2:00 - 2:30 - 3:00 - 3:30 - 3:30 - 3:00 - 2:30 - 2:00. All with 2:00 recovery. Firm pace. Sunset = 7:34 PM]
April 10: 3 x 8:00 @ 10K pace. 3:00 recovery. Trail: Same. Sunset = 7:41 PM.
April 17: 4 x 5:00 @ 5K Pace. 5:00 recovery.
April 24: 8-10 x 500M @ 5K pace. 300M recovery.
Coach Ed
Directions to Track
Track workouts are held on the track at Washington-Liberty (formerly Washington-Lee) High School.
From Washington DC: take I-66 east to the Glebe Road exit, turn right on Glebe, right on 15th Street for about 0.4 miles, to Stafford Street, turn right and cross over I-66 and the school is on your left.
From Vienna and points west in Virginia: take I-66 east to the Fairfax Drive exit, follow Fairfax Drive for about 0.8 mile to Stafford Street, turn left for about 0.3 miles and the school is on your right.
From Alexandria: take Glebe Road going north until turning right on 15th Street, and proceed as from DC.
Metro: Washington-Liberty is a short walk from both the Virginia Square and Ballston Metro stations (Orange/Silver lines).
Track Resources
Upcoming Events
| Alexandria Turkey Trot Thu, Nov 28th, 2024, @9:00am |
| DCRR Gar Williams Half Marathon Sun, Dec 1st, 2024, @9:00am |
| DCRRC Bread Run 10K & Gingerbread 2-Miler Sun, Dec 8th, 2024, @10:00am |
| Book Club Sun, Dec 8th, 2024, @4:00pm |
| DCRRC New Year's Resolutions 5K Wed, Jan 1st, 2025, @12:00pm |
| DCRRC Al Lewis 10-Miler and 5-Miler Sun, Jan 5th, 2025, @8:00am |
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The DC Road Runners Club is a member of the Road Runners Club of America and is also affiliated with USA Track & Field. We provide a year-round schedule of running events that offer everyone a chance to participate regardless of age, gender, or athletic ability. |