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Winter 2008 Workout Schedule Set

Members & Guests:

We will resume Track Workouts on Wednesday nights at 7:00 pm at the Washington-Lee HS Track in Arlington. Track is located in the W-L stadium, bordered on the south by Washington Boulevard, and a short jog from both the Ballston and Virginia Square Metro stations on the Orange Line.

Warm-ups start at 7:00 pm; we start thr workout proper at 7:15. These workouts are also the official track workouts for the official training programs for the Wirefly National Marathon and National Half-Marathon; the programs are sponsored by Reebok and directed by the DCRRC.

Remember that you can derive your suggested pace for these workoouts from the McMilllan Running Calculator. There is a link at the top of this page.

January Workouts

1/2/08: Repeat 1600Ms. 3 to 4 repeats at tempo or "cruise interval" pace, with SLOW 200M jog to recover. Those preparing for Saturday's 10-miler as a "key" race should attempto no more than 3 repeats.

1/9/08: Repeat 400Ms, with 100M jog rest. 12-14 repeats at 10K pace or "cruise interval" pace.

1/16/08: Repeat 1000M at tempo/cruise interval pace. 5-6 repeats, with slow 200M jog to recover.

1/23/08: 2 x 12-minute tempo-pace runs. 2:00 recovery break.

1/30/08: 6 - 8 x 800M at cruise interval pace. 200M recovery jog.

February Workouts

2/06/08: 14-16 x 400M at cruise interval pace. 100M recovery.

2/13/08: 2 x 15-minute tempo-pace runs. 2:30 recovery break.

2/20/08: 3-4 x 1600M @ 10K pace. 400M recovery jog.

2/27/08: 16-18 x 400M @ 10K/cruise interval pace. 100M recovery jog.

March Workouts

3/05/08: 800M repeats, with 400M recovery at 5K pace. Number: 6 to 8. National Marathon Training Group will do fewer in number due to upcoming 10K race.

3/12/08: 400M repeats at 10K pace, 100M recovery. Maximum 20, though some will want to do fewer.

3/19/08: Split Workout: Tempo-Pace Runs for those in National Marathon and Half; 1000M repeats at 5K pace for others, with 400-600M recovery jog.

3/26/08: Split Workout: Light prep for those in National Marathon & Half; 1600M repeats for others.

Track Workouts: March 26 - April 30

Members & Guests:

The "Spring Displacement" is upon us again. Thankfully, the conflicts with Washington-Lee HS sporting events only lasts through the end of April -- with the exception of April 16, when it seems we WILL have the track available to us.

Unfortunately, there are no easy alternatives available to us. The W-L track also is booked on Tuesdays and Thursdays through the end of April, as are the tracks at Yorktown and Wakefield. It's just a bad month for us.

So, we will do workouts on the trail. I will send people off as early as 7:00, but will stick around until 7:15 to catch any "stragglers." But you will run with mnore light, and more people, if you arrive by 7:00.

For those who do not know, we meet outside the W-L Stadium, and access the Custis Trail at Stafford Street, proceeding west on the trail.

We run to the "0.0" mark at the Custis, then take a right turn onto the spur that connects with the Washington & Old Dominion Trail. We take a right turn onto the W&OD. There is enough "room" to complete 50 percent of our workouts before hitting the complicated turns on the W&OD near the East Falls Church Metro.

When you come back, remember to take the left turn onto the spur, and then the next left onto the Custis Trail. And don't forget to leave the Custis Trail at Stafford Street to get back to Washington-Lee.

Here's some suggested workouts for the next 5 weeks:

March 26: Warm up about 10-12 minutes. Three minutes on/two minutes off. Run about six repeats; some may want to do as many as eight repeats, but that's a tall order on this course. (Remember the hills you have to climb coming back!)

April 2: Warm up by jogging to the 1.0 mile mark on the Custis. Then, do 4 x 1-mile repeats at 10K pace. Run from 1.0 to 0.0 on the Custis. Then, jog to the 4.0 mark on the W&OD, and run hard to the 5.0 mark. Recover by jogging a bit farther on the W&OD, then turn around in time to pick it up again at the 5.0 mark, and repeat the effort going back.

Hold something in abeyance here -- that 4th mile repeat will be tough!

April 9: Similar to March 26, except do repeats of 2 minutes "on" and 1 minute "off." Aim for up to 10 repeats. These should be done at 5K pace. Take a longer break (2-3 minutes) after repeat #5).

April 16 (On the Track): Four repeats -- 5:00 in length at 5K pace. 5:00 minutes rest in between.

April 23: Same workout as April 2.

April 30: Similar workout to March 26 and April 9, but do 5 repeats of 4:00 duration, with a 3:00 recovery in between. Aim for 5K pace.

These workouts will be a good test of your "sense of pace," particularly on rolling terrain. Do these workouts, and you will be quite fit when we hit the track again in May.

See you on the trail!

Ed