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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.
Wednesday Track - 3 x 1600m in 10k Pace, 400m jogs
Wednesday Night Hawks
Tonight's weather is glorious – near 70, sunny till sundown, light winds and humidity. Tracks are open, but it still seems that no "organized" activities may take place in Arlington, but Yorktown and W&L are open for track work, but both tracks will be shut early – about 6:30 PM, so you could do this workout anywhere on flatter trails where miles are marked off.
March 10, 2021 ON THE TRACK ON YOUR OWN: 3 x 1600m in 10k Pace, with 400m jogs between
Fastest Runners: 5:45 to 6:30 Pace
Faster Runners: 6:30 to 7:15 Pace
Intermediate Runners: 7:15 to 8:00 Pace
Solid Runners/MTP Trainees: 8:00 to 10:00 Pace
When your track intervals lengthen to a mile, it is sometimes difficult to remember that you really want to change your form, style, cadence, etc. from your standard runs, but you really should. It makes a big difference if you switch your form to speed work – focus on lifting your knees, getting up on your toes, and using your arms in sync to lift the opposite leg. Don't fall into the trap of lengthening your stride – cadence should increase measurably on the track as opposed to the road and trail. Keep your core still and relaxed, and do not cross your arms over your body mid-point – this will swing your core (thus not still) and throw your stride off. On these longer intervals, break them down – for example, on Lap 1 focus on form – am I up on my toes and lifting knees? Lap 2 – am I relaxed – am I pushing while not getting to tense? Lap 3 – how is my breathing – through my nose and mouth - deeply? Lap 4 – since we aren't doing the traditional 2 x 400m to finish, let's try to run these last 400s in a faster pace, pushing to 5k pace to finish strong.
Wednesday Track - 6 to 8 Yasso 800s, 400m jogs
Wednesday Night Hawks
Tonight will be lovely, with Temps in the upper 40s to low 50s, low humidity, and just a bit of wind – near perfect running weather. Again, tracks are open, but no "organized" activities may take place. A few of us will to W&L, Yorktown or even Falls Church HS for track work tonight.
March 3, 2021 – ON THE TRACK ON YOUR OWN: Yasso 800s – 6 to 8 Yasso 800s - at a pace where your expected marathon time in hours and minutes is your 800 pace in minutes and seconds, with 400m easy jogs between each 800 in the exact same time as your 800, not faster or slower
To reiterate how to calculate your 800 time take the hours and minutes of your expected (hoped for) marathon time – in my case three hours and 50 minutes (Dream on!) and convert that to an 800 time of three minutes and 50 seconds, followed by a slow 400m jog in three minutes fifty seconds. It is VERY easy to jog that 400m too fast – but don't do it! Much more critical to run ALL of the 800s at the same pace/time, even as you tire, and fully recover if possible, on that exact same time on the slow 400. Yasso 800s are a favorite of Coach Ed and me, developed by the legendary Coach Bowman from Oregon who coached Pre – one of the best workouts you can do for the marathon!
Club News from Coach Rich:
A few event reminders:
1. Mar 7 is the Burke Lake 12K live race free to club members
2. Mar 7 (that same night) is the club annual meeting (virtual)
3. Mar 14 - Ft. Hunt 10K, live race free to club members
4. We need volunteers for both races.
You can get all the information on each of these and you can register for all of the above at https://www.dcroadrunners.org/
Happy running!
Coach Ed, Coach Big Guy and Coach Rich
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. |