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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.
Winter-Spring 2020 Track Workouts
All:
Happy New Year! Our group had a very successful 2019, with multiple personal records and, even more important, steady growth in regular participation at the Wednesday night workouts. Let's keep the trend going: invite your running friends to join us if they have not already.
A few words about the schedule and track availability. As you will see below, there are three consecutive weeks in March where scheduled W-L games will pre-empt the track. However, these are the only (at this point) scheduled interruptions. We recently discovered an alternative workout location adjacent to W-L that we will use at least one of those weeks (in addition to the "around the block" 1000M repeats we have done in the past). We will discuss that location when we meet at the track. Given the relatively favorable schedule, I have decided to post workouts through the end of June.
For those who have not done so, please subscribe to the email list for updates on Track Workouts. To do so, create an account on the DCRRC website, and then once you have logged in, click on "email subscriptions" under "My Account." You will see options for updates on a wide variety of DCRRC activities.
Best wishes for a healthy, happy, and fast(er) 2020, and see you at the track!
Coach Ed
January 8: 3-4 x 1600M @ 10K pace. 400M jog recovery. Finish with 2 x 400M @5K pace, 200M recoovery.
January 15: 12-16 x 400M @ 10K, 100M recovery.
January 22: 3 x 2000M @ 10K pace. Slow 400M recovery (in Lane 8).
January 29: 4 x 5:00 @ 5K pace. 5:00 recovery.
February 5: 2 x 15:00 Tempo Pace run. 2:30 recovery.
February 12: Ladder Workout: 300M (100M recovery); 600M (200M recovery); 1000M (400M recovery); 1200M (400M recovery); 1000M (400M recovery); 600M (200M recovery); 300M. ALL repeats at 10K pace, except final 300M @ 5K.
February 19: 4-5 x 1000M @ 5K pace. Slow 400M recovery (Lane 8).
February 26: 4-5 x 1600M @ 10K pace. 400M reovery. 2x400M to finish.
March 4: 2 x 20:00 @ Tempo Pace. 2:30 recovery.
March 11: TRACK UNAVAILABLE. 5-6 X 1000M repeats (around the block). Start at 10K pace and work down to 5K.
March 18: TRACK UNAVAILABLE. Ladder workout at alternate location adjacent to W-L. Specific location TBD at track.
March 25: TRACK UNAVAILABLE. Tentative: Mile repeats on Custis Trail or at alternate location from 3/18.
April 1: 4 x 5:00 @ 5K pace. 5:00 recovery.
April 8: 4-6 x 1600M @ 10K pace. 400M recovery. 2x400M to finish.
April 15: 6-8 x 800M @ 5K pace. 400M recovery.
April 22: 10 x 500M @ 5K pace. 300M recovery. (Coach Ed absent).
April 29: Ladder: 800M-400M-200M-1000M. 2-3 sets. Pace and recovery TBD at track.
May 6: 12-20 x 400M @ 10K pace. 100M recovery.
May 13: 4-6 x 1600M @ 10K pace. 400M recovery. 2x400M to finish.
May 20: 6-10 x 800M @ 5K pace. 400M recovery.
May 27: 10 x 500M @ 5K pace. 300M recovery.
June 3: 12-20 x 400M @ 10K pace. 100M recovery.
June 10: 4 x 5:00 @ 5K pace. 5:00 recovery.
June 17: 4-6 x 1600M @ 10K pace. 400M recovery.
June 24: Ladder: See April 29 (800-400-200-1000 sets).
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Christmas/Hanukah Relays This Wednesday Night (12/18)
All,
Our annual Holiday tradition is upon us. Please join us Wednesday evening for this most special of track workouts. Even if you have not been with us for a while, we want to see you again!
The format, for those unfamiliar, is simple. We aim to seed runners from fastest to less-fastest, trusting their honesty (!), and then pair up the fastest with the least fastest, and so on down the line until the final pairing of runners at the median. To aid the process this year. and to avoid awkward "Don't-I-Know-You?" moments, we will have name tags where you can write your first name and your honest projected time for a 5K, based on current level of fitness. That should help in the sorting process.
Once the two-member teams are all paired up, we start the relays. Each person will run 10 x 400M, alternating laps, so the total team distance is 20 laps, or 8KM. As in 2018, we will have sturdy candy-cane "relay batons," and baton exchanges must take place with the defined 20-meter zone.
In order for this all to go smoothly, please arrive early! If you usually come at 7:00, aim for 6:45, so you can warm up and then be ready for the organizing line-up around 7:00.
Looking forward to seeing you all,Â
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. |