Week of June 4

I hope more of you will be signing up to race the United Way Relays Saturday, June 16! We would love to have two equal Speedsters teams!   

Also, please get your SPEEDSTERS FALL RACING QUESTIONNAIRE to Captain Leah ASAP. Thanks!  

NEW CYCLE
I’m so excited that we’re starting our next training cycle this week! This summer training cycle is meant to prep you all for late summer races like The Women’s Four Miler and the Pepsi 10K and fall races like President Ryan’s huge community Inauguration 5K (10/20), Army Ten Miler, Richmond 8K and Half and our local 5K’s. And, of course, we will include, within the weekly structure, the summer 5K’s and, for those, who enjoy them, the CTC Track meets. 

Here’s a brief overview of the summer…  
*We will start with several weeks of Monday pickup form surges and Wednesday hilly fartleks to build your strength and shorter Saturday workouts. 
*We will move on to the track in late July, as your speed sharpens and lengthen the distance of your long runs.   
*Your weekly mileage will build, over the next few weeks, to the 25-35 mile range (25 for those looking at the 5K-10K range and 35 or more for those pointing to a fall 10 Miler or Half). Pool and treadmill miles count towards your total weekly mileage.  
*I will also include some 2 mile and 5K TIME TRIALS on designated Wednesdays along the way: 6/20, 7/18, 8/15

And, in doing all of this, my four personal coaching GOALS will be guiding you to:
1. Stay injury free!  
2. Enjoy lacing up your shoes….in other words, have fun with your running!
3. Comfortably fit running into your overall lifestyle. 
4. Hit your personal race times!  

KEYS
Here are some very important things I’d like to see you working on during this next cycle:   
1. Please try to get in at least 4-5 days/week of cross training, with the emphasis on upper body and core work. And, if it’s a full-fledged hard workout like Formula, I’d like to see you space that away from your Wednesday hard workout (Mondays are best). Here’s a weekly template to follow:
        Mondays – group class or follow my suggested form surges (see Mondays each week)
        Tuesdays- “Home Gym” 8-10 minute routine: pushups, situps, planks and pull ups
        Wednesdays- JAG steps or bleacher stairs plus my new “7 minute core cooldown” circuit   
        Thursdays – Home Gym!
        Fridays- Yoga or Pilates 
        Sundays- Home Gym!   
  
2. Your recovery days are the most important days of the week! Stick to the 80/20 rule, which I want you running 80% of your weekly miles at your AHR and the other 20% faster. And remember: AHR is as slow as it takes to feel VERY relaxed (~90 seconds to 2 minutes slower than 10 mile pace)!
3. Practice the art of PERCEIVED EFFORT, as in slowing it down to make sure your effort and not your pace is always the same, no matter how hot and hilly it is or how tired you are!
4. Keep a good Journal by hand, including important things like conditions, how you’re feeling, hydration, sleep and pace of first mile.
5. Communicate with your coach if things are going astray or if you have a question about your training.  

See you this Wednesday back at our normal 5:30 time at UVa!
Mark 
  
WEEK of JUNE 4 
*Suggested mileage = 15-25 miles 
Remember: 
-Saturday is always your longest day
-Wednesday is always second longest 
-Monday is your third longest 
-Thursday (and Sunday, if you run a fifth day) are your shortest.    

MONDAY June 4
4-7 AHR miles with 6 x 15 second FALT surface form surges working on lifting your knees with your arms and core! 

WEDNESDAY June 6
***Please note that we’re back to our regular 5:30 starting time this week. We will continue to meet at the UVa track parking lot and will be working out down at The UVa Park. 

-2 loops around the Park at 30-30 
-8 x 30 second hill surges 
-2 more loops but this time at 60-30. 
Try to run the second set of 2 loops faster than the first set. 2 loops is about 1.1 miles         
-Then 2 sets of JAG steps (optional) 
-Finish with my new “7 minute Core Cooldown” circuit.   

SATURDAY June 9
“15/10/5” on a flatter course as follows: 
-After warming up at AHR for at least 2-3 miles, run 15 minutes at MP-HMP
-2 minute slow recovery
-10 minutes at a faster pace
-60-90 second slow recovery    
-5 minutes faster!
-cooldown for at least 1 mile  
6-8 miles total