Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Final Week and some updates

We are finally almost to our goal and most people's races will be taking place on Thursday. This week is going to be really simple and easy with no workouts and a lot of recovery. Runs will be easy and slow in preparation for the big day.

Tuesday: Easy run preferably 3-4 miles at an easy and relaxed pace.

Wednesday: Your choice of either a day off to rest or doing some easy jogging of about 1 mile. This day is essentially the final preparations and tweaking necessary for tomorrow.

Thursday: RACE

Now that I have finished the training reports I am going to do one final post tomorrow about pre race preparations to finish off the training. It will be about what to eat the day of, clothing, and final notes about the race. Remember to get a lot of sleep this week and some rest. Stay tuned for tomorrow final notes.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Week 4 Training Plan

Week 4

Here we are in our second to last week before race day and during this week we are going to start downgrading the intensity of the training to allow rest and recovery. It is peak season and its time to sharpen up before the race. This week will consist of less mileage and easier shorter workout.

Monday: Today we are going to continue the easy trend and do an easy 4-5 mile run. Kept it simple don't go crazy because tomorrow's workout is the last challenge before the real challenge (the race).

Tuesday: This workout is something referred to as an accelerator run. If your thinking ahead or just mainly alive the term pretty much gives away what your doing. You are going to accelerate as the run goes on into a controlled push. Start at a normal pace and gradually pick up the pace every once and while until you reached this controlled push. I would recommend doing a 4 mile accelerator and about a 1 mile cool down at the end.

Wednesday: Really easy day, 4 miles tops. Good recovery is going to be necessary. I recommend avoiding hills as much as possible as well.

Thursday: OFF no running.

Friday: Final workout of the week and also final workout before the race. Do solid warm up and some stretching before we begin. The workout for today will be a 400-600-800-600-400 meter workout. The pace for each will be slightly faster than the pace of your 5k goal pace. This workout is not that difficult it is just meant to simulate some faster leg turnover than before. Rest will consist of the same time you did your push for. Get a good cool down and some stretching in after you have completed the workout.

Saturday:
Saturday this week will be switched to your long run day. Try to aim to be around 5 miles for the day at a really slow comfortable pace.

Sunday:
Today is either going to be an option of an off day or a cross training day. If you could imagine today is suppose to be a very simple and easy day to let your legs recover. If you do decide to do some form of exercise keep it between 20-30 minutes of aerobic activity.

Well there you have it week 4 is complete and you should be ready to go. Next week will be even simpler than this with lots of recovery and easy mileage. Stay tuned throughout the week for more updates.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Mariners

This week's run is a running route referred to as "Mariners." This run is essentially an extension of the Mid Hudson Bridge run. It is roughly 6 miles depending on the route you take home. On your way back you can either head back the way you came or head back through Poughkeepsie. For the sake of this blog I will have you go back the same way to avoid confusion.

To start the Mariner's run head out onto Route 9 south towards the Mid-Hudson Bridge. If you don't remember how to reach the bridge refer to my post on the Mid-Hudson Bridge http://mcapping.blogspot.com/2010/10/mid-hudson-bridge.html.

Proceed to the end of the bridge and once you reach the other side of the river there will be one road veering right which you will head towards (I think it's US 44). Keep going uphill until you reach a sign that will say "Mariner's." The sign will point downhill towards a road which you will proceed to head down. This road is one gigantic spiraling steep downhill so make sure to be careful.

Take this all the way down until you reach the riverfront. You will pop out and see a restaurant called "Mariner's" which is an indication that you are at the bottom of the hill. Make a right and run along the river until you reach the Mid-Hudson Bridge. There are some steps down there to help you climb back up towards the top of the bridge. Once you reach the top again head back across the bridge and towards campus and you will have finished Mariners.

I would advise doing this run on your long days because the run totals about 6 miles if completely finished. Another note I don't think I will be able to put up a picture breakdown for this run because I cant find a 360 view of the sign leading down towards Mariners. Because of this I cant find the downhill road you are suppose to take. However, the sign is very noticeable if you are the left side of the road and the run is very straightforward and easy if you know how to get to the Mid-Hudson Bridge.

So this concludes the run "Mariners." I will post training for next week either Sunday or early Monday but till then good luck with the training.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Week 3 Training

Week 3

First thing I would like to say is sorry for the lack of posts throughout the week. I have been doing a lot of other work for some of my other classes and got a bit caught up. Also I was not able to write the first day of week 3’s training because of a big paper yesterday but it should not hinder anything. After those notes here’s training for week 3.

This week’s training will be the meat and overall toughest week because I will implement two workouts and only one day off this week. It is a bit difficult to create a training plan for a 5k in such a short amount of training time but don’t worry you’ll get your rest.

Tuesday: Today is going to be a workout because I could not get the schedule up yesterday. Today’s workout will start with the regular warm up plus some quick stretching. I decided to make this a bit of a track workout however; you can to this in terms of timed pushed as well. The workout will consist of a 2x1600 meter (or mile) run at 5k race pace. The rest will be an 800 meter jog/walk recovery. In order to do these just use your average goal pace for a 5k and do pushes for that amount of time. For recovery take anywhere from 3-4 minutes of job/walk recovery. Be sure to cool down and stretch afterwards.

Wednesday: Easy jog recovery day of 4-5 miles. Take today nice and slow to give your legs of recovery from yesterday’s workout. Don’t push or pound today because you’ll regret it.

Thursday: Today is our cross training day so I recommend getting 30-40 minutes on the elliptical, bike, or pool. Remember stay off the treadmill.

Friday: Final workout of the week today. This workout will be similar to the 5-4-3-2-1 workout but a little different. Get your typical warm-up in and for the workout do a 5-4-3 twice. The rest is the same as the timed push you previously ran.

Saturday
: OFF no running today.

Sunday
: Typical long run day for this Sunday afternoon. I recommend getting at least a 5 mile run in today maybe stretching it out to a 6 mile run. I am going to post a 6 mile run later this week called Mariner's that I recommend doing for this run.

This week is going to be tougher than the previous week's but stay confident and remember to go easy on those easy days. I'll post the Mariner's run later this week so stay toned.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Week 2 Training

We are now going to begin entering our second week of training. This week will be similar to last week's training with a small increase in mileage and intensity. We shouldn't be to sore from last week so I'm going to get right into it.


Monday: Start the week off right with an easy 4 mile run. Head out around the area maybe this is a good day to venture towards the Mid Hudson Bridge for a change of scenery.

Tuesday: Tuesday is going to be our workout day where we will be experiencing more intense running. The workout will consist of a warm up followed by some pre workout stretching and prepping. The workout is similar to last week's however you are going to be doing a 5-4-3-2-1. This will consist of 5 minutes of hard but relaxed running followed by 5 minutes of easy jogging. Then 4 minutes of hard running 4 minutes of jogging and so forth for the rest. You want to make sure you are running hard but are saving enough energy for the later reps. Once you have finished do an easy cool down and stretch.

Wednesday: Take today off and let your body relax from the workout yesterday and get ready for the next few upcoming days.

Thursday: Today you should venture off onto another 4 mile run. Maybe head over the quiet cove and run the trails in the back to add on additional mileage. When you get back make sure you stretch and rehydrate.

Friday: Cross Training day. Head into the gym and do some biking, swimming or any other aerobic machine for at least a half hour. Make sure you dont use the treadmill because the purpose of today is to give your body a rest from the pounding on hard surfaces and cement.

Saturday: Day off; rest.

Sunday: Long run day. Head out and get in at least 5 mile jog around town. May I suggest the Mid Husdon Bridge run or maybe just an out and back run. Whatever your choice is make sure it is done at a slower pace then your normal runs.

That wraps up training for week 2. Throughout the week I was thinking about doing another place to run or a post on core training. I'm a big supporter of core training and I think that the benefits are very useful for runners. Well Ill get both of those posts up at some point but till then good luck with your training.