General Workout Information
Base or Recovery Runs: It is ESSENTIAL that these are done at a very relaxed pace. Done at low heart rates to encourage cardiac remodeling, which encourages efficient pumping of blood as well as encourages efficient use of fats for fuel. This allows your body to recover from both physical and mental stress. They are the foundation of all running fitness. Do these consistently, and you will be rewarded with fast performances when the time comes. Choose run partners for these that let you run easily. These can’t really be done too slowly, but they can easily be done too fast. Running your base/recovery runs too quickly will stress you when you should be getting ready for the next hard workout or race.
Long Run - These workouts should be done at a relaxed pace. Keep your heart rate low, breathe easily, and be able to easily have a conversation. These are important aerobic base builders that build mental and physical resilience. These are usually a good opportunity to explore a new area or do an adventure run on the trails around Athenian.
Strides - A very short and fast effort. To do these properly, wait until you have run for at least 20 minutes. Pick a nice, smooth, and flat surface (track, grass, road). Start running easily with upright form, nice, quick turnover, and a mid to forefoot strike. As you cover the first 10 meters, accelerate to a speed that feels very quick and hold it for 30 to 50 meters. Decelerate over 10 meters and then walk back to the start. Repeat as prescribed.
Hills - Short efforts at or near Race Pace up hills of differing steepness. Full recovery early in the season, and less recovery as we enter mid-season. Excellent strength work to support later-season max-speed work.
Off - No workout on this day, but a bit of active recovery is usually useful. Don't just sit on the couch! Take an easy walk, do a few range-of-motion exercises, and do yoga and gentle stretching.
LT work - 'comfortably' fast. The workout intensity of many names (AT, Tempo, Threshold, etc). LT stands for Lactate Threshold and represents the pace at which you start noticeably breathing harder while still running slower than your race pace. For these workouts, gradually increase your speed until you are running ‘comfortably’ fast. These are never particularly challenging workouts because they are below race pace, but they provide an important means of improving muscular endurance without generating stress and risk of injury.
Race Pace - These are very fast, difficult efforts performed at your current 3200-meter race pace. The work distance is usually broken into ‘intervals’ with recoveries that reduce the stress/injury potential to less than that of an actual race effort.
Speed - These are run at a pace faster than 3200-meter race pace. Usually, these are timed and held at the track or on a fixed-distance course. Sometimes we use this pace just to have fun on a random run (aka Fartlek runs). Recoveries are often extended to reduce training stress and the potential for injury.
S&C - Strength and Conditioning. Any of a large range of exercises that we do to support running health and general mobility.
