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Week 4 - March 9th thru 15th

Monday 9th                 No Run - Cross Training Day

                                 Lift Weights/Pilates (Mat or Reformer)/Yoga – 45 to 60 minutes

Tuesday 10th               Easy/Light Run 40 minutes

                                 Include 5 x 30 sec light strides/60 sec easy within run

Wednesday 11th           Chris Fartlek Workout

                                 Meet @ East Boulder Rec - 6:30 am (bring your Headlamp)

                                                      OR

                                 Meet @ Potts Field - 5:30 pm

                                 Warm Up 15-20 min/Stretch/4 x 30 sec strides

                                 1/2/3/4//4/3/2/1 minutes Ladder…run as follows:

                                 1/2 min steady/hard with 60 sec easy

                                 3/4 min steady/controlled with 90 sec/2 min easy

                                 Cool Down 5-10 minutes

Thursday 12th             Easy Recovery Run 40 minutes

                                 Plyo’s Class @ CAC-Flatirons – 6:00 pm

Friday 13th                  No Run - Day Off

                                 Lift Weights/Pilates/Yoga/Core Strength Work – 45 to 60 minutes

Saturday 14th              Tempo/Sustained Workout from Tom Watson Park – 7:30 am

                                 Warm Up 15-20 min/Stretch/4 x 25 sec strides

                                 Start 12 min @ half marathon pace with 3 min active rest

                                 Then 8 min @ half marathon pace with 2 min active rest

                                 End 5 min @ 10 km pace

                                 Cool Down 5-10 minutes

                                 Functional Strength Work – Bring a Change of Clothes/Yoga Mat

Sunday 15th                Easy Long Run 60-65 minutes

                                 Relaxed Effort-Pace/Hydrate on the Run

                                 Easy 5 min Walk Cool Down

Terminology

Easy/Light/Recovery - Conversational Pace/Time on Legs/Relaxed Effort

Long - 60 to 90 sec slower than goal pace for marathon

Fartlek - Playing with Fast/Slow Speed

Tempo - Run between 70-75% Effort of Max

Hills - Work on Form (drive with arms/get up on toes/quick turnover/mid-foot strike on downs)

Meeting Places

East Boulder Rec - follow Baseline east to 55th St. Take a right on 55th and follow the road until the sharp left turn and go past the first parking lot and tennis courts towards the Rec Center. Park on the West Side of the Rec Center Parking Lot.

Potts Field – CU Outdoor Track between Foothills Parkway and 30th off of Colorado Avenue

Tom Watson Park - follow the Diagonal Highway to 63rd Street. Go north on 63rd for about a half mile and look for the sign saying Tom Watson Park on your right. Parking Lot is opposite Coot Lake on east side of 63rd Street. DO NOT park @ Coot Lake.

Coach's Notes

How Fit Are You - Continuation...

6) Joint Mobility - most runners realize their muscular flexibility could use some work, but they don't think about the range of motion of their joints. Joint Mobility is a measure of how effectively you are able to move your ankles, knees, and hips through a normal range of motion. When these joints are tight, your body recruits other muscles, which then become overworked and vulnerable to injury.

Test It: Bar Squat - stand with feet shoulder-width apart and press a lightweight bar overhead. Squat down as low as possible without letting the bar fall forward. Return to standing and repeat twice more. Repeat the test with your heels elevated on a two-inch-high board. Fair if you have trouble maintaining form in either heel position.

Improve It: Squat-to Stand - stand with feet shoulder-width apart and grab your toes with your knees bent (if necessary). Keeping arms straight, pull your glutes down and lift your chest while holding your toes. Reach up one arm, then the other, to form a "Y". Stand up, keeping arms raised. Repeat 10 times.

7) Speed - whether it's setting a personal record or finishing your 5 mile route faster, most runners are interested in getting faster. What you may not realize though, is that speed training can help prevent injury because it demands that muscles fire hard for a split second. This requires more power than slogging out miles, and therefore builds more muscle that can protect you from the wear and tear of distance running.

Test It: Lap Test - go to a track and warm up, stretch and do some strides. Using your watch, time yourself for 400m all out. Most of us do not have that fast turnover and so will be fair.

Improve It: Speed Drills - (i) quick step - take as many short steps as possible for 5 yards. Walk 5 yards, then repeat. Do three sets of five reps. Rest 30 seconds between sets. This drill trains the brain and muscles to communicate superfast, so the muscles fire quickly to improve stride frequency. (ii) straight leg bound - run 30 yards, taking as big a stride as possible while keeping legs straight. Rest 60 seconds and repeat up to 5 times. This drill works the hamstrings and glutes, the two muscle groups that control stride length. OR you could join our Plyo’s/Drills Class at Flatiron Athletic Club on Thursday’s from 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm.

8) Endurance - can be thought of as how well all of your systems work together; your heart-stroke volume (the amount of oxygenated blood pumped to the muscles with every beat), your muscle strength and efficiency (the muscles ability to turn that O2 into energy they need to contract), your metabolism (how efficiently you metabolize fat and carbohydrates to use for fuel and flush out lactate build-up, believed to be a cause of muscle fatigue), and your neuromuscular system (your brain and body's ability to communicate about which muscles to contract and when). You work on your endurance every time you run, but the only way to track your progress is to have a controlled test that gauges how well these systems work together.

Test It: Treadmill Tempo - set the treadmill at one degree incline and warm up for 10 minutes. Do 30-minute tempo run at 80-85 percent of your maximum effort, which is a bit slower than   10-k race pace. Cool down 5 minutes, and note the distance you covered during the 30-minute tempo. Depending on your age, Fair is anywhere from 3.4 miles to 4.1 miles.

Improve It: Endurance Builders - Boulder Striders will help you.

9) Cardiovascular Strength - if your workouts are always at the same, comfortable pace, your cardiovascular system probably isn't as fit as it could be. You need to move out of that comfort zone and force the heart to work harder and act more quickly in order to improve your cardio-vascular fitness. Your heart is like any other muscle, when it's challenged, it grows stronger and when it's stronger, it can pump more blood with each beat, delivering more oxygen-rich blood to the muscles so they can perform their best.

Test It: Step-Ups - the best test is to have your Lactate Threshold tested at a Sports Medicine Center. A simpler test involves using a 12-inch high step, and stepping on and off for 3 minutes. Step up with one foot and then the other and step down the same way. Try maintaining a steady, consistent four-beat cycle, "up, up, down. down". After 3 minutes, sit down and immediately check your heart rate beat for one minute. Depending on your age, Fair ranges from 101-119 beats per minute.

Improve It: Hill repeats - hill training forces muscles to recruit 2-3 times more muscle fibers than flat-land running, which makes it a great way to improve one's cardio-vascular strength.

Our Final Week of Base Training. Next Week the weekly schedules will be password protected…so make sure you know your username and password.