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Week 3 - March 14th thru 20th

Monday 14th               No Run - Cross Training Day

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

Tuesday 15th              Easy/Light Run 35-40 minutes

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

                                 workout on quicker cadence/faster turnover with the light strides

Wednesday 16th         Sustained Workout

                                 Meet @ East Boulder Rec - 6:30 am OR 5:30 pm

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

                                 6 x 1 km…run as follows:

                                 odds @ 10 km effort with 2 min active rest

                                 evens @ 5 km effort with 2 min active rest

                                 workout on bike path @ flatirons golf course

                                 Cool Down 5-10 minutes

Thursday 17th             Easy Recovery Run 35-40 minutes

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

Friday 18th                 No Run - Day Off

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

Saturday 19th             Tempo/Hills Workout from South Boulder Rec – 7:30 am

                                 Warm Up 10-15 min/Stretch/4 x 30 sec strides

                                 Start 6 min steady/controlled on Flats with 2 min active rest

                                 Then 4 x 60 sec steady up…turn…60 sec steady down

                                 Take 90 sec active rest after each 2 min interval

                                 Then 6 min steady/controlled on Flats with 2 min active rest

                                 End 4 x 60 sec steady up…turn…60 sec steady down

                                 Take 90 sec active rest after each 2 min interval

                                 Cool Down 5-10 minutes

Sunday 20th               Easy Long Run 55-65 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.

South Boulder Rec – follow Broadway south past Table Mesa Drive. Take a right on Grtinnell Road and follow Grinnell until Gillaspie Drive. Take a left on Gillaspie and go past the rec center and park in the overflow parking SOUTH of the rec center.

Coach's Notes

How Fit Are You??? There are 9 Tests that identify your strengths and weaknesses...I'll discuss these tests and then pair them with exercises and drills that will help improve your scores.

As a Runner, you are already in Great Shape, however, if you want to perform at your full potential, you need to take a comprehensive approach to your training. That means targeting areas of fitness you may not normally pay attention to, like flexibility, balance, and mobility.

1) Core Strength - the muscles in your abdominals, back, and glutes give you stability, power, and endurance. If your core muscles cannot support your pelvis, it will drop, causing your hips, knees, and ankles to lose proper alignment. When this happens, you can't absorb forces appropriately, and your muscles fatigue quicker.

Test It - Plank Position: form a straight line from your head to ankles and see how long you can maintain perfect form. Anything under 90 seconds is not good.

Improve It - lie on your back with your hands at your sides, legs straight out in front of you and feet 6 inches off the ground. Start sitting up while elevating your left arm with the elbow bent. At the peak of the sit-up, bring your right knee toward your chest. Return to the start position, keeping your legs raised and repeat with the opposite side. Work for 20 reps.

2) Upper Body Strength - a strong upper body makes it easier to hold good form, which can improve running economy. The more economical you are, the less oxygen you use and the longer you can sustain a given pace.

Test It - Push-Ups: complete as many standard push-ups as possible maintaining good form. Depending on your age, the range for "fair" is 8 to 16.

Improve It - get in a push-up position with your shins on a stability ball. Complete a push-up, then pull the ball toward your chest. Return to the start position and repeat. Do 2-3 sets of 10-20 reps, resting 30 seconds between sets.

3) Lower-body Strength - the repetitive motion of running, using the same muscles over and over again, can strengthen some more than others. An imbalance between opposing muscle groups, such as the quadriceps and hamstrings, can lead to muscle pulls and knee pain.

Test It - squat down until your glutes graze the seat of a chair. Return to standing and repeat as many times as possible. Depending on your age, "fair is 9 to 30.

Improve It - by doing walking lunges holding dumbbells. Step forward with your right leg and lower into a lunge. Return to standing as you step forward with your left leg and repeat 8 times. Do 2-3 sets, resting 60 seconds between sets. Make sure your lunging knee does not protrude over the front of the toes.

4) Flexibility - a flexible body is more efficient, sees more gains in strength and endurance, enjoys more range of motion, and recovers quicker. When your muscles are long and pliable, blood flows more freely. This means your muscles, ligaments, and tendons are better nourished and able to rebound better after a workout.

Test It - bend your left knee, and draw your thigh in. Loop a strap around the arch of your left foot, and hold an end of the strap in each hand. Straighten the leg as much as possible. Walk your hands up the strap until the elbows are straight. Gently bring your leg as close to your head as possible. Note the angle. Anything less than 45 degrees is "fair".

Improve It - stand with your glutes against a wall and your feet 6-12 inches from the wall's base. Bend forward and work to place your palms on the floor. Do this stretch post-run and hold stretch for 10-15 seconds. Repeat 3-4 times with 30 seconds rest.

5) Balance - running is an intricate one-foot balancing act. To stay steady on your feet, nerve endings in your joints and muscles (called proprioceptors) sense changes in your body position. Improving your balance can enhance the ability of these proprioceptors to anticipate movement changes so your runs are smoother and faster.

Test It - place your right foot against your left leg and time yourself in this position until you lose balance. "Fair" is less than 25 seconds.

Improve It - by doing one-legged squats. Place a stability ball between your lower back and a wall. Lift your right foot off the ground and lower down into a squat. Push back to start, but don't lower your right foot. Do 8 reps and then switch to the other leg.

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.