Week 12: Putting it all Together!

Lots of things have been covered here over the past semester, and it's always such a cool thing to watch all of your hard work come together by the end of the season! There's no better feeling than knowing you accomplished all you set out to do during a hard running season. Knowing that feeling of fulfillment is amazing because you know that if you can survive a challenging season of exerting everything you have almost four times a week, you can probably do anything. Running is good for you, and when incorporated into an overall balanced lifestyle it really can go a long way toward making you healthy, confident, inspired, and motivated. Running is about pushing yourself. Yes, you can build yourself up to a certain fitness level and be comfortable maintaining it, but that’s not really the point. I think it’s exciting to see how far you can push your own body, seeing how far you can go. Breaking records is what I'm all about. It makes me feel almost superhuman. Inserting speedwork and occasional races into your running routine is all part of the fun too! I think of them as just another challenge, a metaphorical hurdle if you will. I started this blog to share my passions with others who also love running or those who are just curious as to what I do. I wanted to challenge myself to make the ideas that I'd been thinking of about running relevant to my own life and to be able to share them with others as well. All runners deal with philosophy, whether it be training philosophy, racing philosophy, or the more basic questions like how does running fit with my own philosophy? And what does the fact that I run say about my philosophy of living? We've all got answers to these questions, though they rarely are discussed because it's so personal and specific to each person. Personally, one of the reasons I love to run is that it gets ideas firing. Running and philosophy are a natural fit. One of the greatest things about being a runner is that the activity creates this sort of unique space of intellectual freedom. As my body moves, so does my mind. So I run. My life has kind of sucked lately, and there's been no better way to hash things out and compartmentalize my thoughts better than through running.

Week 11: Fartlek

Alright, say it out loud, laugh, and get it out of your system. Even if you've never done a fartlek workout before (or don't even know what it is) here's your chance to give it a try! 


Picking up the pace once a week goes a long way toward making you faster. I've covered a lot of speed workouts already, but sometimes racing around a track, keeping your eye on a stop watch, or sprinting up hills can get boring. Another alternative is a fartlek. Interestingly enough, fartlek translates into "speed play" in Swedish, where the concept apparently originated (my team always asked why of all things it could be called a fart-lek).  Fartleks are a free-flowing format in which you run faster for however long or short you want to. Of all the workouts one could possibly choose from, fartleks definitely come in handy.  The aim in completing a fartlek workout can be compared to that of interval training. The purpose of these workouts is to develop speed by running for short distances at a speed significantly higher than the normal strong race pace. Fartleks are similar to interval training in that short fast runs alternate with slow running or jogging recovery intervals. However, with fartleks the running isn't done on a track. In fact, it's done on the road or in a park or some other place you desire. At my high school, we used a loop in a certain neighborhood as a fartlek course, where it was a simple circle with different hill elevations and long and short stretches of distance. The key to doing fartleks are to pace yourself. With each repetition, you really need to be running the same times each time you run. I'll lay out two different fartlek workouts that are both efficient and helpful in your workout. 


Block Party:
In your neighborhood, use blocks as your "track." You can go around the block or do an out-and-back. Start at a slow pace for five to 10 steps, then gradually increase the pace for 20 to 50 steps, then run at race pace (but not all out) for one full block. Start with two or three fartlek segments and build to six. Walk for one or two minutes between each faster section. 


Running Landmark:
Pick a telephone pole, mailbox, stop sign, or anything up ahead and run to it. You can choose one thing (all telephone poles, for example) or multiple landmarks to create varying lengths of speed segments. On each segment, gradually pick up the pace until you're running fast but not all out. For the last 20 steps, hold the pace, but focus on relaxing your body and allowing momentum to take over. Walk or jog for half the distance of your repeat, then spot your next landmark and take off again. Continue for a total of 10 to 15 minutes, before running an easy five to 10 minutes to cool down.


A Fartlek Example!


Enjoy!

Week 10: Hills

Ah yes, the dreaded hill workouts. In my opinion, there aren't many workouts that I dislike more than hills. BUT! They get the job done. Hills are in the category of strength training, where running these reps on a hill builds up your endurance and power for a race. If you can run up a hill, you can survive a race. In hill running, the athlete is using their body weight as a resistance to push against, so the driving muscles from which their leg power is derived have to work harder. The technique to aim for is a "bouncy" style where the athlete has a good knee lift and maximum range of movement in the ankle. Hill workouts in general are great because they help develop power and muscle elasticity, improve stride length and frequency, improves running form, and develops control, stabilization, and controlled speed. This week I'll touch upon three different types of hill workouts, including short length, middle, and long distance. 


Short hills are those which take about 30 seconds to completely run up. It doesn't have to be incredibly steep, but there definitely should be a significant incline. Because they're so short, short hills are the ones where the runner should really focus on improving their form: pumping their arms at a 90 degree angle and driving their knees up and down. Essentially short hill repetitions should be done between eight to ten times. Moreover, these hills should be between 150-200 meters long. Once again, these reps should be done at around 30 seconds.  


Mid length hills take between 30 to 90 seconds to run up. This is the length of hill is a good distance for the middle-distance runner, because it combines the benefits of the short hills with the stresses on local muscular endurance. These are the most competitively ran types of hills because they're basically the perfect length for a quality team workout. They're ran fast. Because of this, it's important to develop a long-stride, high- knee lift type of form. This exerts the most power and carries over best in a race. With medium length hills, you can do six to eight runs of 45 seconds, followed by some 10 second sprints on a steeper hill. A more challenging workout is to do 12 to 15 runs of about 70 seconds (the equivalent of interval training).


A long hill is one which takes from 90 seconds to three minutes plus.Normally, I run long hills at the beginning of the running season to build a quality base for strength training, but long hills can also be done as a pre-meet workout to really tire out the body for the upcoming race. Now I know that sounds bad, but putting your body through this type of workout before a race makes you that much stronger afterwards, so it works out. They are particularly good for the cross country or road runner who is running distances of 10,000 meters and upwards. A session of, say eight three minutes, with a run back of four or five minutes will make a good hard workout. 


I hope you enjoy these hill workouts and try not to despise them as much as I do! I mean, six years and eighteen seasons can really make you hate hills sometimes. They're quality workouts and you really do feel great after you complete them!

Week 9: Intervals

This week's workouts have a mainly interval-based focus. Again, I'm still injured and out of commission because of my fracture! In fact, over the weekend I actually worsened my condition (girls, DON'T wear heels with a fractured ankle, or just try not to fall into potholes) . So, in short, I still can't run and probably won't be able to for a few more months because of last weekend's events. As always, I'll mention a few good, challenging workouts to do in between some easier ones you can choose to do on your own. If you're confused by the "easier" workouts, just look back to my previous blog posts for some references. For example, plyometrics combined with an easy three-mile course is considered easy. Also, don't be afraid to something between a 6 to 13 mile course as well. Long distance workouts are always beneficial on those off-days from speed or hill workouts.

As mentioned before, this week's workouts have a lot to do with interval training intermixed with a few hill repeats. The first workout is full of intervals. First, run a 3x200 on a 75% pace with 2 minutes of rest in between each set. This rest should be a slow jog at whatever pace you'd like, just don't walk it. After these are completed, give yourself a full 5 minutes of recovery before the next set of intervals. These can  be walked. Next up are 3x200s at an 80% pace. The same rest as last time still applies: 2 minutes in between each set, then 5 minutes rest at a walking pace before the next interval. The final interval set is anotehr 3x200, but this time at an 80% pace with no rest in between. Although the distance of each interval is the same, the increase in pace should really tire you out. Especially the lack of rest on the last repetition as well.

The next workout is a short and sweet hill exercise. The first repetition is 3x a short hill. These should be done under ten seconds. The next repetition is 3 x a medium hill. This time, it should be fully run up and completed in between 10 and 20 seconds. The final hill repetition is 2x a long hill. Preferably, this should be run up and completed at around 30 seconds, no more and no less. These hill repetitions aren't too challenging, but they do give your body that extra kick it needs in strength training while training so late into the season at this point.

The final workout I'm recommending for this week is a 3x300 meter. With these, run the first 200 meters at 80%, then pick up the final 100 meters to go at about your final race pace. That is, basically sprint the last 100. These are tough, but they're managable. If you're feeling up to it, try to do between 5-8 sets instead of 3. But, listen to your body. If you're too tired or if you're hurting, then 3 is still a great amount.

Week 8: Compilations

This week I'll focus on a broader variety of workouts. My ankles still fractured, so obviously I can't really do these. So, once again, I'll just make some suggestions! For this week I'm going to include three rather difficult workouts. The important thing about these workouts is that they all complement each other really well. If you space them out correctly with low level workouts or long distance runs in the days in between each workout, you get some really nice effects out of them. Given, it will tire you out significantly by the end of the week, but the trainings leading up to this week should really have you prepared for this. By this point, you’re used to exerting yourself to a certain point, so pushing yourself just a little more is challenging, but it’s not the end of the world. If you put in the time and energy to the weeks’ previous workouts, this shouldn’t be too bad. Still, try your hardest!

         Workout 1: This workout calls for eight hill repetitions all between 20-25 seconds long. This doesn’t mean run at any pace you want for 20-25 seconds; instead, find a challenging hill and challenge yourself to make it to the summit within that time range. However, don’t go all out. Run these at an 85% race pace. Sprinting up a hill times eight times does nothing except tire you out too soon and you won’t get anything out of the workout. I personally think eight hill repeitions aren’t enough. So, if you’re feeling ambitious or not too tired out after eight, aim for ten to twelve total.

         Workout 2: The next workout of the week is a series of three to four 600s. Here’s how to do these: run 50 seconds at an all out sprint. This 50 is supposed to be hard, so run it hard. The second 50 seconds should be more of a cruise pace. This shouldn’t be at race pace, but it shouldn’t be comfortable either. And finally, the last 50 seconds should be done at a jog. This isn’t a free pass to run wicked slow; it’s a recovery pace! Don’t ruin your workout by practically walking for 50 seconds!

         Workout 3: The last challenging workout of the week is made up of eight 200s. These should generally be run at around 36 seconds if you’re in the right condition. This means that your 200 should take around 36 seconds to complete, but a little over is fine and a little under is also perfectly fine. The important thing is to aim for 36 seconds because it will pace you correctly for the rest of the workout. So, eight repetitions of 200s at 36 seconds each, with 40 seconds of rest between each one. These can be walked or jogged, preferably a little bit of both is best. 

Week 7: Buildups

So, over break I fractured my ankle pretty bad while casually falling down the stairs in my house..good times. That being said, there's no way in hell that I can run for the next two months. To say I'm irate would be a huge understatement. In the meantime, I'm just going to post a variety of different workouts from week to week that are really effective. Starting next week, I might change it up to include a day to day synopsis of each workout of the week, instead of just including the highlights. I'd do it this week, but I've been a little slow on trying to figure out new workouts to do without injuring myself further.

Something that's good to do is a buildup. A buildup is where you run a certain length along the track and, obviously, you build up your speed to a certain degree as you increase your distance. This strengthens your stride and really improves your speed, especially for that last-minute sprint at the end of the race. Normally buildups are done with many repetitions because since the distance ran is pretty short, it requires a lot of repetitions to really tire you out. I'd suggest doing about 8 repetitions of 150 meters each. It's certainly not long, but it's not short either. Basically, it's the perfect amount to do buildups because it's a great sprinting distance that challenges you. What to do is a 150 at about 90 percent of your actual race pace. Doing 8 of these really does take a toll on you after a while because it really is almost going all-out each time, which adds up after a while. However, judge it on the weather. If it's cold out, go at 85 percent of your race pace to not injure or pull any muscles. There's really not too much to say about this workout because as you start running each time, you gradually build up to about 90 percent of your race pace each time. A good tip for this workout is to time yourself with a watch to see if you are keeping the same pace each time. If one buildup is 35 seconds and then the next one is 33, then you know you have to step it up a little bit.

Another good thing to do after the workout are to incorporate a few strides to wind down as a cool-down run. Generally, cool-down runs should be done after any challenging workout to let your body gradually decline to a normal state of rest. This also helps with your stamina by forcing yourself to keep running after you have exerted all of your energy. In a way, a cool-down is a form of an active recovery. Find a long stretch of road and jog for  7-8 seconds, thinking about your running form and what you can do improve it. It's all the usual stuff: arms at 90 degrees, pumping arms, hands as if you're holding a chip, looking upright, legs parallel. Then jog for 7-8 seconds again at a faster, "cruising" pace while thinking of your form again. After this, run for 7-8 seconds again while running at 85-90 percent of your normal racing pace. After this you're all done!


yup, this is a buildup

Week 6: Ladders on Ladders on Ladders

This week sucked particularly because I had just gotten over a terrible fever State Patty’s Weekend (by the way, missing out on that weekend was probably worse than any of these workouts that I’ll ever post here...).  The workouts are seriously starting to come along. I can really feel an improvement in my endurance and strength in every aspect of my game, which is obviously great. It really puts things in perspective: hard work pays off. I know that’s wicked cliché, but it’s so true. When you feel sluggish one day and are discouraged, just remember to think about the big picture. Everything counts. Just do it. Even when everything else in your week is going crazy, just do it. For example, midterms got you down or whatever,, a hard workout really helps to relieve all of that stress. My favorite part of midterms and finals in high school were actually the hard workouts my coaches gave my team on purpose to have us wind down in a sense. Oh and just a reminder, I don’t only do one hard workout a week, I just post the most valuable one.  With all of that being said, let’s talk about ladders…

            No, I don’t mean the kind you use to paint your house; I mean distance interval workouts on a track. Like how one moves up and down on a ladder to different levels, so does one in a ladder workout. You start with a low distance then gradually build up. Once you’ve run your longest distance, you do the whole workout backwards from there, AKA going back down a ladder.

            Ok, so we start with a 100 at a: 25-:30 second goal time with a walk that goes a length down one side of the track afterwards. Next up is a 200. This should be at a: 35-: 40 second goal time with a one minute slow jog afterwards. Then we do 300 at: 45-: 50 seconds with a 3 minute slow jog afterwards. Next is a 400 at: 55-:60 seconds. Do a 4-minute slow jog afterwards. After this is a 600. This should be done at around 1:35- 1: 40. Do a 5-minute slow jog afterwards. Last but not least is an 800 at around 2:30. Once again, the slow jog afterwards should be around 5 minutes. Once you’ve gotten through all of these intervals, do it backwards starting from the 800. It’s not enough to do the ladder up until the 800; you need to tire your body out and force it to getting accustomed to pushing when it wants to stop. After all, why would you climb to the top of a ladder with no expectation at coming back down at some point? Who would ever want to just stay up there all night?