Team In Training Challenge For 1/30-2/1

Welcome foolish mortals…or should I say “Team Voice”. The weather in the Northeast definitely has an aura of foreboding (where running is concerned anyhow). Is this team actually stretching, or is it just my imagination, hmmmm? (no really, we’re up like 10 people!) And consider this dismaying observation, the clock is ticking till your next Disney race which offers this chilling challenge…to ensure you have the day off to place ADR’s when you hit 180 days out!!!!! J

Here is the challenge for the weekend. It’s another 3 mile challenge, but this time with a twist. For those of us who are injured, give the alternate workout a try or a variation of it to keep in good health while on the mend. Note: I’m not an expert on this so feel free to do what you can and let us know how it went.

It wouldn’t be a Team Voice challenge if it didn’t include push-ups and sit-ups, so this one is no different J All of the below should be completed by the end of the weekend, so you can split up the push-ups/sit-ups if you’d like.

Pro’s: 150 sit-ups, 100 push-ups

Novice: 50 sit-ups, 50 push-ups

3 Mile Interval Workout The idea is to help each member of the team to reach their goal time which may range from a 7/min mile pace to a 16/min mile pace. Take whatever your normal 3 mile run/walk/wog would be and break it down into the below. If you don’t have a Garmin or other GPS-type watch then you can go to www.mapmyrun.com and figure out the intervals there for your particular route. If you think this is too much for you, then try to throw in 2 speed intervals of ¼ mile or so just to get the feel of it.

• ½ mile warm up jog/walk
• ¼ mile fast interval – Fast being relative to your normal pace.
• ½ mile regular interval – normal pace
• ¼ mile fast interval
• ½ mile regular interval
• ¼ mile fast interval
• ¾ regular interval – to finish the 3 miles

Alternate Interval Workout For those who can’t hit the pavement put in 30 minutes on your favorite low-impact machine (bike, elliptical, etc.)

· 5 minute warm up speed

· 5 minute pace speed

· 5 minute pace + 10% speed

· 5 minute pace speed

· 5 minute pace + 15% speed

· 5 minute pace speed

This is a good start to the interval training and can be varied depending on what race you are training for. If you’re training for a 5k you might increase the intervals to get up to 8 or so intervals by race day. The idea here is to get a feel for them and spread out the intervals when you start getting into longer runs. This will help your overall endurance and help you meet your pace goals. Also, don’t’ go “all out” during the fast intervals as the mission isn’t to hurt yourself, instead its to challenge yourself.

Give it a try and remember that if you haven’t been doing this already that it’ll be an adjustment, but this will really help you in the long run (pardon the pun). This is something I’m planning on adding into my weekly schedule for this year. I had run 3 half marathons between June08-Jan09 all with a 1hr 56min XXsec time and feel like all the training I did during that period just helped me maintain versus move forward. I’m hoping that this will help me break through the wall and start to bring down my overall pace!

Thanks!

Chris “Stroller Boy” Cullen