Basecamp: Week 7

HOUSEKEEPING

• I POSTED A SPECIAL EPISODE, RECORDED FOR THE ETHOS GROUP, ON THE WAYS THAT WE NEED TO ADJUST TRAINING FOR THIS UNPRECEDENTED SITUATION. SINCE THIS PROGRAM IS NOT TARGETED TOWARDS A A SPECFIC RACE & IS SET UP AS A GENERAL FITNESS PLAN, THERE IS NO NEED TO ADJUST THE MACROCYCLES. HOWEVER, THERE IS GOOD INFORMATION THERE OTHERWISE. 
• KEEP RUNNING. IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME WHERE YOU MAY BE LIMITED IN YOUR ABILITY TO GO OUTSIDE. I KNOW THAT SOUNDS CRAZY BUT WE HAVE TWO MEMBERS OF OUR ETHOS GROUP WHO LIVE IN ZURICH SWITZERLAND & THEY ARE SAYING THEY MAY REQUIRED TO STAY INSIDE. & THEY HANDLED THE IMMEDIATE THREAT SIGNIFICANTLY MORE QUICKLY THAN WE DID. I THINK WE ARE IN FOR A VERY HAIRY NEXT FEW MONTHS. HOPEFULLY THIS PROGRAM HELPS YOU DEAL WITH STRESS MORE EFFECTIVELY. 
• I AM DOING A ZOOM CONFERENCE CALL FOR THE ETHOS GROUP ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18TH AT 8AM EASTERN. ALL THE INFO TO ACCESS THAT IS LOCATED ON THEAT SPECIAL EDITION WORKSHEET. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO JOIN US! WE LIKELY WILL NOT BE ADDRESSING SPECIFIC CONCERNS TO THIS PROGRAM BUT IT WILL GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF OUR TRIBE & HOW WE DEAL WITH THINGS & A FLAVOR OF THAT PROGRAM. 

WEEKLY TRAINING DETAILS

QUALITY

BROKEN THRESHOLD (1K or 800m VERSION)

4-5 x 1000m (aka 1K) or 6 x 800m w/ 90 seconds walking rest between each rep

This session is a way to get better acquainted with the concept of a tempo/threshold/steady run. I know it can be confusing to use different terms for what amounts to be nearly identical paces, but there is a subtle difference between all these moderately challenging runs. There is the belief that the physiological benefits of running at your aerobic threshold (the point at which lactate begins to accumulate & starts to affect the body’s functioning) pays huge dividends. My 25 years of anecdotal evidence agrees. However, I do not view it as a set point but rather a continuum that sits in a really wide range of paces. So I prefer to leave this window wide open & train at a variety of efforts & paces to get the greatest benefit possible. In this program I modulate the runs with continuous runs (like Week 5’s Steady run) & these Broken Threshold runs. This is the first session where I recommend you start thinking a little bit more about actual paces. You may have an idea of the pace per mile (ppm) you ran on your 20’ Steady run in Week 5. If you do, you can start these repetitions at that pace & get a little faster (maybe 2-5 seconds ppm) each rep. If you don’t have your paces from Week 5, that’s fine. Just start running these reps. We revisit the Steady run in Week 9 & this Broken Threshold in Week 11 so you’ll have plenty of time to start dialing in the paces to get a little more data. 

SPEED ECONOMY

In this SE session I am bringing hills back in…a little bit. Find a shorter hill (maybe 50-100m long) to use for this session that has a flat road or track adjacent to the hill. The hill can be a little steeper than the hill reps/series hills but it does not have to be. We are working on strong, beautiful running mechanics as we run up a hill. You want to focus on pushing off the ground, driving your knees up & your elbows back as you stay tall. Do NOT run hard. Just run with beautiful form. Walk back down the hill. Do two of these & then take a 5 min rest.

Then, on the road or the track, do two 400m BUILD reps where you accelerate each 100m getting faster throughout the long rep. Start at a medium hard effort for 100m, build a little fast the next 100m, build again to hard effort on the 3rd 100m & by the final 10m you should be running really fast & relaxed. Take a full 400m easy jog after each BUILD. 

LONG RUN

Loved hearing about your CLOSE this past weekend. I am telling you that that is an aspect of this program you are unlikely to find anywhere else but i feel it is critical to getting a feeling for what real training is. Also, in this program anytime you want to close a long run, feel free.  These have been built in on certain weeks but you are free to do one whenever the mood strikes you. 
We have another LR mileage bump this week. I hope things are moving smoothly. I know you should be feeling the benefits from these runs now & noticing a benefit to your fitness. 

• 30-40 mpw: 8-10M EASY
• 40-50 mpw: 10-12M EASY
• 50-60 mpw: 12-14M EASY 

FUNDAMENTAL: EFFORTS VS PACES

Listen to the episode.