Week 5! Spring Forward on Saturday!!

Welcome to Week 5!

Congratulations for getting through your first 4 weeks of training.  I hope that you are getting the hang of it and figuring out how to fit all your training into your already busy schedule.  That's the challenge within the challenge!! 

So, now that you've built up a bit of a base we area going to start to add some speed and hill work during one of your weekly runs.  According to your weekly schedule these will take place on Wednesday but if for whatever reason you can't do them on Wednesday, don't worry - feel free to switch it to Tuesday or Thursday.  If you are struggling with the schedule, PLEASE let me know!!  I'm happy to help you out!!!

This week we will focus on speed.  If you can make the Wednesday night run hosted by Axel, this is what you will be doing.  If not, here's what to do.  Find a track - a school or college in your town/neighborhood... There are a lot of tracks out there so I'm sure you can find one.  Usually, no one minds if you use them... I guess if there is a Keep Out sign or a padlock on the gate then you should steer clear, but if not, take it as all yours and get your workout done!!

Warm up for a mile.  You can either run to the track or warm up with a mile (4 times around the track).  After you feel warmed up, here's your main set:  I want you to run around the track 1 time (400 meters) as fast as you can. Then go right into a recovery lap (400 meters) by running very slowly again 1 time around... I'd like you to do this 4-6 times!! No real break - you will continually run... fast, then slow, fast, then slow, etc.... Make sense?  You can do it!! Once your through, cool down by running 1 mile - either jog home or around the track.

Incorporating speed work into one run a week will elevate your overall pace of your run.  It really works but you have to be patient!