FLRC workouts for the week of June 8th

More newcomers to the forum this week, so welcome, and if you’re just seeing these workouts for the first time, look at the bottom of this message for links for background, to the pace calculator, recommended warmup and cooldown, and so on. Don’t be shy about asking questions—I’m happy to explain anything that’s not clear.

Middle Distance Workouts (5K to 15K)

We’re heading for the hills again this week!

  • Workout 1: Find a fairly steep hill—road or trail—that takes you roughly 2 minutes to climb at a hard pace (think I pace effort—the actual speed will be much slower, of course). Run up it hard, then back down easy, and repeat 4-8 times, depending on your weekly mileage. While running uphill, focus on form, and be sure to keep your back straight so you’re leaning into the hill from your ankles, not piking at the waist. My favorite place to do this workout is in the bowl of Cornell’s Arboretum, where you can run up the road on one side, back down, and then up and down each of the paths going up the bowl until you get to the road on the other side. Then go back for as many reps as you need. If the hills are shorter than 2 minutes (sometimes it’s hard to find the right hills), do more of them to get roughly the same 8-16 minutes of speedwork.

  • Workout 2: Simple workout: 3 miles at T pace, with 5 minutes of jogging recovery afterward. When you’re done with the T-pace work and recovery, do 6 by 30-second strides (30 seconds at R pace, followed by 30 seconds of jogging).

  • Long Run: 25-30% of your weekly mileage at E pace

Long Distance Workouts (Half Marathon to Marathon)

Marathoners will also be on the hills this week, but if you’re doing these workouts, you’ll probably need to find a different hill.

  • Workout 1: Look for a long uphill that takes you at least 5 minutes to reach the top—more is fine, but don’t climb for more than 10 minutes. It shouldn’t be super steep because you’re going to need to run down it as well, and steep downhill running requires practice when you’re fresh. Do as many reps as necessary to hit 45 minutes of uphill running. You’re aiming for M pace effort, which will obviously be a lot slower than M pace on the flat. Start out at what feels like your long run pace and then gradually pick up the pace until it’s uncomfortable but doable until you hit the top. If you can’t think of a good place to run this (and it could be trail or road), ask over in the Where to Run forum. Let us know where you do your hills, and how well you liked the course!

  • Long Run: 25-30% of your weekly mileage at E pace

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