I was tempted to celebrate April Fools Day by prescribing the legendary Once a Runner workout, which is simple, but a good test of whether you’re a fictional character ready to break the 4-minute mile.
20 x 400 meters in sets of 5, with a 100 meter jog in between each interval and a 400 meter jog between sets, all around VO2 max effort or harder
Repeat that 3 times.
Outside had an article on just how insane this workout is.
So we won’t do that. But we will run 400m repeats after our 200m fast/slow warmup lap to spread out the group. Since we’re no longer training for the mile, these repeats should be at I pace, which is slower than we usually do 400s (about 6 seconds slower than your R pace). Recovery is still 200m.
The question is how many reps you’ll do. Most people should do 8, but those with weekly mileage under 20 miles can drop one or two. Many of you with higher weekly mileages are running Skunk Cabbage on Sunday and shouldn’t go beyond 8 reps. But if you’re not racing and have the mileage to support more reps, feel free to go up to 12.
See you Tuesday!
Resources
- Administration: You must be an FLRC member and sign the 2024 waiver!
- Location: All workouts take place at Barton Hall on the Cornell campus
- Parking: Anywhere on campus is fine, but the parking garage is convenient.
- Warmup: Jay Johnson’s Lunge Matrix and Leg Swings, then 10 minutes of jogging
- Cooldown: 10 minutes of jogging, then Jay Johnson’s Strength and Mobility
- Pace Calculator: Jack Daniels’ VDOT Running Calculator