This week, we’re going to one of those classic mile workouts that’s simple but highly effective:
- 8 by 400m at R pace, with 400m recovery jogs.
The goal of this workout is to get your legs moving at your mile race pace early (don’t run the first couple too fast!) and then maintain that pace throughout the entire workout. That will get harder and harder as you get tired, which is an excellent stand-in for how you’ll feel in an actual mile race.
The neuromuscular focus for this workout will be on keeping your cadence high. We won’t worry about specific numbers, but I want everyone to start thinking a little about shortening the stride and thus taking more steps per minute. That’s perhaps the single most effective thing you can do to reduce the chance of injuries, as we’ll discuss briefly before the workout.
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