Here’s our second “can’t get on the track” workout to do on your own or with a friend. Again, find a flat surface with good footing for this workout—you don’t want to be at R pace on slippery ground. Remember to warm up well with at least 10–15 minutes of jogging, and cool down with another 10 minutes easy. Bonus points for doing the warmup lunge matrix and leg swings, plus the strength and mobility exercises afterward.
This is a 200-200-800 track workout at its heart, but to modify it for the roads, run for 40-60 seconds at I pace, followed by 1 minute of jogging, another 40-60 seconds at I pace, followed by 1 minute of jogging, followed by 2:45-4:00 minutes at I pace, followed by 4 minutes of jogging. The ranges are for you to pick your 200m and 800m times from the Jack Daniels calculator. Try for 3-4 sets of that 200-200-800 combination, but if you feel your form falling apart toward the end, cut it short.
Those whose weekly mileage is under 20 miles can run 2 or 3 sets.
Since we can’t be together as a group, if you have a few minutes, report back on where you did this workout and how it went!
And if anyone wants to organize a particular pace-group workout time/place, feel free to post here, too.
Resources
- 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