XC workout Tuesday 8/5 at 6 PM at the Cornell Botanic Gardens

IMPORTANT: We will have to cancel this workout if the AQI on Tuesday looks like it will be over 150. If cancellation is necessary, I will post here on Tuesday by 3:30 PM.

The first race of the Pete Glavin Cross Country series is six weeks away (sign up soon!), so we’re moving our weekly workouts from Stewart Park to our fall location for better grass and hill running opportunities.

Meet on Tuesday nights at 6 PM and be ready to start at 6:15 PM at the parking area in the bowl of the F. R. Newman Arboretum in the Cornell Botanic Gardens (Google Maps pin). There is plenty of parking, but if you arrive later, you may need to park further from the meeting spot.

Everyone is welcome, though you must sign the FLRC Training Programs waiver once for 2025—many regulars still need do this, since the Cornell waiver for indoor track was separate—and, if you come regularly, be an FLRC member. You don’t have to run the PGXC series—the workouts are great social running on their own—but we’ll try to recruit you. Probably repeatedly.

For this week’s workout, after we do dynamic warmups and 10 minutes of jogging, we’re going to run loops around the big field and sculpture garden in the bowl. Half of each loop will be done between 5K to 1-mile race effort—with a focus on hitting the short hill in the middle with good form, without slowing down, and maintaining the pace after the hill to the end of the sculpture garden. Once you pass the lewd sculpture, you can turn and run at an easy pace (not your slowest jog) for the rest of the loop and start again without stopping. Because they’re so short, we’ll be doing a bunch of reps, at least 10 for those without much weekly mileage and 25 or more for those with the mileage to support the workout. The workout has two goals: maintaining good hill running form as you tire and learning to switch gears.

Any questions? See you Tuesday night!

Resources

We’re still on for tonight. The air quality isn’t good, but it’s under 150, so we’ll keep the workout short and easy.

If you worry about bad air due to asthma or other sensitivities, please stay home. If you’d run anyway, we look forward to seeing you!