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[Rick Lovett]

OK, the good news is it's only 84 as of my internet do-dad's latest weahter update (2:30?). So I don't think it's hitting 94 or whatever they predicted. And there's some shade at Duniway, increasing at this time of year.

The workout will be long and short. 12s & 3s. (I told some of you 2s, but we've done a lot of those, and no 3s of late, so let's be creative!)

Specifically 3 x 1200, chips or track, your preference. 400m recovery, slow in the heat. You want to make sure you're good to go.

4 x 300 @ S pace, 300m recoveries.

See you there!

[Rick Lovett]

This week's workout is a hard one, since folks fall into three camps: those doing HTC, those doing the Lizard 5K, and those doing neither. (I suppose there's also a "both" contingent.) That's two very different races, both coming up.

So, let's go back to some floats.

300s!

3 sets 300-300-300-300 (500) at L (or a touch slower if you're serious about Friday's 5K)
and...
2 x 400 @ S (400)
2 x 200 @ S or a touch faster (400)

[Rick Lovett]

OK, it's cool. Fall has started 2 months early. Time for a nice, autumn run. Should be a fun, one too, to kick us off for fall/XC season. I was toying with a whistle workout. But I'll give you a better one. IT's been a while since we did this one:

1 x 1000 (400)
1 x 900 (300 or 500)
1 x 800 (200)
1 x 700 (300)
1 x 600 (200)
1 x 500 (300)
1 x 400

All at L.

Recoveries are designed to get the start of each interval to a sane place (either the 0 or 200 m mark.) If you get lost, count cones. Also, watch the time. Each one should get 20-35 sec slower, depending on your pace. And regroup!!!

[Rick Lovett]

More L pace, but let's do a bit of a pyramid this time.

1 x 800 (200)
1 x 1000 (400)
1 x 1200 (400)
1 x 1000 (400)
1 x 800

Marathoners doing 40 or more miles a week, add a second 1200. If you're doing 50 miles a week, make that two extra 1200s. You can put 'em at the end, if you like. Order doesn't matter.

All at L pace.

[Rick Lovett]

We've been doing mostly L as base for fall races and XC. We'll keep that up this week, but hey, it's XC, so let's add a bit of chip work.

1 x 1600 (chips) (400)
2 x 600-600 (track) (300)
1 x 1200 (chips or track, your choice)

Marathoners add up to 2 more 1200s, depending on weekly mileage base.

All at L. Fun and varied.

[Rick Lovett]

We'll do another L paced workout, mixing it up again.

1 x 1200 (400)
1 x 1000 (400)
1 x 800 (200)
1 x 600 (400)
1 x 400-400-400-400

High-mileage marathoners (I'll define this on the track) add 1-2 x 1 mile

All at L pace.

[Rick Lovett]

We've been pushing the L pace hard for five or six weeks. This time we'll mix it up a bit, though still go mostly with L, for the PDX marathoners.

It'll be warm during warmup, but temps drop pretty quickly at this time of year, once the sun's off the track. (I.e., it could be quite pleasant by mid-workout). Still, let's fudge with the initial repeat and hit the chips.

1 x 1 mi, chips. (Note, last time, the chips felt slow; the city did something that made them softer than in the past, so don't sweat it if you're about 10 sec slow...)
1 x 1200
1 x 1000

400m recoveries on all 3.

5 x 200 at S; 200m recoveries (marathoners substitute a second 1200 instead)

[Rick Lovett]

So, it's fall, time for a new phase! And perfect fall weather, to start us off... long may it last and all that.

We'll march out our M paces today.

2 x 800 (400)
2 x 300-400 (400)
3 x 600 (400)

Marathoners: the PDX marathon is now 12 days out. You can do this workout pretty much at full intensity.

[Rick Lovett]

An incredibly belated post today. Sorry; I did a story this week about the financial bailout. Talk about moving targets...

So what's a good moving-target workout? We'll keep pushing shorter strength/speed but add some S this week.

We'll keep it simple:

4 x 800 @ M (400)
2 to 4 x 400 @ S (400)

Alternatively, you can combine the 200s into a additional 800s if you're looking for more endurance and less speed.

[Rick Lovett]

Today, we're going to play games with 5s? Why? Because it's a nice distance that people rarely do.

We'll start by using them in pairs to push our M pace a bit. Then we'll do them in singles (a bit faster) and finish with a few 3s, just to keep us honest. So prepare for a fast, fun workout, to match the ever-changing weather. Specifically:

2 x 500-500 @M (500 recovery... if you float fast, you're going to want it)
3 x 500 (300 - 500 recovery, a bit faster)
3 to 5 x 300 @ S (300 recovery)

[Rick Lovett]

We'll continue to think fall races, with a combo of speed and VO2max. Yep, that means more M. Plus some S. Looks like a gorgeous day, so come prepared for fun!

We'll do a bit of an inverted pyramid ... just to prove we're tough for the upcoming races!

1 x 800 (400m full recovery)
1 x 700 (300 m full recovery)
2 x 600 (400)
1 x 700 (300)
1 x 800 (400)

All that's at M pace, and if I can do arithmetic (and sometimes I can't) it totals 4200m of speed. We'll finish out with 3 x 200 @ S, 200m recoveries. Or, if you're training for fall marathons (CIM and the like) substitute a 1200 @ L pace for the 200s. If you're 50 or more miles a week, add a second one (preferably at the start).

[Rick Lovett]

Alright, Halloween is looming . . . and I also know that at least some folks are starting back up this week thinking winter training. So let's slow it down and lengthen it out a bit . . . and do something scary oddball. OK, not that scary. And not really that oddball. More like off-season fun.

L Pace...

1 x 1200 (400)
1 x 1100 (500)
1 x 1000 (400)
1 x 900 (300)
1 x 800

CIM and Seattle Marathoners (if there are any who aren't recovering from last week's half), cut the 500m recovery to 300. If you're over 50 miles a week, throw two more 800s on the end of this on 200m recoveries.

If you're still peaking for short fall races, pick the 900 and 800 up to M pace (and really dog that recovery). Lots of options here.

Nothing really oddball about this -- it's just a desending ladder. But when was the last time you did an 1100?

[Rick Lovett]

This week, more fun with L pace. To keep it interesting, it goes like this:

1 x 600-400-600 (400)
2 x 600-600 (300)
1 x 600-400

CIM and Seattle folks: float fast. As in maybe buzz right through 'em and make the first thing an 1800 with only the briefest of pseudo-change-ups in the middle. XC folks, float slow on the last three repeats and go M pace. Take extra recovery if needed (which it probably will be). High-mileage marathoners (you know who you are) add another 600-400 at the end (while floating fast on all of them).

So lots of options. I won't jinx the weather by saying any "Should be"s.

[Rick Lovett]

I've been trying to come up with a workout for Election Day. Dress-up as Uncle Sam? Run as your favorite candidate? Run as your least favorite candidate (thereby beating him or her up with hard repeats)? A relay with red and blue batons?

Nah...

Instead, on what's likely to be a divisive evening nationally, we're going to celebrate our unity in diversity as runners (queue violins) by (queue ominous music) ... a whistle workout. That way we're all doing the same thing at the same time (the unity bit) and get done promptly to go watch election returns (the diversity bit). And besides (queue sounds of chortling) it's been too long since I've (queue visual of hand-rubbing, mustache twirling glee) orchestrated one of these.

The drill, in case you're new.

When I blow the whistle (assuming I can find it after all these months) you'll run fast. L pace to be precise.
When I blow it again, you'll jog/regroup/recover.

That's it. A sort of a track fartlek, though you have the cones to assess pace. A good workout for the XC crowd. And a good off-season workout for your L pace. What more can you ask? OK, maybe a bit more info? There will be approximately 20 minutes of speed. No interval will last longer than 6 minutes. Total recovery time will be on the order of 15 minutes. This workout works best if you just zone and hit your target effort level. That, in fact, is one of the many things it's designed to train. In a race it's better to think about just running the next block/mile/whatever, than to think about the finish. Run this cone to cone.

[Rick Lovett]

Workout for November 11: more L pace (what else in winter?) It should be warm, but might be drippy. The workout:

3 x 800 @ L (200 recovery between 800s)
400 recovery
2 sets 300-300-300-300 (500) @ L

High-mileage marathoners (you know who you are) float fast through the 300s, and add 1 x 1,200 at the end.