Big River Running Speed Work!!!

...back in May after my half in Indy, Big River Running, a local running store, started offering FREE summer speedwork sessions. I was a little intimidated at first but I thought I'd give it a try. So far, I'm LOVING IT!!! I'm in the slowest group but near the front of the pack and there's lots of others that are at my speed to push me along. We typically run between 2-3 miles/night so I still try to do an easy workout earlier in the day or weights to burn some more cals. I'm hoping to find a 5k in August to see if this has helped at all even though I know it'll be eleventybillion degrees. I've been able to move my work schedule around and have only had to miss one night, possibly one more but I haven't decided yet if I'm going to go to the Biggest Winner last night or not...the speed work will be mile repeats so it'll probably depend how I'm feeling.

Last week, Haley went with me so she took some pics and recorded my times for me. I'm in the back left in a red shirt, it looks chaotic and sometimes it is but for the most part, we all know what's going on:

There I am breezing by:

And again at a distance...

So what are the workouts? You can find them on the Big River website but I'll just share here. Ben, the owner who looks totally like Apollo Ohno, created it. Here it is:

Week 1: 8 - 10 x 400 @ 10k race pace (rest interval = 200 meter jog)

- The first 5 weeks of the schedule are all based off of 10k race pace. This is because we don't want to get too fit too quick. Doing the repeats a little slower at first will be a good way to introduce your body to the track without risking injury from going too fast. This first workout is essentially a "rust-buster". It shouldn't be too hard but it will be a chance to feel a little bit of turnover.

Week 2: 4 - 5 x 800 @ 10k race pace (rest interval = 400 meter jog)

- This workout plays off of the week before and gives you a chance to tap into your VO2 Max zone a little bit. Workouts of 800 to 2000 meters in length are the bread and butter of any 5k training. They teach your body to run efficiently at a fast pace.

Week 3: Ladder # 1 = 1600/ 1200/ 800/ 400 (rest interval = half the distance of the repeat)-MISSED THIS WEEK!

- This is a fun one! We will do three of these throughout the summer. For this first one we will do the 1600 at 10k race pace, the 1200 at 5k race pace, the 800 at 2 mile race pace and the 400 at mile race pace. Don't worry if you don't know what your race pace is for those different distances. We'll have a chart that will tell us all that good stuff.

Week 4: ONE MILE TIME TRIAL (mine was 8.07)
- FUN STUFF! Simple as it sounds. We'll break up into groups and run one mile all out. This will give you a chance to run a fast mile, see ho far you've come so far, and challenge yourself a little bit.

Week 5: 10 - 12 x 300 @ 5k race pace (rest interval = 200 meter jog) This totally sucked!

- We lower the repeat distance to 300 meters for this one but we lower the pace to 5k race pace. It will be a good chance to learn the pace as you will have to do 10-12 of them. This workout really shouldn't feel that hard, that is not what is designed for.

Week 6: 5 - 6 x 600 @ 5k race pace (rest interval = 300 meter jog)

- 600s, not my favorite. This workout, as simple math would tell you, should be about twice as hard as last week.

Week 7: Ladder # 2 = 1200/ 1000/ 800/ 400/ 200 (rest interval = half the distance of the repeat) Was really scared by this workout but I LOVED IT!

- This will be a faster ladder than last time. We'll do the 1200 at 5k race pace, the 1k at two mile pace, the 800 at two mile pace, the 400 at mile race pace and the 200 at FAST.

Weeek 8: 4 - 5 x 1000 @ 5k race pace (rest interval = 400 meter jog) Doing this tonight!

- This workout is a classic in almost any 5k training program that you'll ever see. It is tough but it is a good indicator of what you can run for 5k. Plus we're going with pretty short rest.

Week 9: 3 - 4 x 1 mile @ 5k race pace (rest interval = 800 meter jog)

- This is a tough one. Be ready for some huffing and puffing. You'll feel stronger the next week because of this workout though.

Week 10: TWO MILE TIME TRIAL (try to hit 5k goal pace)

- Our second time trial of the summer. This time it's two miles close to all out, but holding a little bit back. Basically we want you to hit the pace that you want to run for an entire 5k in a few weeks.

Week 11: 12 - 16 x 200 @ Mile race pace (rest interval = 200 meter jog)

- Now the fast stuff begins. 200s at mile race pace is tougher than it sounds. Running this fast puts a lot of stress on the system but because of the longer workouts you have done all summer you'll be ready for it.

Week 12: Ladder # 3 = 800/ 600/ 400/ 200 (rest interval = half the distance of the repeat)

- Fast stuff tonight. 800 at mile race pace, 600 at mile race pace, 400 at FAST, 200 @ FAST. You're first chance to really go all out.
Week 13: 5K RACE ON THE TRACK (PR TIME!!)

- This is the BIG DAY!! Depending on how many people we have we run a couple of different heats. This will be chance for everyone to set a 5k PR. With all the training it will be a piece of cake. Plus, how often do you get to race a 5k on the track?

So there you have it, this is what I'm doing every Thursday night from 7-8pm. If you're in the area, feel free to come join me! The other local running store has free speed work sessions too but started almost a month later. It's difficult to arrange my schedule for 2 nights off on particular weeks but I still might try to make a couple. I'll be sure to update after my 2 mile and 5k time trial. Happy Running all!