TrainMe: 400m to 5k

Happy Holidays!

I'm glad the knee is feeling better. Hopefully the bruising will go down soon.

What do you think about your training so far?

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I transferred this over and made some minor changes...start at the higher range on the intervals and work down if you feel good:

week #2:

1st - 5 x 300m @ 57 to 64 seconds (5 min rests)

2nd - 8 x 200m hills (Mile pace effort - concentrate on good form)

week #3:

1st - 8 x 200m @ 37 to 42 seconds (3 min rests)

2nd - 2m wu, 4 x 100m striders, 8 x 25m start accelerations...work on getting up to top speed as quick as possible by transferring more energy into the ground.

The knee is back to normal. Thanks for asking.

Other than the two weeks I lost I feel pretty good about it overall. Just before that I was feeling really good. I think I just went after that plyo session and some downhills a little too hard. Lesson learned.

Since last week was my first full week back and I flubbed the workouts I'm redoing them. I'll do the amended workouts starting next week.

Monday: Intervals 100m @ 18-second - 0:19.8, 0:18.7, 0:18.5, 0:19.3, 0:18.6, 10-minute rest, 0:19.7, 0:20.3, 0:18.6, 0:19.2, 0:19.1, 5-minute rest, 0:19.8, and 0:20.5

I was pretty winded from the first set, but the rest felt worse than the times show. I felt like I was going a lot slower.

I am excited about that because I relaxed a lot on the second and last sets and just said that I'll run them as fast as I can relaxed and the times will be whatever they are. Once I looked at the times from my Garmin I saw that the few that I ran at 0:20.xx had a longer acceleration but had basically the same top speed.

Oops again.

Nice work. I like how you switched to running relaxed on the last sets. Good form and running relaxed kind of go hand in hand. Try to make your first interval feel "easy" on your next quality workout.

I ended up a little sick mid-week, so I took this weekend off. On my right foot I also had a weird pain under the skin of the pad behind my small toe. It can on after my run on Tuesday and is mostly gone now. I only feel it when I walk around barefoot, so I've been avoiding that. Other than that I feel good.

M:

WU: 1M + stretches

WO: Intervals 100m @ 18-second - 0:19.8, 0:18.7, 0:18.5, 0:19.3, 0:18.6, 10-minute rest, 0:19.7, 0:20.3, 0:18.6, 0:19.2, 0:19.1, 5-minute rest, 0:19.8, and 0:20.5

CD: 10 minute walk

T:

WO: 3M easy + stretches

W: Off. Sick.

Th: I ran these too hard and it ended up being more like a set of repeats. For the times on this I'm listing it as Average/Best for each repeat. I ran them all relaxed and walked the easy part.

WU: 1M + stretches

WO: Fartlek 60 seconds/60seconds -

0.16 @ 6:21/5:09

0.15 @ 6:29/5:35

0.16 @ 6:21/5:38

0.15 @ 6:37/5:59

0.15 @ 6:32/5:39 - 3 minute rest

0.16 @ 6:07/5:21

0.15 @ 6:49/6:01

0.15 @ 6:41/5:49

0.15 @ 6:28/5:49 - Not sure how long this rest was because I had to stop to give a cabby directions.

0.16 @ 6:14/5:20

CD:5 minute walk home. I was running little late to meet friends to go to the magic vs Nets game.

F:

WO: 3M easy

I was pretty tired from being sick and Thursday's workout.

S and Su: Off

Nice workout on Thursday.

Hopefully you can get in 2 more solid weeks of 400m training. The following week, I would like to do 2 time trials. A 400m time trial early in the week, and a 5K time trial later in the week...The 400m is the more important trial. I wouldn't worry about the 5K trial.

After the time trials, I think you may need to schedule a recovery period. These sprint workouts can be tough on the legs. Take a month of easy running and then you can come back refreshed and ready to hammer out some 800m training.

Something like:

Wk1: 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Wk2: 4, 4, 5, 5, 4

Wk3: 5, 5, 4, 4, 5

Wk4: 5, 5, 6, 5, 5

Focus on running light, easy, and relaxed during that period. Getting the blood flowing for slightly longer periods should help get rid of some of the little nagging aches and pains you've been getting.

I was wondering about the recovery period actually, what you describe was roughly what I was thinking.

So, you think I should finish the two weeks you outlined last week, and then the TTs?

week #2:

1st - 5 x 300m @ 57 to 64 seconds (5 min rests) I am on this week now and finished this workout with good results last night.

2nd - 8 x 200m hills (Mile pace effort - concentrate on good form) This is going to be a little hard to find, but I have a few ideas of where I can go.

week #3:

1st - 8 x 200m @ 37 to 42 seconds (3 min rests)

2nd - 2m wu, 4 x 100m striders, 8 x 25m start accelerations...work on getting up to top speed as quick as possible by transferring more energy into the ground.

So, you think I should finish the two weeks you outlined last week, and then the TTs?

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I think so...2 more weeks of speed workouts, plus a 3rd week of time trials should be a good way to wrap up the 1st training cycle.

Will do.

M: Intervals 5 x (300m @ 57-64 sec./5 min)

WU - 1M + stretches

WO - 1:02.2 (5:34), 1:02.9 (5:38), 1:02.2 (5:34), 1:04.8 (5:47), 1:03.2 (5:39)

CD - 1M + stretches

These felt pretty good and other than the 4th one. I took 2 extra minutes rest after that one. I felt progressively worse and like I was running a lot slower than the times show.

T:

3M

8:55.32 (with stops for traffic ~0:30 = ~8:25)

8:09.4 (with stops for traffic ~0:21 = 7:48)

Stop to stretch

8:54.2

It was pretty cold for FL so I was wearing tights and felt good so I didn't do an easy run today.

W: XT

Th:Hill Repeats 5 x (200m @ mile pace/3 min) I messed up on the repeats. Was supposed to do 8.

WU - 1M + stretches

WO - 0:40.3 (5:24), 0:41.6 (5:35), 0:40.64 (5:27), 0:42.06 (5:38), 0:41.76 (5:36)

I think I ran all of these a little too fast. I was going for ~45:00 for 6:00 pace. Also, I'm running these on brick streets because that's where the "hills" close to me are. I think that slows me down a little because I have to watch out for the irregular surface and weave a little sometimes and deal with cars at intersections.

CD - 1M + stretches

F:

3M very easy

10:20.02, 10:11.1, 10:07.4

It's kind of hard to run this slow.

S: My left calf to the right of my shin bone kept getting tight and felt bruised so I ran a few mile repeats and stretched until it stopped bothering me, then I did my 5-mile run.

8:33.2, 8:35.3, 8:11.7

5M easy

9:39.2, 9:21.6, 9:40.8, 9:03.7, 11:04.7 (CD - run and walk)

I was pretty tired after this. Iced left calf.

Su: XT and ice while watching playoffs.

Nice week. Your 200 hill repeats were very fast, so its probably a good thing you shortened the workout.

Its important to tame tight calf muscles. They can pull on tendons and cause pain in unexpected places like the arch of the foot. I like to either foam roll or use a sprint stick on that inside shin/calf area...it hurts pretty bad, but you can release some tension by working over that area. When stretching the calf muscles, I assume you usually push against a wall with your legs straight, toes pointing forward, and heels on the ground. Try varying the stretch by keeping your arms and hips in place, and shuffling your feet forward about 12"...the knees will be bent but heels will still be on the ground. Then try the same two positions, only one time with the toes pointed in & the next time with the toes pointed out. This will stretch the calf muscles more completely. I think sleeping with compression socks on tends to relieve excessive calf tightness.

How do your legs usually feel on Tuesday's after a hard Monday workout? If the soreness is worse on Wed & Thurs, you might consider moving the Th. workout to Tuesday, since its not all that demanding. Then you could add 4-6x100m striders on Friday to touch up the speed for your time trial the following week.

I do a bunch of different stretches, but never with changing the direction of my foot. I'll add that for sure since it sounds like it targets the area that's sore.

I do use a roller (infrequently) and a stick (frequently) but usually only feel any results on my quads and IT band. When I relax my calves I don't get much resistance when using the stick so it hasn't felt effective. I'll go ahead and focus on the roller instead of the stick.

Tuesdays I usually have a little soreness in my calves. Nothing bad like when I first started this training block (quads especially). Last week I felt good on Tuesday and that's why I didn't run easy for my recovery run. Last Friday I did have a little soreness in my quads, but it felt very close to the surface and not deep like it had been.

Regarding the TT. I'm wondering if I could do that the last week of this month because I missed 2 speed workouts early in the training block, was hurt for 2 weeks, and my week back from injury I was a little sick.

That makes 4 speed sessions I missed and that makes me feel like my fitness is a little behind and I'd like to have a couple more speed sessions before the TT.

Damn.

If you want to add 2 weeks. Add in these workouts:

Week 1:

Workout #1 - (controlled effort workout...save the legs for later on in the week)

4x100m on the curves(walk the straights) concentrate on good acceleration the first 50meters...err on the side of running the 1st set too easy. Next, run 4x100m on the straights (walk curves), concentrate on holding good form and remaining comfortable...try to feel as if you are coasting. Last, run 4x100m on the curves again (walk straights), focus on pumping the arms and getting a good high knee lift...basically just exaggerate your running form a bit. So, 3 sets of 4x100, take 2-3min rest in between reps, and 5-10min between sets. Use all of the track...some legs will be with the wind and some against the wind.

Workout #2 - 28min Fartlek run: 4 x 3:30min fast with 4 x 3:30min easy in between.

Week #2:

Workout #1 - 2x500 (2:12), 2x300 (1:15), 1x100 fast...take only 90 sec. rests.

Workout #2

4x150m with 10min rest between each. Make sure the straight away has the wind at your back for all reps (unless its a cross wind). Start out easy in the middle of the curve, and slowly accelerate over the first 50 meters, then click your watch and go all out the last 100m (can't let form breakdown though). You will only be timing the last 100m.

Thanks!

What's your take on compression socks while running?

With the calf soreness I had been thinking about getting a pair.

I'm not sure if they help while running or not, but they do seem to relieve soreness overnight.

M:

3M easy (8:38, 9, 11:37). Right leg was tight so I left the workout til tomorrow.

T:

WU:

1.5M + Stretches

WO:

8 x (200m @ 37-42 seconds/3-4 minute)

40.5, 38.8, 40.1, 39.5, 39.3, 41.2, 42.0

I stopped at 7 because I was running in a field and it got too dark to see.

CD:

0.50M + Stretches

W: Off

Th: Off. Unexpected visit from a friend.

F:

WU:

2M (8:19, 8:17) + Stretches and 4 x 100m striders

WO:

8 x 25m starts all around 4 seconds

CD:

2M (8:45, 8:33) + Stretches

S:

1M s-l-o-w

Tired from Friday so I bagged it

Su: Off

Those were some pretty fast times for running on a field. The times I suggested were for on a track wearing spikes...which would easily drop a few seconds per rep.

How do you think the 8x25m starts went? Could you feel yourself learning to accelerate by applying more force into the ground? You want your hips lower to the ground when accelerating, because it lets you leverage more energy into the ground when your knees are slightly bent...imagine you are skateboarding and getting ready to jump your board up 3' in the air. You don't stand flat legged...you lower the hips a bit in anticipation of the jump, and there is already some energy starting to load up in your legs before you get to your jumping zone...its the same thing with sprinting. The acceleration is explosive...you have to be lightly loading the leg into the ground early and pushing off with a lot of force at the end of each stride.

Don't worry about running 10+ minute slow 3-5 mile workouts. Sometimes those 30-40min super slow runs can really bring the legs back to life before your next workout. If the legs are really sore, don't fight through...rather, try to run with less impact and/or slow down further. The increase in blood flow will still help with recovery, even if it seems to slow to be doing any good...as long as its not too much of a struggle.

Keep up the good work.

I figured running in a field would slow me down some since I had to navigate uneven ground and make up the turn while it was getting darker. The last rep was in complete darkness and I could barely see the ground. I wish it wasn't so hard to get to the good track. It doesn't have any lights and I have to hop a fence so sometimes it doesn't seem like its worth the effort. For the 400m TT I'll definitely go there and run in spikes.

Saturday I just felt drained and winded. It was fairly cold and windy here so that wasn't helping me at all. Plus my right hamstring felt twingy after running Friday and I was figured it would be worse to run and hurt it than to go home. That's what I do if 9:00+ feels bad. Which it does sometimes.

The starts felt pretty good overall. I understand the hip and leg placement. I had that in mind because there was a good thread awhile back with sprintgeezer and another guy talking about starts and how they should work and feel.

They said you should stay as low and parallel to the ground during and a little after the start to maximize that kind of acceleration. To run that way I have to have the posture you describe.

I felt like I was doing it right, but may have been getting too upright right at 25m. That's just my guess though.