For track, I'm going to get up to 70 miles for base season with strides after runs 3-4 times a week. What are some good workouts and extra things to do on top of just easy mileage and weekly long run? Should I do hill sprints? What kind of workouts should I do and how many/often? I'm doing everything from 800-3200 in track.
Add some:
Steady state runs about twice a week. Fartlek once or twice a week.
Couple times a week run over a really hilly course.
What pace of fartlek and steady state? Also what length? Is there a good site to give me info on this, id like to know some more specifics.
Jgt11 wrote:
What pace of fartlek and steady state? Also what length? Is there a good site to give me info on this, id like to know some more specifics.
Steady pace is by feel, hard but not all out. Time is for about a hour or so.
Fartlek, surge by feel. As fast or slow as you like. About a hour or so too.
Thanks for the info!
I like a good steady state run and fartlek as well. Sometimes you can incorporate the steady state into your long run if you're feeling good.
For fartleks I surge by feel sometimes. I also enjoy minute on/minute off for a while. Do that for 30 to 40 minutes and just practice keeping the on's smooth and controlled and just go easy on the off's.
Always remember that base is about training to train. All your workouts should prep you for the really specific stuff later. Prioritize miles, consistency, strides and hills (just doing srides on hills sometimes is good, it doesn't need to be a full on hill workout) over all the other things. If you're feeling tired and don't want to do a bigger run, don't do it. On the flip side, if you find yourself chasing time/distance on those steady states, force yourself to hold back.
Masters runner here, so take it for what it is worth. My goal is a 10k. I've been doing:
Tuesday: Fartlek or Tempo
Friday: Hill repeats, 400s
As I have gained fitness, I have progressed towards:
Fartlek: 10-15 x 1min on 1min off (3 weeks), 6-8 x 3min on 2min off (2 weeks), 6-8 x 4min on 1min off (2 weeks), 4-6 mi tempo (planned for next few weeks)
Hill repeats and 400s (alternate weeks): 12 -16 ~400m hills, 10-16 x 400m with no more than 60s recovery.
At this point, my focus is on the recovery, i.e. keeping it short. As the weeks go by, I have shortened recovery by > 50%. All workouts are by effort and I'm staying off the track until January. Weekly mileage progress 35->60mi in 7 weeks thus far. I will probably top out at 70mpw (prior injury concerns). Another important thing to remember is, don't be afraid to push a workout back if you have not recovered or are on the verge of injury. Good luck!