Easter Break Workouts

Since many folks may be traveling for some, or all, of the Easter Break, so here is a workout plan that should be followed to stay in sync with the rest of the team.  It is important to maintain this work over break because our first meet is the Tuesday when we get back, and our own Webster Invitational follows on Saturday the 13th.

Fri 3/29

Distance Run: 3-5 miles - just get out the door...

Sat 3/30

Long Run: 4.5-10 miles (70 min limit) – first 2 miles easier than usual; last 2 miles near T pace

Sun 3/31

Happy Easter - enjoy a day off

Mon 4/1

Tempo Run or Cruise intervals (< 1 min recovery per mile)

Group 1-2: 3.5 miles T

Group 3-5: 3 miles T

Group 6: 2.5 miles T

Group 7: 2 miles T

Tue 4/2

Distance Run: 4-8 miles

Wed 4/3

RTR Workout

Group 1-5: 4x400R, 1 mi T, 4x400R

Group 6: 3x400R, 3/4 mi T, 3x400

Group 7: 3x300R, 3/4 mi T, 3x300R

Thu 4/4

Distance Run: 3-7 miles

Fri 4/5

Race pace workout - plenty of recovery, except before the final tempo interval

800: 1mi T, 2x400R, 4-6x200 @ 800 race pace, 800T

1500/1600: 1mi T, 4-6x400 @ 1500/1600 race pace, 800T

3000/3200: 1mi T, 3-4x800 @3000/3200 race pace, 800T

Sat 4/6

Long Run: 4.5-8.5 miles (60 min limit)

Sun 4/7

Make-up day – run what you missed during the week

Giving it a Try

Well, barring weather that is nastier than the forecast (42, chance of flurries), we will be at Thomas today.  The sun made yesterday's weather a pleasant surprise, but it doesn't look like it will get much better between now and the first meet (current long-range forecast for April 9th is 67 degrees with an afternoon shower, we'll see how that holds up) - Easter Sunday may be the only 50+ day.

The weather will probably be too cold to open up all of our options for early-season training, but the track will give us some additional flexibility, and perhaps it will be just warm enough to have some fun.

Spring???

So, here we are on the 6th day of Spring, and no sign of being able to move practices to the outdoor track...

We will continue to do workouts outside as much as possible, with limited indoor work when conditions require.  But there is still no outlook for starting our practices at Thomas.  This is not completely a bad thing. The track was very crowded last year, and this year our teams have grown, and the Thomas teams grew enough that the boys team was forced to make cuts, and the girls team were on the verge of that.

We will keep looking for temperatures to get back to normal, and allow us to begin our normal routine, but this may not happen until the break following Easter.

Are Girls Better than Boys?

Well, if you look at the original practice schedule for the Schroeder track teams, the answer would have to be yes; it appears the Girls could accomplish in 90 minutes what it takes the Boys 135 or 150 minutes!

In reality, it looks like the Girls practice time will be extended past 5pm, most likely to 5:30pm, so that complete workouts can be followed by stretching, core, etc.  Although, I'm sure all of the Girls stretched on their own when they got home, right?

Anyway, the girls are leading in a couple of key areas: total number of team members (I don't know the exact count, especially since many seniors were still off on the Senior Trip yesterday), and in the total number of Burgins (1-0).

And, We're Back...

Today marks the opening of the track season, which seems like a good time to resume the blog.  A fair amount has changed since last fall, so I'll start with one exciting change: I am no longer the volunteer assistant to the assistant track coaches.  Instead, one could call me the Pinocchio of track coaches - transforming from a puppet into a real coach!  Officially, I am the distance coach for the Girls, but the plan is to continue to work with both the Boys and Girls distance teams, and I am looking forward to this immensely.

Thanks to the timing of Easter this year, our first meet is not scheduled until April 9th, when we will host Rush-Henrietta (whose girls just set a couple of Section V distance relay records the last couple of weeks) at Thomas.  So, we have just over four weeks to get ready.