2012 Outdoor Track Workouts
(updated 15-MAY-2012)
Although the Somerville Road Runners are a very social club, we're also very serious about our running. Recently (well, geologically speaking...), we began weekly track workouts.
You must be a SRR member to participate in the workouts. (You are welcome to come to a session as a guest if you would like to check us out.)
Frequently Asked Questions about SRR Track Workouts
Please contact Coach Joe O'Leary if you have any questions about track workouts.
FORTITUDINE VINCIMUS (By endurance we conquer)
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For an explanation of the paces/terms referred to in the workouts below, click here.
Pace charts (last updated Feb 14, 2012) are located Here. You will find your name there if you are an SRR Track "regular." (I always bring the most recent version of the pace charts to practice)
The Workouts:
Tuesday, May 15 - No Group Workout
We officially have permission to use the Tufts Outdoor track NEXT week. Unfortunately, this week we must still be off of it. So this week I want you all to do a fartlek workout on the roads on your own or in whatever group you prefer
For the uninitiated, "Fartlek" is an unintentionally-funny-sounding Swedish word that means "Speed Play". It refers to an unstructured speed workout. You do not run a set distance with a set rest. Instead you incorporate a series of pickups into a regular run. The length and intensity of each pickup should vary -- that's the point. Don't just do the same thing a bunch of times. Do pickups of anywhere from, say 30 seconds to two minutes. Do them brisk but do not make them sprints.
This is not meant to be a killer workout, just something that gets your legs rolling and reintroduces you to speed. I would say do 5 to 7 pickups, no more. Pick it up for as long as you feel like (staying roughly withing a 0:30 to 2:00 window and run at whatever feels between "brisk" and "hard" for you. Between the hard parts, return to normal training pace. Take as much time as you want at the normal training pace before going hard again.
Since so many of us just did marathons in the past month or two, this is good way to reintroduce ourselves to speed without hurting too badly. The best part about a fartlek workout is that, since you are not on a track running a set distance, you are not racing yourself. You will not be comparing the time to some rep you did a couple of months ago when you were peaking. Just do these reasonably hard without killing yourself. This is also a good way to get ready for the Bedford 12k. Those of you racing it, just think of this as a stepping stone to it.
Next Tuesday, May 22nd we will meet at the Tufts outdoor track at 7:00 PM to resume our outdoor workouts. By then, I will post a schedule taking us into August.
A gentle reminder that we are using the track under the good graces of Tufts University. It is a great facility and we are lucky to be able to utilize it on Tuesday nights. We need to respect the Tufts community, the facility, and our fellow runners, both those on our club as well as other runners will might be working out at the same time as us. A few important things to remember:
1. Stay off the inside lanes unless you are running the fast portion of your workout. If you are doing a recovery jog or warming up or cooling down stay as far to the outside as you can. Other runners will be running fast on the inside lanes and they need room to move. Don't even think about being in the first 3 lanes unless you are running the fast portion of your workout.
2. When running the fast part, try to stay in the FIRST lane (do not take up 2 or 3 lanes), UNLESS you are PASSING someone. As soon as you pass, move back into the first lane. Otherwise if we have runners running 2 or 3 abreast the faster runners coming up from behind will be forced to run wide, this is not fair and it is dangerous, especially if there are runners doing their recovery in the outer lanes.
3. If you have any sort of confrontation with another runner (from our club or another club) or a person from the Tufts community please bring it to my attention immediately, and I'll try and resolve the issue. We can't afford to be bad "citizens," as I said before, Tufts is kind enough to let us use this facility and we need to respect them as well as our fellow runners. Any incidents could cause us to lose our privilege of using the indoor track, so remember that anything you might do as an individual reflects on our club as a whole. We have a large group this year so it will be cramped quarters, we need to be thinking all of the time on how to make it a good experience for everyone.
for more info contact Joe O'Leary