track, training and Personal Records

I decided to go for a PR running around Mt Hood, the 41-mile "Circumnavigation." If you're unfamiliar, Scott Diamond has some details on his Volcano Running site.

The strategy is to train for a marathon PR in the next five or six months, and then train for an additional 15 months to (hopefully) PR around Mt Hood in August 2010. So, I just signed up for the Eugene Marathon, and the goal is to break three hours.

This brings me back to the basics of trackwork. To bring my marathon time down I'll have to focus on speed, as well as mileage. It seems that coaches often make the track too complicated, trying to hold the interest of the athete by mixing up several different types of workouts. For me, there's only three basic track workouts: 400 intervals, 40/50's (variable speed), and mile repeats. Everything else can be done on road or trail.

The 400 is the first building block, dividing your target mile time into four sections, with only a short rest in between. You can rest up to two minutes in between intervals, but I find that keeping rest time down to a minute works better for me. I don't jog laps between intervals, because I want the full effect of that short rest. Instead, I'll walk down the track for 30 seconds, then turn around and walk back to the starting line, and then go again. I'll start with 4x400's, aiming to not deviate between them by more than five seconds. For the next track workout, I'll do 6x400's at the same speed. For the following track workout I'll cut some time and go back to 4x400's, and then hold that speed again for another 6x400, etc. This way, you're methodically cranking down seconds, which directly reduces your mile time.

The second building block is the old Oregon standby that has (in part) produced so many great competitors. The four-minute milers used to run 30's, or 30/40's (30 second 200's followed by a 40 second 200, ran continuously), but it can be adjusted for any speed. Alberto Salazar had Mary Slaney running something like 40/50's for her marathon training. I may even start at 45/55, but the workout works wonders when done consistently. The purpose is to continuously switch gears, running slightly slower than comfortable at a fast gear, and then slightly faster than comforable the next gear down. All variable speed workouts such as the fartlek have the same function, but this one really focuses on strengthening your weak points. Also, it's great mental training for the marathon, where you have to stick to a comparatively fast pace when your mind starts to tire. Start with two miles (16x200) held consistently at a variable pace calculated from your actual or estimated VO2max, and then increase your mileage from there.

The third building block is mile repeats. Here, you want a full rest - three or four minutes in between miles, with little or no exertion - walking or jogging during a rest. Start with 3x a mile, setting the pace based on your VO2max, and keep each mile consistent. Increase to 4x a mile, then 5x a mile. Increase your pace when you crank down to 3x a mile, and then work back up to 5x a mile.