Tuesday Workout (3.18.25)

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, my friends ☘️

I hope you all had a great weekend and a good start to the week! It was a bit warmer on Saturday than what we’ve been used to and one thing that I heard from most was that the run felt hard or that your legs felt heavy. This can mostly be chalked up to the fact that we’ve spent all winter running in cold, snowy temperatures and aren’t used to running in the humidity. While this is a solid example of how weather can impact your performance and how your runs feel; as our bodies acclimate to the warmer weather, these runs will get easier. Even though you may not have felt your best, you all ran very well. Learn from the struggle and use it to help prepare for the next humid day.

We’ll be meeting at the playground entrance of the Parkway tomorrow at 5:45pm for our workout, planning to be ready to start our warmup by 5:50. It looks like Tuesday may feel warmer again, so please plan ahead and stay on top of your hydration, dress for the warmer temperatures, and think about carrying water/hydration with you during the workout.

I have included two sets of workouts with attached screenshots of how I programmed them into Garmin. Those of you training for Syracuse Half will have a 40ish minute taper workout while the rest of you will have a 40ish minute speed interval workout. 

For those of you NOT tapering:

Please find 3 screenshots below of how I programmed the workout in Garmin along with the Effort Guide as a reference. As with the last two weeks, the purpose of the workout is to continue focusing on FEEL, CONSISTENCY, and ENDURANCE:

FEEL: really focus on feeling the difference between each effort as you switch gears between those easy, moderate, and hard efforts.

CONSISTENCY AND ENDURANCE: despite the variation of interval times for each effort, continue trying to hold these efforts (how they feel, not the number on your watch) consistently across each interval for all four repeats.

Keep in mind that you should be paying attention to how the intervals feel (NOT the pace on your watch) during your run. When reviewing your stats after the workout, you should be able to see a clear definition between each effort.

Tuesday Workout (3.18.25):

• Warmup w/dynamics
• 4 times:
  • 2 min moderate
  • 1 min easy
  • 45 sec hard
  • 1 min recovery
  • 90 sec moderate
  • 45 sec easy
  • 30 sec hard
  • 45 sec recovery
  • 1 min moderate
  • 30 sec easy
  • 30 sec hard
  • 45 sec recovery
• Cooldown
• Group post-run stretching

About the Workout:

• This workout is designed for you to run the easy, moderate, and hard intervals (think of it as if you’re shifting gears between each interval) and walk the recoveries.
• The group will likely spread out on the moderate and hard intervals, so plan to circle to the back and regroup on the easy intervals and recoveries; using the recoveries as the time to sip your water while resetting your breathing and form/perform posture checks.
• Remember that these efforts are relevant to you and how you’re feeling. They can and will change from run to run and are dependent on many factors including weather, clothing, energy levels, or how you’ve eaten and hydrated in the last 48 hours…. and that is completely okay! Do not get hung up on the numbers… your body does not know numbers, it knows feel!
• We will be stretching as a group after the workout. As you finish your cooldown, please circle up and begin stretching.

Effort Guide:

Easy Effort: should be conversational in that you should be able to hold a conversation or sing a song without feeling too out of breath. 80% of your runs should be run at this effort.

Moderate Effort: ~ 1 minute per mile faster than easy pace

A little more challenging, but you can still converse- in a few sentences.

Tempo Effort: ~ 1.5 minutes per mile faster than easy pace

A little more challenging than moderate, but you can still converse- in a few sentences.

Moderately Hard Effort: ~ 2 minutes per mile faster than easy pace

More challenging with labored breathing. This effort is sustainable for 30-60 minutes. You should only be able to speak a sentence or two.

Hard Effort: ~ 2.5 – 3 minutes per mile faster than easy pace

Quickly uncomfortable, and you shouldn’t be able to say more than a few words.

Harder Effort is uncomfortable, your breathing should be quite labored, and you shouldn’t be able to say more than a word (if any).

For those of you tapering for Syracuse Half:

You can find 1 screenshot of the taper workout, below.

Tuesday Taper Workout (3.18.25):

• Warmup (w/dynamic stretches)
• 2 times:
  • 15 min easy run
• 10 strides:
  • 20 seconds hard/40 seconds easy
• Cooldown
• Group post-run stretching

COACH CHAT: STRIDES!

In Friday’s email, I talked about taper week, the benefits of tapering before a race, and how to combat taper hunger… I hope you’re enjoying your week of decreased exercise as you rest for your race on Sunday!

Now, let’s talk about those strides. As I’ve said before, strides are short, quick spurts of running where you gradually increase your speed with a recovery between each acceleration. These short accelerations are not all out sprints, instead you should gradually work up to a hard effort before decreasing to your recovery.

Why do we run strides? What’s the benefit? Soooo… strides aren’t always run during taper runs. They are a great way to warm up before a hard race and they are good to incorporate into a speed workout. By adding them into speed work, they help improve running speed by giving you practice at running faster for shorter time periods. They also help strengthen leg muscles and combat muscle loss from aging.

Strides promote running economy (making you a more efficient runner), with a focus on turnover and form. They prepare you for faster speeds and make your legs feel good, or less tired. We do these at the end of a hard training cycle as part of a taper run, as a way to mimic the final portion of a race. Basically, reminding our bodies how to work quickly and efficiently when tired.

Strides also allow you to focus on your running form. Running those faster paces for shorter bursts of time allows you to practice driving with your knees, pumping your arms, and focusing on your foot placement when you land. Similar to running hill repeats, strides are really good for you and make you a stronger athlete!!

LOOKING AHEAD:

Saturday Long Run (3/22): Meet at the playground entrance of the Parkway at 8:00am for the following distances:

30 min walk or 20 min easy run: Syracuse Half

4.5 miles: Mountain Goat Relay (low end mileage)/Shipyard Half

5 miles: Mountain Goat Relay (high end mileage)

7 miles: Mountain Goat (full)

7-8 miles: Buffalo Half Marathon

Tuesday Workout (3/25): Meet at the playground entrance of the Parkway at 5:45pm for our workout. Those of you who ran Syracuse Half can either run the scheduled workout or plan for an easy 30-min run; depending on how you feel. 

Let’s Celebrate You!

It’s been a hot minute since we’ve celebrated everyone’s hard work and accomplishments so mark your calendars for Tuesday, March 25^th as we’re planning to go to Cobblestone after our workout for pizza and drinks! Please let me know if you can make it on the 25^th so I can have an idea of how many pizzas to order ahead of time. 

TEAM SHIRTS!

Since we have some new members of the group, I think it’s time to put in another shirt order. Keep an eye out for an email later this week with ordering information. I will also post the information in our Facebook group. Not a member of our group? Let me know and I’ll send you an invite.

HOH WEBSITE:

In case you didn’t see George’s post in our Facebook group, he is in the process of building a website for Head Over Heels Training and has asked for anyone willing to submit a testimonial and photo to use with it, contact him via email at ggates1020@gmail.com.

We would also like to include the “Meet Our Athletes” profiles I’ve been sharing on social media on the website, as well. If you would prefer we not include them on the website, please let me know. 

“MEET OUR ATHLETES” PROFILES:

I’ve been sending the athlete questionnaires for these to 2 or 3 people every week. If you have not received one yet, you will soon… If you have received it, please fill it out and send it back. I’ve had a lot of fun reading these and sharing them 😊

I hope you have a wonderful afternoon, and a Happy St. Patrick’s Day! 

Please, please, please make sure you are hydrating today and tomorrow and that you are taking in enough calories (rich in carbs with some proteins) ahead of the workout.

I cannot wait to see you tomorrow at 5:45pm!

☘️ Coach Kristen ☘️