Wednesday Track Workouts

Welcome to the DCRRC Wednesday Night Track Workouts. In conjunction with our year-round distance-specific training programs, and our regular Saturday Long Runs, these workouts aim to give runners of all abilities the fitness to reach their goals. For the novice or casual runner, these workouts will challenge you to a higher level of running fitness. For the competitive runner, track workouts are an essential means to reaching personal bests and to succeed at whatever level you are competing.

Where & When

Unless otherwise noted, workouts are held on the track at Washington-Liberty (formerly Washington-Lee) High School in Arlington. We meet near the concession stand (northwest corner) at 7:10pm and start the workout at 7:15pm. Warmups, drills, etc. are on your own.

Philosophy

Our workouts focus on two of the three forms of speed work used by distance runners from the 5K to the Marathon: Stamina Training (10K race pace or slower) and Interval Training (around 5K race pace). We also do a limited amount of Speed Training (faster than 5K race pace) especially during the summer.

Do not worry if this is new to you, and especially if you feel that track workouts are for "fast" runners. Our posted workouts are suggested "maximums," and can be individually tailored to your current level of fitness and specific running goals. Our coach, Ed Grant, has been leading these workouts for 20 years, and is happy to customize a workout plan to meet your needs.

Paces

To get a sense of how fast you should run during these workouts, we encourage you use the McMillan Running Calculator. You can plug in a recent race time and a goal race time, and the Calculator will churn out Training Paces (click on that term) for everything from long runs to speed paces. We recommend applying Mark Hadley's temperature + dew point adjustments in warm and humid weather. Temperature and dew point forecasts are available from the National Weather Service.

Track Workouts for May 2011

Friends:

We will once again have a "split month" for our workout locations.  On May 4 we will be at Yorktown HS; on May 11 and 18, we will be at Washington-Lee HS, both in Arlington.  The Yorktown HS track is located in Greenbriar Park, behind the high school itself.  There is a parking lot as well as on-street parking, but do plan some time for finding a space.  Easiest route is north on George Mason Drive, left on N. Yorktown Blvd., and left again 28th Street. 

Please note potential location change for May 25 -- we will not know until closer to the date which high school tracks are available for that date. 

May 4:  10 x 500M @ 5K pace.  300M jog interval.  Optional 700M jog after first set of 5. 

May 11:  3-4 x 1-Mile @ 10K pace; 400M jog interval. After 5-minute jog, finish with 2 x 400M @ 5K pace, 200M jog interval.

May 18:  4 x 5:00 @ 5K pace, 5:00 rest interval. 

May 25:  Due to soccer tournament, Yorktown track is closed.  We will meet at Washington-Lee and run on Custis Trail.  Worjkout is 8 x 3-minute repeats, with 2-minute rest. 

See you at the track! 

Coach Ed

 

Workouts for March

All --

We will have the Washington-Lee track available for March 9, 16, and 23 -- at least according to the schedules we have been given.  Here's the workouts for those three weeks: 

March 9:  12 - 16 x 400M @ 10K ("Cruise Internal") Pace.  100M jog recovery. 

March 16:  5 - 6 x 1000M @ 10K ("Cruise Interval") Pace.  400M jog recovery.

March 23:  Pre-Marathon Taper.  Others:  4 x 5:00 @ 5K ("Interval") Pace.  5:00 jog recovery. 

Coach Ed

 

 

 

 

 

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Directions to Track

Track workouts are held on the track at Washington-Liberty (formerly Washington-Lee) High School.

From Washington DC: take I-66 east to the Glebe Road exit, turn right on Glebe, right on 15th Street for about 0.4 miles, to Stafford Street, turn right and cross over I-66 and the school is on your left.
From Vienna and points west in Virginia: take I-66 east to the Fairfax Drive exit, follow Fairfax Drive for about 0.8 mile to Stafford Street, turn left for about 0.3 miles and the school is on your right.
From Alexandria: take Glebe Road going north until turning right on 15th Street, and proceed as from DC.
Metro: Washington-Liberty is a short walk from both the Virginia Square and Ballston Metro stations (Orange/Silver lines).

Upcoming Events

DCRRC Women's Distance Festival 5K and Run After the Women 5K
Sun, Jun 9th, 2024, @8:00am
Book Club
Sun, Jun 16th, 2024, @4:00pm
DCRRC Age Handicapped 4-Miler
Thu, Jul 4th, 2024, @8:00am
DCRRC Bluemont 5K
Wed, Jul 24th, 2024, @7:00pm
 DCRRlogotypeRRCA member

The DC Road Runners Club is a member of the Road Runners Club of America and is also affiliated with USA Track & Field. We provide a year-round schedule of running events that offer everyone a chance to participate regardless of age, gender, or athletic ability.