Wednesday Night Hawks
Tonight's weather is glorious – near 70, sunny till sundown, light winds and humidity. Tracks are open, but it still seems that no "organized" activities may take place in Arlington, but Yorktown and W&L are open for track work, but both tracks will be shut early – about 6:30 PM, so you could do this workout anywhere on flatter trails where miles are marked off.
March 10, 2021 ON THE TRACK ON YOUR OWN: 3 x 1600m in 10k Pace, with 400m jogs between
Fastest Runners: 5:45 to 6:30 Pace
Faster Runners: 6:30 to 7:15 Pace
Intermediate Runners: 7:15 to 8:00 Pace
Solid Runners/MTP Trainees: 8:00 to 10:00 Pace
When your track intervals lengthen to a mile, it is sometimes difficult to remember that you really want to change your form, style, cadence, etc. from your standard runs, but you really should. It makes a big difference if you switch your form to speed work – focus on lifting your knees, getting up on your toes, and using your arms in sync to lift the opposite leg. Don't fall into the trap of lengthening your stride – cadence should increase measurably on the track as opposed to the road and trail. Keep your core still and relaxed, and do not cross your arms over your body mid-point – this will swing your core (thus not still) and throw your stride off. On these longer intervals, break them down – for example, on Lap 1 focus on form – am I up on my toes and lifting knees? Lap 2 – am I relaxed – am I pushing while not getting to tense? Lap 3 – how is my breathing – through my nose and mouth - deeply? Lap 4 – since we aren't doing the traditional 2 x 400m to finish, let's try to run these last 400s in a faster pace, pushing to 5k pace to finish strong.
