Training

Monday, January 16

Distance runners:
5-7 x 1000 down to 5K pace w/ 400 jog rest

Middle-distance runners:
10-12 x 400 with 200 jog + 30 seconds rest approaching Mile pace

Thursday, January 19

Distance runners:
3-5 miles of 800 on/offs
Jog 2:00-3:00
4-5 x 150 strides at end

Middlle-distance runners
4 x 1200 @5k pace with 400 rest
4 x 300 with 100 walk-jog rest

Monday, January 23

Distance runners:
9 x 700 @3K pace with 300 rest

Middle-distance runners:
10-12 x 300 @ Mile pace with 100 walk-jog + 30 seconds rest if needed

Thursday, January 26

All runners:
3-5 miles, 400 @3K, 800 at half-marthon float

Monday, January 30

Distance runners:
1 x 1200 @5K with 400 rest
3 x 800 @3K with 400 rest
4 x 400 @Mile with 200 rest

*Middle-distance runners:
*(Let active resting HR return to 120-25 BPM between reps)
1000 at sub-3K pace (walk a lap)
800 (mile pace) = (jog 100, walk 300)
600 (1K pace) = (jog 200, walk 200 rest)
400 (sub 800 pace) = (walk 200 rest)
200 (all out)

Thursday, February 2

All runners:

*20-35 minutes 5-speed tempo
*(All-comers meet racers 2 mile tempo + 4-6 x 200)

Monday, February 6

Distance runners:
5-6 x 1200 with 400 rest

Middle-distance runners:
5 x 400 with 400 rest (HARD)
5 x 200 with 200 rest (HARD)

Thursday, February 9

Distance runners:

3-5 mile tempo

Middle-distance runners:

5 x 800 @close to mile pace with 800 meters rest

Monday, February 12

Distance runners:

10 x 600 kickers with 200 + 30 seconds rest (400 @5K pace, last 200 @sub-3K pace)

Middle-distance runners:

1600 @ 10K pace
5 x 400 with = rest
4 x 300 with = rest
3 x 200 with = rest + 30 seconds extra

Thursday, February 15

All runners:

3-6 miles 800 on/offs
(All-comers racers do 8-10 x 200)

Monday, February 19

Distance runners:

7 x 800 with 400 rest

Middle-distance runners:

8 x 400 HARD with 400 rest

Thursday, February 22

Distance runners:

20-24 x 200 with 200 rest

Middle-distance runners:

14-16 x 200 with 200 rest

Monday, February 26

Distance runners:

2-mile timetrial, 4 x Le Conte

Middle-distance runners:

1-mile timetrial, 4 x Le Conte

Thursday, February 29 (Leap Year)

Distance runners:

3-5 miles 800 on/offs

Middle-distance runners:

3-4 miles 800 on/offs

Hello Strawberries, and congratulations again on your championship season! Yes, I came up short on posting workouts for a couple of weeks. My humblest apologies there!

After a couple of weeks of time off and/or easy running, many of you will be in a form of summer base mode. This essentially means hilly tempos on Mondays and flatter tempos on Thursdays with a few fartleks or surges to mix it up within the training realms. You will also want to incorporate several 150-meter striders at the end of the runs on on those days in order to to get prepared for track season. The other days of the week would essentially remain unchanged from their traditional format, and since the quality is reduced a bit this is a good time to sock away mileage.
However the hardy few of you are still looking for workouts. They are as follows;

Thursday, Dec. 1
3-5 mile tempo

Monday, Dec. 5
6 x 1000 w/ 400 rest

Thursday, Dec. 8
3-4 miles 800 on/offs; 6 x 150 meters hard

Monday, Dec. 12
2 x mile (400 rest), 3 x 800 (200 rest), 4 x 300 (100 rest) hard

Thursday, Dec. 15
3-5 mile progression run increasing speed 10 seconds / mile per mile (example: 6:20 – 6:10 – 6:00 – 5:50 – 5:40)

Sunday, Dec. 18
PA-USATF race: 4.464-mile CHRISTMAS RELAYS @Lake Merced in San Francisco

Monday, Dec. 19
5 x 1200 w/ 400 rest

Thursday, Dec. 22
8 minutes at half-marathon, 8 minutes at marathon, 8 minutes at 15K, 8 minutes at marathon, 8 minutes at sub-15K

Monday, Dec. 26
7 x 800 w/ 200 rest

Thursday, Dec. 29
3-5 mile tempo

Monday, Jan. 2
12-20 x 400 (GO every 2:00 for runners under 16:00, GO every 2:30 for runners under 19:00. GO every 3:00 for all others)

Thursday, Jan. 5
20-30 minutes 5-speed workout

Monday, Jan. 9
5-6 x Campanile 1100-meter repeats

Thursday, Jan. 12
400 @ 3K, 800 @ 15K pace for 3-5 miles

As we square with the home stretch portion of the cross country season, we will find that the competition is likely to intensify as we approach the PA-USATF Championships on Saturday, Nov. 21st. This meet has now been opened up to teams from southern California, Arizona and Oregon. With this added competitive dimension, we can expect an extremely competitive venue. After the PA-USATF championships we will have the Turkey Trot Silicon Valley 5K. On the plus side, this is a very fast road course with top notch competition. On the negative side of the ledger, this is on Thanksgiving morning and many of you will have headed home for the long weekend.

The final PA-USATF road races to be concerned with are the Clarksburg Half Marathon in November, and the California International Marathon in early December. Also note the Christmas Relays has come to their senses and will move its date to six days past USATF Club Cross Country Nationals, and it’s starting to appear we may not find it financially viable to send teams up there this year.

This year’s version of the Christmas Relays around San Francisco’s Lake Merced will be held on December 18th. There we might have a shot at taking down the club record set last year, but then again the allure of home cooking and a respite from the grind of racing might persuade some of our faster students to bolt before this event.

Monday, Oct. 17

3 x 1200 @ slightly faster than 5K pace with 400 jog rest
6 x 400 @slightly faster than 3K / close to Mile pace with 200 rest
Jog 200 extra at end
2 x 300 at near-800 pace, walk the 100 between No. 1 and 2

Thursday, Oct. 20

Firetrail timetrial to the bench or 25:00 (whichever comes first) *if it rains and is muddy to excess, I’ll switch it out with another workout)

Saturday, Oct. 22

Shoreline XC race, Mountain View, CA

Monday, Oct. 24

5-6 x 1200 w/ *stingers, *first 800 controlled @ just off 5K pace, last 400 @3k pace, with 400 rest

Thursday, Oct. 27

800 on/offs, 4-6 miles

Saturday, Oct. 29

Tamalpa XC Challenge, Marin Headlands, Rodeo Beach
-John Monteverdi Haunted House Extravaganza
-Or SF Run to the Edge of the Night

Monday, Oct. 31

3rd annual Haunted Strawberry 3200/5000-meter timetrial

Thursday, Nov. 3

3 x 2-mile @8K-10K pace with 400 rest

Saturday, Nov. 5

Ancil Hoffman XC, Carmichael (Sacramento), CA

Monday, Nov. 7

12-24 x 400 @3K pace with 200 rest (equal time rest to interval ratio)

Thursday, Nov. 10

5-speed workout (20:00-30:00)

Monday, Sept. 12
5-6 x 1100-meter Campanile repeats (jog down rest)

Thursday, Sept 15
800 on/offs (4-5 miles)

Saturday, Sept. 17
LONG run (20-25% weekly mileage, starting off easy, but working down to 1:00-1:15 slower than marathon pace for the last 40% to half of run, and shut it down and jog it in last half-mile or so)

Monday, Sept. 19
8 x 800 with decreasing rest (time below indicates when to start next interval):
(sub 2:25-30 group): 4:15, 4:00, 3:45, 3:30, 3:15, 3:00, 2:45
(sub 2:40-45 group): 4:30, 4:15, 4;00, 3:45, 3:30, 3:15, 3:00
(sub 2:55-3:00 group): 4:45, 4:30, 4:15, 4:00, 3:45, 3:30, 3:15
(sub 3:10-15 group): 5:00, 4:45, 4;30, 4:15, 4:00, 3:45, 3:30
(sub 3:25-30 group): 5:15, 5;00, 4:45, 4;30, 4:15, 4:00, 3:45

*Wednesday, Sept. 21 (GARIN XC RACERS)

Do a 60-85-minute (9-13 mile depending on weekly mileage) run at marathon + 15-30 seconds a mile pace effort after the first 10-15 minutes to build into it (effort considering gradient of hills, technical nature of trails, etc.) with six to eight 60-90 second surges at near XC pace embedded into the run. Do these on effort on Firetrail out-back or Selby loop OK from track. *Also feel free to come out Thursday (9/22) if you wish, and pace with someone (i.e. masters or seniors runner) at a brisker than jog pace, or pick someone who would appreciate the pacing without expending too much effort pre-race.

Thursday, Sept. 22

4-5 mile tempo at 15K pace with 200-meter surges at sub-mile pace

Saturday, Sept. 24

Option 1: Garin XC race, Hayward, CA

Option 2: LONG run (20-25% weekly mileage, starting off easy, but working down to 1:00-1:15 slower than marathon pace for the last 40% to half of run, and shut it down and jog it in last half-mile or so)

Sunday, Sept. 25

LONG run for Garin XC racers (20-25% of weekly mileage, starting off easy, but working down to last half or 40% at marathon + 15 seconds a mile pace or 1:00-1:15 slower than 5K race pace, and shutting it down the last half-mile or so)

Monday, Sept. 26

Garin XC runners come out and jog if you want and do Monday’s workout on Tuesday, 9/27
400 (60 seconds recovery)-800-1200-1600-1200-800-400 with 400 recovery (ladder workout, mile pace on the 400, 3-5k pace on the remainder of the intervals)

Tuesday, Sept. 27

Monday’s ladder workout for XC racers

Thursday, Sept. 29

800 on/offs

Saturday, Oct. 1

LONG run (20-25% weekly mileage, starting off easy, but working down to 1:00-1:15 slower than marathon pace for the last 40% to half of run, and shut it down and jog it in last half-mile or so)
Monday, Oct. 3

4-5 x Lower Firetrail repeats (preparation for Presidio hilly XC race)

Thursday. Oct. 6

4-5 mile progressive tempo at 15K working down to sub-10K race pace

Saturday, Oct. 8

Presidio XC race, San Francisco, CA

Monday, Oct. 10

8-10 x 700 with 300 rest

Thursday, Oct. 13

1.5 – 2 miles at track them tempo to Firetrail Connector.

Saturday, Oct. 15

LONG run (20-25% weekly mileage, starting off easy, but working down to 1:00-1:15 slower than marathon pace for the last 40% to half of run, and shut it down and jog it in last half-mile or so)

Sunday, Oct. 16 (HUMBOLDT HALF)

Monday, Oct. 17

800 three-person continuous relay for 8 sets:

Take three runners of comparable ability. Person A leads off with the first 400 of their first 800. Person B jumps in with them for THEIR first 400 of their first 800. Person A then rests after completing their second lap of their first 800, while Person C jumps in with Person B for THEIR second 400. Person A then jumps in with Person C for THEIR second 400 while Person B rests between the lap. This continues for 8 x 800 and requires three fairly evenly-paced athletes. The ‘rest’ is the amount of time it takes the runners to complete their lap.

Thursday, Oct. 18

5-speed workout (20:00-30:00 minutes)

Greetings Strawberry Canyoneros—it’s high time to dust off those spikes–a new cross country season is almost upon us! I will attempt to incorporate “odd-day” workouts in order to account for weekend cross country races vs. those training through on our traditional schedule. I’ve also posted a good example of a medium-distance run (or long distance run for those with more modest mileage) on Tuesday, August 16th.

We are giving some thought to switching the schedule over to Tuesdays and Fridays, however this might take some time and creativity to implement within our day-to-day schedules. Also we should have a pretty viable influx of athletes this fall and I would imagine most workouts will be fairly well-attended.

Another thing to note is the track is CLOSED on home days for Cal women’s soccer games, hence we will need to go to Clark-Kerr on those Fridays should we push workouts till then.

Thursday, August 11

20-30 minute 5-speed workout (Cal Edwards or Clark-Kerr)

Monday, August 15

Men
5-6 x 1200 meters @ sub-8K pace with 400 rest, working down to 5K pace

Lower mileage runners/freshmen / non-marathoning females
5-6 x 1000 meters @ sub-8K pace with 400 rest, working down to 5K pace

CLUB OFFICERS MEETING AFTER WORKOUT, MEMBERS CAN ATTEND

Tuesday, August 16

Club President Joe Binder’s Birthday! Also this is the perfect medium-distance run for 60+ MPW types. A variation of our Selby tempo is a moderate-paced and moderate distance run: Start-finish at Edwards Track (11.5 miles) or Krober Fountain (20K), then head up Spruce Street, across Wildcat Canyon Rd., over the Selby Trail, along the upper Firetrail, and back down to the track (or to option B at Krober Fountain).

Thursday, August 18

2-miles at Cal’s track then run steady-state to bottom of Firetrail Connector. Usually your overall time is about one minute faster than an 8K tempo on the track.

Lower mileage runners/freshmen/non-marathoning females

1.5 miles at Cal’s track then run steady-state to the bottom of the Firetrail Connector.

Saturday, August 20

UC Santa Cruz XC Challenge – Santa Cruz

*Friday, August 19
UC Edwards TRACK CLOSED (Cal vs. Pepperdine W soccer)

Sunday, August 21

Functional Motion Screening and Injury Prevention Clinic in Berkeley

This event will begin at 12:30 p.m. at a Berkeley-area site which is yet to be determined. Confirmed panelists: Dr. Amol Saxena, DPM; Andrew Ezer, CMT; Dana Hemingsen, FMS/NASM, Laura Gravell, CMT, and could possibly feature one or two other surprise guests and panelists. It will definitely well worth your while to check this event out, and it is open to the public and free of charge.

Monday, August 22

*4-5 uphill Lower Firetrail repeats, normal run pace for recovery on the downhills. Each repeat is approximately 0.82 miles but w/ the hills the repeat times align closely with mile repetition times minus 2-4 seconds.

*Lower mileage runners and non-marathoning females: 5 x 4:00 minutes uphill on lower Firetrail, then jog back down.

XC racers give me a heads up but it makes sense to push the workout till Tuesday, Aug. 23 and go longish Sunday morning, Aug. 21 (but please make it to the clinic!)

*Tuesday, August 23
UC Edwards TRACK CLOSED (Cal vs. San Diego State W soccer)

Thursday, August 25

4-5 steady mile tempo at Clark-Kerr track

Saturday, August 27
Phil Widener Empire Open XC – Santa Rosa

Monday, August 29

7 x 800 meters with 400 rest (NO WORKOUT for 5000-meter time-trialists)

Wednesday, August 31

Strawberry Canyon Track Club’s 3rd Annual Open 5000-meter / 2-mile time-trial.

This prestigious event will be held at the University of California’s campus, at Edwards Track: This event is free of charge, and will be hand-timed by two gracious Cal coaches who are volunteering to help out. For club members their times will count as personal bests in our club’s all-time list. This competitive and fun event will starts at 6 p.m. sharp, and there will be two heats (fast and slow). The second heat begins promptly at 6:30 p.m. and the track will be closed and reserved for this event. So do yourself a favor and run that fast 5000 you’ve always felt you had in you in late August when few options exist for track meets. It’ll be awesome! See you there.

Thursday, September 1

Uphill Firetrail to the Bench time-trial: Go past the bench to 25:00 mark if you reach it beforehand or at minimum finish at the bench to get a time logged in. If you raced the day before, just have fun with it and pace someone in the group a little slower than you who would appreciate the company.

Friday, September 2

UC Edwards TRACK CLOSED (Cal W soccer tournament)

Saturday, September 3
Rebels XC Challenge – Sacramento

Sunday, September 4

UC Edwards TRACK CLOSED (Cal W soccer tournament)

*Monday, September 5

*Labor Day, 4-5 x Mile with 400 rest; freshmen / females 4-5 x 1200 with 400 rest;
XC runners put this off till Tuesday then come back for the Thursday 5-speed workout.

Thursday, September 8

20:00 – 30:00 minutes of the 5-speed workout

Sunday, September 11
Golden Gate Park Open XC – San Francisco

Hello everyone. I hope all of you are enjoying your summer breaks. The University of California track has been impeded with the presence of a fence in lanes one and two. I believe this is due to the reseeding of the grass infield, specifically the shot put area, and it should be removed within a reasonable time frame. We will STILL meet at the Cal track and if necessary we can jog over to the Clark-Kerr track facility as part of our warm-up or head somewhere off-track for a workout.

Thursday, July 7

Distance runners, marathon females:

Tempo – 8 laps or 12 minutes at Cal track, then uphill to the bottom of the Connector.

Middle-distance runners, freshmen, females – 4 laps at Cal track, then to bottom of the Connector

Monday, July 11

Distance runners, marathon females:

4-mile tempo at Cal or Clark-Kerr + 5 x 150-meter strides

Middle-distance runners, freshmen, females:

3-mile tempo at Cal or Clark-Kerr + 4 x 150-meter strides

Thursday, July 14 (CLUB OFFICERS MEETING POST WORKOUT)

Distance runners, marathon females:

Steady-state to the Firetrail bench, push till 25:00 mark

Middle-distance runners, freshmen, females:

Steady-state run to 2:00 past the top of the Connector

Monday, July 18

Distance runners, marathon females:

Tilden Park fartlek (45 minutes :90 / 3:30s)

Middle-distance runners, freshmen, females:

Tilden Park fartlek (30 minutes :90 / 3:30s)

Thursday, July 21

Distance runners, marathon females:

Wildcat Canyon-Selby Trail-SCTC Firetrail tempo (will be explained further)

Middle-distance runners, freshmen, females:

Wildcat Canyon tempo (out and back)

Monday, July 25

Distance runners, marathon females:

5 x Lower Fire Trail (stop at 5:00 and turn around)

Middle-distance runners, freshmen, females:

4 x Lower Fire Trail (stop at 5:00 and turn around)

Thursday, July 28

Distance runners, marathon females:

4-5 miles 800-meter on/offs + 4 x 150 meter strides at Cal or Clark Kerr

Middle-distance runners, freshmen, females:

3-4 miles 800-meter on/offs + 3 x150-meter strides at Cal or Clark-Kerr

Monday, August 1

ALL: Redwood Park 20-40-minute tempo (three possible routes to be discussed)

Thursday, August 4 (I will be out of town for this one)

Distance runners, marathon females:

7-8 x 3:00 uphill on Lower Fire Trail

Middle-distance runners, freshmen, females:

5-6 x 3:00 uphill on Lower Firetrail

Monday, August 8

Distance runners, marathon females:

Jog from track to top of Connector, start workout there. Run hard to the very end of the Firetrail and back.

Middle-distance runners, freshmen, females:

Jog from track to top of Connector, start workout there. Run hard uphill for 15:00 and turn around and come back (should be about 27:00 total factoring in hills).