what the recipe demands

6/23/12--made my way to Germantown Academy to meet up with some of the guys (Chuck, John, Carl, Ray, Bruce, Phil, et al.).  There were 8 of us in all. 

I was thinking of one of the following:

I) 3 x 200m at 800m race pace with 3 minutes rest between reps and 6-minute walk (or 800m jog) after last rep. Then, complete 2-3 sets of (300m at 800m race pace, 2 minute rest, 200m at 400m race pace), with 6 minutes walk/jog between sets (Ex: 2:15 man runs 34ish for 200m reps, 50ish for 300m reps and 31-ish for 200m reps; 2:05 man runs 31ish for 200m reps, 46ish for 300 reps and 27ish for 200m reps)

II) Pick-up reps
8x 400m @ 10 seconds slower than 800m race pace w/3 minute rest and #s 2,5,8 @ goal pace of second lap of 800m race. (Ex. 2:05 800m runner: 71 sec for repeats 1,3,4,6,7 and 64 sec for repeats 2,5,8.)

III) The Breakdown.
- run hard 600, walk 400--
- run hard 500, walk 400
- run hard 400, walk 400
- run hard 300, walk 300
- run hard 200, walk 200
Recovery is “walk what you run” to a maximum of 400m:

6-5-4-3-2 Breakdown

The idea is to choose a 200 meter pace for the 600  (for example, 33 sec) based on your 400m race goal (for example, 56 seconds).  This means you run the 600 at 33 seconds per 200m pace. (The target time for the 600 would be 1:39.) Then, you run a 500 at 32 seconds per 200 pace.  Then, you hit the 400 62 seconds, or 31 seconds/200 pace (There is approximately a 6-sec differential between 400m target time in the workout and 400m race--hence 62 and 56.).  ...And so forth.  Each 200 meter segment is one second faster than the previous interval.  You can actually do this workout unassisted with a watch that beeps at every 200 meters interval with the desired target time.

You can do the 600 at 31 sec pace/200 if your 400 race goal is about 52, the 600 at 32 sec pace/200 if your 400 race goal is about 54, and so forth based on your respective 400 race goal (e.g., :58, :60, :62, :64).

200 meter split times

200 33 32 31 30 29 28 27
300 34 33 32 31 30 29 28
400 35 34 33 32 31 30 29
500 36 35 34 33 32 31 30
600 37 36 35 34 33 32 31

Target times

200 33 32 31 30 29 29 27
300 51 49.5 48 46.5 45 43.5 42
400 70 68 66 64 62 60 58
500 89 87.5 (1:29/1: 27) 85 (1:25) 82.5 (1:22) 80 (1:20) 77.5 (1:17) 75 (1:15)
600 111 108 (1:51/1:48) 105 (1:45) 102 (1:42) 99 (1:39) 96 (1:36) 93 (1:33)

Even though there was some interest in the first workout, we ultimately decided to do pick-up reps.  This would be my first interval workout since my hamstring injury two weeks ago.  I announced beforehand that we would cheat a little by lengthening the rest between 400s to 4 minutes, technically more than twice the allotted time.  What the hell, though; we're not in high school!  Given the additional rest, I thought I could be successful.  My goal then was 8x 400m @ 71 w/ #s 2,5,8 @ 64. 

I began with 1.25M warmup and some dynamic stretching, which I don't do as much.  I'm more of a static guy!  We then began in earnest at about 9:30.  I felt ready.

First run: 34/69; Phil was about 33/68
Second run: 30/64; Phil was about 29/62
Third run: 34/70: Phil was about 33/68
Fourth run: 34/69; Phil was about 33/68
Fifth run: 31/64; Phil was about 30/61
Sixth run: 34/69; Phil was about 33/68
Seventh run: 34/70; Phil was about 33/68
Eighth run: 30/63; Phil was about 29/60

I was rather pleased with this workout and even more pleased that I did not feel my hamstring tense up.  I did feel a little tentative at times and really should have made it a point to stay right on Phil's hip, but I didn't want to push it.  I really would like to be able to achieve these 400 times with three minutes' and then two minutes' rest, which is ultimately what the recipe demands. 

All is all, the guys felt good about this workout.

6/22/12--took off.