PreBlast: 8 Weeks To Your Fastest Mile

PreBlast: 8 Weeks To Your Fastest Mile

YHC will take the reigns at Swift starting next week for an 8-week training program designed to produce your fastest mile.  Why?  Because getting older stinks so why not flip the bird at Father Time and show him you’re not done yet.  Need more?  “Training for a fast mile can teach your body how to finish your next 5k faster.  It can boost your overall pace in a longer distance race (hello, half marathon PR).  Most importantly it can make you a stronger athlete altogether.”

There will be two workouts per week (one at Swift and one OYO or at some other workout) for 8 weeks, culminating in a mile time trial at the Community House Middle School track on Saturday, June 12th @ 0615.  Who knows, maybe some other running workouts such as Waxhaw Express or Fast Twitch will join in and run these workouts in parallel and join us at the time trial (hint hint).  The plan is based on Nike Run Club’s “Find Your Fast” 8-week training program.  YHC has loaded the plan into a Google Sheet (link) so that you can save your own version and track your progress and/or make edits.  Here are the 2 weekly workouts:

• Week 1:
  1. Tue, Apr 20: 8 x 400m @ goal mi pace w/ 60 sec recovery.  Average the 8 intervals for a proxy of your current mile fitness.
  2. 2nd workout of the week: 2.5 mi tempo run
• Week 2:
  1. Tue, Apr 27: 200m x 3 going from 10k pace to 5k pace to goal mi pace w/ 60 sec recovery. Repeat 5 times (15 total intervals). Note: rest 120 sec after 10th 200m
  2. 2nd workout of the week: Fartlek Run: 1 min, 2 min, 3 min, 2 min, 1 min, 1 min @ 5k pace w/ equal recovery
• Week 3:
  1. Tue, May 4: 1,000m @ 10k pace, 500m @ 5k pace, 500m @ 5k pace, 200m @ goal mi pace, 400m @ 5k pace, 200m @ goal mi pace w/ 90 sec recovery
  2. 2nd workout of the week: 1,000m @ 10k pace, 1,000m @ 5k pace, 1,000m @ 10k pace w/ 90 sec recovery
• Week 4:
  1. Tue, May 11: Hill Repeats: 1 min @ 10k pace, 1 min @ 5k pace, 1 min @ goal mi pace w/ recovery jog down hill. Repeat 3 times (9 total intervals).
  2. 2nd workout of the week: 3 mi tempo run
• Week 5:
  1. Tue, May 18: 200m @ 10k pace, 200m @ 5k pace, 200m @ goal mi pace, 200m @ goal mi pace w/ 60 sec recovery. Repeat 5 times (20 total intervals).
  2. 2nd workout of the week: Fartlek Run: 1 min, 2 min, 3 min, 4 min, 3 min, 2 min, 1 min @ 5k pace w/ equal recovery
• Week 6:
  1. Tue, May 25: 200m @ goal mi pace, 800m @ 5k pace, 200m @ goal mi pace, 600m @ 5k pace, 200m @ goal mi pace, 400m @ 5k pace, 200m @ goal mi pace. 120 sec recovery after 200m intervals and 60 sec recovery after other intervals.
  2. 2nd workout of the week: 3.5 mi tempo run
• Week 7:
  1. Tue, Jun 1: 8 x 400m @ goal mi pace w/ 60 sec recovery.  Average the 8 intervals for a proxy of your current mile fitness.
  2. 2nd workout of the week: 1,000m @ 10k pace, 1,000m @ 10k pace, 1,000m @ 5k pace, 1,000m @ 10k pace w/ 90 sec recovery
• Week 8:
  1. Tue, Jun 8: 12 x 200m @ goal mi pace w/ 60 sec recovery
  2. 2nd workout of the week: 1,000m @ 10k pace, 200m @ goal mi pace, 200m @ goal mi pace w/ 120 sec recovery
  3. Sat, Jun 12: 1 mi time trial @ Community House Middle School track @ 0615

In week 1 and week 7 there is a mile simulation workout (8 x 400m) that will help you identify your current mile fitness and give you a good idea of what you should be shooting for at the time trial.

Find your various training paces by inputting your goal mile pace or a recent race time here: Link.  “Tempo” pace (not shown in website) is your 5k pace + 25-30 seconds.  It is a pace that you would be able to sustain for a full hour of running and should feel “hard, but controlled”.

It is recommended that you begin each workout with a 1 mile warmup and dynamic stretching, and end with a 1 mile cooldown.  The goal is to PR but also to get to the starting line in one piece.