This Week's Workouts

getting ready for a workout

The hill block continues!

Summer Reading

This workout block is inspired by The Science of Running by Steve Magness and Brain Training for Runners by Matt Fitzgerald. Both of these books are good resources to have. They also look longer than they are so don't get intimidated if you pick one up. Both have sample training plans and tables and what not which all take up a lot of pages.

GVH officially meets three times a week for workouts. Unless otherwise noted, all runs start and finish from Fleet Feet Sports, 615 2nd Street, Davis, CA. If you are new, introduce yourself so we can watch out for you.

Upcoming events:

10/22 Sophia Yin Memorial Mile Time Trial

10/22 After the time trial, we are meeting up at the new Village Pizza and Pints (236 B Str) to say goodbye to Rachel Boddy-Tyson, PhD. Let Joannie (jsiegler57@gmail.com) know if you can come so we can give the restaurant a heads up.

10/26 Saturday, Daly City Excelsior Challenge

10/30 Deadline to apply for the GVH WSER slot - you must also apply online with WSER. https://www.goldenvalleyharriers.org/western-states-aid-station

11/3 Sunday, Clarksburg, 5K, 10k, Half, 20m - traditional last long race before CIM

11/10 Parkway 20 mile and half marathon by SRA

11/17 Sunday, XC Championships, GGP, SF

12/8 Sunday, CIM, Sacramento

12/14 GVH Holiday Party

10/22/2019 Tuesday Speed Workout - UC Davis Track for the Sophia Yin Memorial Mile Time Trial

Sophia Yin was a renowned animal behavior veterinarian, author, entrepreneur, and long time GVHer with a creative spark. She took her life in 2014 and left a sudden gap in many of our lives. This mile time trial is designed to reinforce that we are not alone as we attempt to achieve our goals.

1745 - Meet up at FF

1750 - Scout team heads out

1755 - Second team heads out

1810 - Meet up at the UCD track.

1815 - There will be four heats: sub - 5, 6, 7, and 8 minute mile. If you are within 20 seconds, run with the faster group (7:20 runs with the sub 7 heat). After the faster group recovers, they will help pace the next group. Everyone, including 10 minute milers, runs the sub 8 heat.

Equivalent Race Paces

5K Race = Mile Race

17 min = 5 min

19 min = 5:35

21 min = 6:10

23 min = 6:46

25 min = 7:21

27 min = 7:56

1850 - cool down to FF or join us at Village Pizza and Pints at third and B str.

​For a more intense speed workout, Jose (contact jzaragoza@ucdavis.edu​).

Additional workouts this week:

Thursday morning crew departs from the corner of Mercedes and Grande at 0555 for 5 - 7 miles.

Thursday evening departs FF at 1755 for about 7 miles.

Saturday Morning:

7 - 10 miles from FF at 8 am, if you are not racing at Martinez.

Brandon's Previous Message About The General Outline of Training Plans:

A) Most Tuesday workouts will fit into a 60min window including warm up and cool down so people can get on with their evenings. If you want to add on or do more intervals, then you can do so.

B) Once a month, there will be a "bigger workout" that will in some ways simulate a race and get some of that VO2 max/racing stimulus our systems need, especially if we're not racing that much. This monthly workout may last more than 60min (especially if we do the Michigan or Putah Creek drill) but may still fit in the window (if we do Deeks Quarters or a 3200m time trial). It will depend.

The schedule will look something like this:

1st Tuesday of the month: fartlek lasting between 20 minutes and 30 minutes

2nd Tuesday of the month: long intervals + short intervals (ex. 5x3min @ 10k + 5 x 200m @ 800m)

3rd Tuesday of the month: A mix of tempo and faster stuff (ex. 10min tempo, hills, 10min tempo)

4th Tuesday of the month: Race simulator (ex. the Michigan, SOB 2K)

*Rinse and Repeat

Hill Sprints, why?

1) Sprinting is a healthy skill to maintain

2) Sprinting increases your "pool of recruitable muscle fibers." What does that mean? I'll make it simpler: hill sprints = more muscles (not bigger muscles), more muscles = more endurance

3) A healthy diet of hill sprints helps prevent a lot of running injuries

4) Sprints improve the connection between your brain and your muscle fibers

5) A lot of the speed you "lose" as you get older is really just a consequence of not playing ball sports where you spring all the time

6) Helps maintain muscular and neuromuscular strength that otherwise deteriorates with age

Why so few hill sprints? We'll increase them, but right now most of us aren't strong enough to do more, so we don't want to overdo anything. If you regularly lift weights or do hill sprints, then you can do up to 8 sprints with full recovery.

Why no jogging during the rest? Your body needs about 2-3 minutes of mostly standing rest to restore the creatine-phosphate that you use during a sprint. When you jog, you don't recover this system.

I'll not be there because I'll be at the gym in Vacaville lifting weights and then doing my sprints at the end. Right now it's best for our schedule to lift weights on Tuesday nights, so, unfortunately, that means that right now we're mostly going to miss Tuesday evening workouts.

These are the regular workouts that occur just about every week:

Tuesday nights - 5:45 p.m. - The Speed Workout

This workout changes every week, but it usually includes a 1 - 2 mile warm-up, 2 - 4 miles of tempo or intervals, and a 1 - 2 mile cool down. If you are a slower runner, you can usually keep up with the warm up and cool down, then adjust the speed portion to your ability. If you want to become a faster runner, this is the workout to make. The specific workout details are announced on club e-mail distribution list or the website.

Thursday Morning - 5:55 a.m. (TBD)

This group meets at Mercedes and Grande in North Davis and departs promptly at 5:55 am. The workout usually has a 2 mile warm up, a 2 - 3 mile tempo, and a 1 mile cool down. We try to be finished by 7 am since most of us have to go to work.

Thursday nights - 5:45 p.m. (meeting time); 5:55 p.m. (departure time)

These tend to be easy mileage and/or recovery runs. There are two standard loops of 6-7 miles. The main loop goes on the west UC Davis campus, and the "winter loop" goes East into Davis on a route that has good lighting and light traffic. Occasionally people will do hill repeats or another workout but start at the same time/place.

Saturday mornings - 8:00 a.m.

The standard distances are 7 or 10 miles, usually at a social pace. Marathoners often tack on additional miles before or after. GVH members will receive emails on runners wanting to meet early to tack on extra miles.

Additional workouts: GVH members receive notices by email of meet-ups, trail runs, racing, social events, retreats, and trips.

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