We live in the world of three-week mesocycles, so the month of May is a perfect stretch of time to do final tune-up workouts to get in better shape for the TMC Meet Me Downtown 5k or the Mile Race that is part of the Festival of Miles.   if you're a hard core runner, you already know what to do: twice a week some sort of faster running, then easy recovery days after the hard workouts, and comfortable jogging pace the rest of the days of the week - filling in with weight work, stretching, and other non-running support activities.

 

If you're newer to this sort of thing, that same principle will work, but here are some suggestions.  Note that you can fill in the blanks  based on your fitness and overall schedule: take days off, run less, or run more -- it's up to you, but try to get the speedier running in.  You can do the fast running increments on a track, multi-use path, or trail.  You can substitute the "minutes" and "seconds" for similar distances on a track or even lamp-post to lamp-post or something similar.

WEEK ONE

Monday: Easy jogging run at a pace that you can hold a conversation. Between 2-5 miles.

Tuesday: 1 mile warmup jog at a slow pace.  Then something like this: 1 minute at a 5k pace, followed by 2 minutes jog.  Repeat 6 times.  1 mile slow cool-down jog.

Wednesday: Either take the day off or  easy jogging run at a pace that you can hold a conversation. Between 2-5 miles.

Thursday: 1 mile warmup jog at a slow pace.  Then something like this: 1 minute at faster than 5k pace, followed by 3 minutes jog.  Repeat 4 times.  1 mile slow cool-down jog.  NOTE: faster pace, more recovery

Friday: Either take the day off or  easy jogging run at a pace that you can hold a conversation. Between 2-5 miles.

Saturday: Either take the day off or  easy jogging run at a pace that you can hold a conversation. Between 2-5 miles.

Sunday: Either take the day off or  easy jogging run at a pace that you can hold a conversation. Between 2-5 miles.

 

WEEK TWO

Monday: Easy jogging run at a pace that you can hold a conversation. Between 2-5 miles.

Tuesday: 1 mile warmup jog at a slow pace.  Then something like this: 30 seconds at 1-mile race pace, followed by 2 minute jog. 1 minute at a 5k pace, followed by 2 minutes jog.  Then 30 seconds at 1-mile race pace, followed by 2 minute jog.  Repeat 5 times.  1 mile slow cool-down jog.

Wednesday: Either take the day off or  easy jogging run at a pace that you can hold a conversation. Between 2-5 miles.

Thursday: 1 mile warmup jog at a slow pace.  Then something like this: 1 minute at faster than 5k pace, followed by 3 minutes jog.  Repeat 5 times.  1 mile slow cool-down jog.  NOTE: faster pace, more recovery

Friday: Either take the day off or  easy jogging run at a pace that you can hold a conversation. Between 2-5 miles.

Saturday: Either take the day off or  easy jogging run at a pace that you can hold a conversation. Between 2-5 miles.

Sunday:  Either take the day off or  easy jogging run at a pace that you can hold a conversation. Between 2-5 miles.  If motivated, do a local 5k race, like the Tucson 5000 and see where you are.

 

WEEK THREE

Monday: Easy jogging run at a pace that you can hold a conversation. Between 2-5 miles.

Tuesday:  1 mile warmup jog at a slow pace.  Then something like this: 1 minute at a 5k pace, followed by 2 minutes jog.  Repeat 6 times.  1 mile slow cool-down jog.  Note that this is a repeat to the first workout of Week One -- a good way to see how you fell compared to a couple of weeks ago.

Wednesday: Either take the day off or  easy jogging run at a pace that you can hold a conversation. Between 2-5 miles.

Thursday: 2 mile warm-up jog. Then something like this: 2x 30 seconds at 1-mile race pace, followed by 2 minute jog. Then 2 minutes at a 5k pace, followed by 2 minutes jog.  Then 30 seconds at 1-mile race pace, followed by 2 minute jog.   Repeat 5 times.  1 mile slow cool-down jog.  (This is meant to be demanding and difficult, so be sure to be rested and allow time for recovery in the following days.

Saturday: Either take the day off or  easy jogging run at a pace that you can hold a conversation. Between 2-5 miles.

Sunday:  Either take the day off or  easy jogging run at a pace that you can hold a conversation. Between 2-5 miles.

 

RACE WEEK

Monday: Easy jogging run at a pace that you can hold a conversation. Between 2-5 miles.

Tuesday:   1 mile warmup jog at a slow pace.  Then something like this: 1 minute at a 5k pace, followed by 2 minutes jog.  Repeat 6 times.  1 mile slow cool-down jog.

Wednesday: Either take the day off or  easy jogging run at a pace that you can hold a conversation. Between 2-5 miles.

Thursday:  1 mile warmup jog at a slow pace.  Then something like this: 30 seconds at Mile Pace, with a 1 minute jog. 4 times.  1 mile slow cool-down jog. 

Friday: Take the day off.

Saturday: Warmup and then crush the race! 

Sunday:  Either take the day off or  easy jogging run at a pace that you can hold a conversation.