Fast track to fitness

Lisa is so awesome. She knows I need to get back into shape for Regionals, and so has designed a workout to help me as best as possible. I'm so lucky to have friends like Lisa.

Date:    Thu, 16 Sep 2004 10:21:52 -0700
From:  	 Lisa Timmins
To:  	 Kitt Hodsden
Subject: massage & intervals

Hi Kitt,

Couple of things:

I have some time during the day tomorrow (Friday) -- if
you're available for massage, let me know.  I'd love to
promote the healing of your ribs!

And, along those lines, I thought I'd share with you some
ideas for jump-start-you-into-uber-ultimate-shape track 
workouts.  As I mentioned the other night at dinner, I'd 
focus on mid-length intervals (400's and 200's) for now.
That way you can focus more on maintaining a faster pace 
than you would in going out for a 2-3 mile run.  By giving 
yourself minimal rest in between intervals (i.e. not allowing
yourself to recover fully), you are actually boosting your
cardiorespiratory capacity as much as you would by doing
longer endurance runs.  Not to mention that you're doing
so at a race pace that's much more similar to ultimate 
(i.e. fast!) AND increasing your recovery capacity as well.

All workouts begin with 2-3 warm-up laps, light stretching, 
high knees & butt kicks, etc., and a couple 50m accelerators 
(get to a sprint by the end).  They end with 2-3 cool-down 
laps and light stretching.

Stay healthy!  Monitor your injuries and don't put yourself 
over the edge.

Aim for a 90-second pace on the 400s, a 65-second pace on
the 300s, and a 35-40-second pace on the 200s.  Run the
100s as fast as you can move your legs.

I'm listing 3 progressive workouts here, with the idea that
you can squeeze them all in before Regionals (every 5-7 
days) and still have time to "taper."  You can do alternate 
fitness stuff (Gino, easy run, etc.) on the other days.

 
TRACK WORKOUT #1
Warm up.
4x400, rest 75 seconds between each 400.
Break for 2:30.
4x400, rest 75 seconds between each 400 .
Break for 2:30.
4x400, rest 75 seconds between each 400 
  (third set only if you feel like you can handle it).
Cool down.

TRACK WORKOUT #2
Warm up.
4x400, rest 75 seconds between each 400.
Break for 3:00.
4x300, rest 55 seconds between each 300.
Break for 3:00.
6x200, rest 45 seconds between each 200.
Cool down.
 
TRACK WORKOUT #3
Warm up.
4x300, rest 55 seconds between each 300.
Break for 2:30.
4x200, rest 45 seconds between each 200.
Break for 2:30.
4x200, rest 45 seconds between each 200.
Break for 2:30.
4x100, rest 30 seconds between each 100.
Cool down.

Remember that these are pretty tough workouts, so if you're 
feeling like they're not that challenging, either a) you're 
not running hard enough, or b) you're already in good enough 
shape!  I'm not going to say "no pain, no gain," but do 
realize that you have to push your body outside of its usual 
comfort zone in order to achieve results.  Give 'em a try 
and see what you think.

-Lisa