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Workout Write-Up: Cruise Mile Repeats

    Home Racing Team News O'Connor Workout Write-Up: Cruise Mile Repeats
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    Workout Write-Up: Cruise Mile Repeats

    By bigriverracing | O'Connor, Racing Team News | 0 comment | 24 November, 2015 | 0

    This week’s Workout Write-Up comes from Matt O’Connor. Matt is training for the US Olympic Marathon trials, which he will be running in Los Angeles this February.

    Workout
    Cruise Mile Repeats

    Type
    Endurance and speed workout.

    Details
    When I run this workout I do 7-8 x 1 mile at lactate threshold (slightly slower than 10K race pace, “comfortably hard”) with 90 seconds to 2 minutes of recovery in between repeats. The number of reps can be adjusted based on your fitness level. Workouts at lactate threshold focus on delaying the onset of when lactic acid builds in the muscles due to the body’s inability to process it. To make sure I’m staying at the correct level of intensity, I prefer to perform this workout on a relatively flat course that has minimal turns. Forest Park is an excellent venue to perform this workout. Additionally, I have had success with this workout on the roads by Bishop Dubourg High School. My coach, Ryan Bak, introduced me to this workout and has included it, at least once, in every training block. This workout is a good confidence booster for me as I have hit it more times than not.

    When is a good time to perform this workout?
    Typically, I will perform a variation of this workout 2-3 times during a training block. Most often, I’ll perform this workout during the speed development phase of a block as well as the race preparation phase of a block.

    Last time I ran this workout and how did it go?
    I successfully completed this workout mid October. My lactate threshold range is 4:55-5:04 pace per mile. With that said, I have a tendency to want to run every workout on the fast end of the designated pace. For this workout, my goal was to run every repeat at or below 4:55 pace. I was able to accomplish that as my splits were 4:53, :55, :52, :51, :54, :49, :52, :50. The reason for variability in my splits was because I completed this workout on a three mile flat loop course in Forest Park. I was pleased with how this workout went. Being that this workout was relatively early in my long marathon build up, I was happy to see my fitness was this strong this early.

    FOPOloop
    Favorite location for workout:
    I have also completed this workout on a one mile out and back. A good starting point is the entrance to Bishop DuBourg High School parking lot off of Clifton Avenue. The route starts downhill on Clifton Avenue. Continue downhill until Hilgard Place. You then take a left on Hilgard Place. Continue around the bend and take your first right on Bishops Place. Take Bishops place across Clifton onto Childress Avenue. Go uphill on Childress Avenue until Westway Place. Take a right on Westway Place and you should reach one mile on the bend. You turnaround and go the same course in reverse. This route is more difficult as it contains some uphills and downhills as well as turns. I like this out and back because there is less traffic and the hills and turns keeps you mentally engaged.
    Dubourg OutBack
    Cruise Miles, Lactate Threshold, Mile Repeats, O'Connor, Workout Write-up
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