Recipe for a Fast 5K
From the August 2006 Walk! Magazine
A while back the New York Road Runners’ Club put
together a cookbook filled with the favorite recipes of elite athletes. I
contributed some bizarre, top-of-my-head ground-turkey burrito concoction.
Writing the recipe was a tough assignment because I never measure anything in
the kitchen. A little of this, a bit of that; sometimes more,
sometimes less, depending upon how I feel on that particular day. But one thing is for certain: without a bunch
of ground turkey and tortillas, you’re not going to get very far. (Of course
you may think I’m still talking about the burritos here, but I’m one of the
many coaches who firmly believe you’ll never be a good 5k racewalker without
lots of ground turkey and tortillas, but that’s another story for another
article.)
As goes for ground-turkey burrito recipes, so too for
racewalk training. For a training plan to be successful, all the important
ingredients need to be there. Sometimes
you need more endurance, sometimes more speed; sometimes more economy workouts,
sometimes more tempo workouts or rest. Leave out or substitute one minor
ingredient and you’ll still have a pretty good burrito: Just as there’s no
perfect turkey burrito recipe, there’s no one perfect recipe for a fast 5k (or
10k or ½ marathon…) But the major
elements need to be in place: be it turkey and tortillas, or tempos and track
intervals.
The following
is my recipe for a fast 5k. The key to success in the kitchen and on the track
is the same: be creative. Find what mix works best for you. Adjust the workouts
and rest, throw in a dash of technique work, stretching and strengthening, and
with any luck you’ll be cooking on the track or roads in no time.
Ingredients:
Directions:
In
a seven-day week combine one long, slow day with one short-interval day and one
tempo day. Mix liberally with recovery days/workouts. Beginners may take two to
four days off per week, intermediates will take off one to two days per week,
and more advanced walkers will take zero or one day off per week and may do
double workouts (i.e., walk twice per day) several days per week. Work load for
all walkers should be cut back by one third to one half of usual weekly mileage
in the week leading up to a 5k race. Intensity should remain the same, but at a
reduced volume (do fewer intervals and less total weekly mileage, but at the
same paces as always.)
Just as no two burritos are alike, no two walkers
will follow the same schedule. Beginner, intermediate and advanced schedules
may look like the following:
Monday Off
Tuesday Easy 3 miles
Wednesday 8 x 400 meters fast with 2:00-minute easy
walking recoveries
Thursday Off
Friday 3 miles “not so easy” (tempo)
workout
Saturday Off
Sunday Easy 6 miles
Monday Off
Tuesday 6
x 800 meters or 5 x 1 kilometer at up to 10 seconds faster than 5k race pace
with 2:00-minute easy walking recoveries
Wednesday Easy 4 miles
Thursday 3 miles “not so easy” (tempo) workout
Friday Easy 4 miles
Saturday 8
x 400 meters from 5k pace down to 6-8 seconds per 400m faster than 5k pace
Sunday Easy 8-10 miles
Monday Morning: Easy 3-5 miles racewalk or cross-train
Afternoon: Easy
3-5 miles
Tuesday Morning: Easy 3-5 miles
Afternoon: 6 x 800 meters or 5 x 1 kilometer at up to 10 seconds faster than 5k race pace with 2:00-minute easy walking recoveries
Wednesday Morning: Easy
3-5 miles racewalk or cross-train
Afternoon: Easy
3-5 miles
Thursday Morning: Easy 3-5 miles
Afternoon: 5
miles “not so easy” (tempo) workout
Friday Morning: Easy 3-5 miles racewalk or cross-train
Afternoon: Easy
3-5 miles
Saturday Morning:
8 x 400 meters from 5k pace down to 6-8 seconds per 400m faster than 5k pace.
Afternoon: Easy
3 miles
Sunday Morning: Easy 10-12 miles with the last 3 miles
faster, approaching tempo pace
Afternoon:
Off
Ok, so that’s the whole enchilada. Put on your shoes and get cookin’!
DMcG