Welcome to our Community Running workout of the week (W.O.W.)! Here’s a taste of the community running workouts we send out throughout the running season, May - October. We’ll post one here to the blog once a month, but if you’re looking for more consistent running inspiration, send us an email at running@craftsbury.com to get the workout every week!

Week of 5.11.2020

After a weekend of snow squalls and howling winds, it's time to heat things up with some spicy speed work and virtual racing. If you have any questions about this week's workout or other running programming, don't hesitate to reach out. Below is the schedule for the week - happy moving and grooving! 

Community Track Workouts: We won't be meeting in person for Thursday Night Track Practice for the month of May, at least. We encourage you to get the season rolling by trying these workouts on your own. These don't need to be done of a track, you can run them by distance or by time on the roads, rail trail, etc.* We have the weekly workouts mapped out for the whole season, so starting in May will give you the full benefits of the workout build and progression for the year. 

Workout of the Week 
Theme: Gear shifting

Last week we tested different gears, this week we are practicing shifting fluidly from one gear up to the next. Just like last week, focus on making each pace distinct. This workout will help teach your body to adapt to various speeds and be more able to surge in a race setting. Self-select one of the workouts below - Workout A is designed to be lower mileage for folks just getting into interval work, while Workout C is higher mileage for more experienced runners. 

Workout A (Tigers): 6 x 400m, each 400m interval run as 200m @ 5k pace right into 200m @ mile pace. 2.5' active recovery between each 400m interval; 1.5 miles of work. 

Workout B (Jaguars): 8-10 x 400m, each 400m interval run as 200m @ 5k pace right into 200m @ mile pace. 2.5' active recovery between each 400m interval; 2 - 2.5 miles of work. 

Workout C (Lions): 12 x 400m, each 400m interval run as 200m @ 5k pace right into 200m @ mile pace. 2.5' active recovery between each 400m interval; 3 miles of work. 

*Workout by Time: To run this workout by time, run 6-12 x (1' @ 5k pace / 30" @ mile pace / 2.5' easy). No need to be exact on pacing or distance, focus on shifting and working those different gears!

Looking for more on-your-own running fun? We’ve got you covered:

Preseason with UnTapped: Run your way to some sweet deals from UnTapped in Week 2 of this free, virtual race series! This week you are running a 5k as fast as you can, results to be compiled by your average grade-adjusted-pace (GAP) for that 5k. Let's get moooooooving - join the #thunderingherd here!

Five for Farmers Challenge: Join our May fundraising challenge to help us raise money for the Vermont Farm Fund's COVID-19 Relief Campaign! For every participant who runs five days a week for the month of May, the Outdoor Center will donate $5 to the Vermont Farm Fund (VFF) each week.