Story for NYRR GT intervals #8
The workout goes like this:
We’ll jog on the reservoir track for a half-mile to the northern pumphouse*
We’ll start a repeating series of five pickups, measured by light-poles, each pickup two poles shorter than the last, with half the distance (in poles) of jogging as the recovery for each pickup. The series is:
> 10 poles fast (“on”), then 5 poles recovery jog (“off”)
> 8 on, 4 off
> 6 on, 3 off
> 4 on, 2 off
> 2 on
> 10-pole recovery between sets
There are 92 light poles on the circumference of the reservoir (not counting one that’s about ten yards from another one). From East 90th to the northern pumphouse is 29 poles. (You won’t need these numbers; we just think you might want to amuse your friends with them.) We’ll start the first cycle near there* with our first 10-pole pickup.
Everyone will do three sets of the cycle, which should get us just past the end of our second lap of the 1.577-mile Shuman Running Track. We’ll continue about 200 meters north to the latitude of East 93rd Street, where we’ll go through a gap in the fence on the outer edge of the track and jog back to East 90th on the bridle path as a cooldown.
The 10-pole pickups are about 275 meters long, compared to, for instance, Cat Hill (380 meters). Because the runs are so short and completely flat, your effort (7-8 RPE) will probably result in a faster pace than in any other GT workout, with the possible exception of a 220-yard relay leg. (If you’ve been wanting to test out some lightweight training shoes or racing flats before your next race, this would be a great time.) The recoveries will go by very quickly, so you should keep a gear in reserve; if you sprint the first few pickups, you won’t agree with Coach Melanie for very long about how fun the workout is.
The weather’s going to be quite nice tomorrow, so we’ll probably have a lot of company on the track, 99 percent of whom will be stationary or slower than you. Please be sure that you have clearance on the roadway, and if you don’t, just slow down and wait for an opening around any oblivious road-blockers.
As our groups finish, we’ll convene for strength/flexibility/relaxation with the mayor. No, not mayor De Blasio, despite his affinity for runners, cyclists, and a car-free Central Park. Mayor John Purroy Mitchel.
* There’s construction going on near the two northern pumphouse buildings, and an off-ramp and an on-ramp have been installed—wood-chip trails from the Reservoir path out to the bridle path (just east of the pumphouses) and then back to the reservoir path (west of the pumphouses). We’ll end our half-mile jog on the bridle path directly north of the bigger building, get our groups organized, and then jog up onto the Reservoir trail before starting the first 10-pole pickup at the first light pole that we come to. On subsequent trips past this area, we’ll have to look to our left and count the light poles from a bit farther off than usual.
Weather forecasts:
7:00 AM – 46°, sunny, 71% humidity, mostly cloudy
7:00 PM – 55°, clear, 62% humidity, cloudy
Pretty nice running weather!
