Our first real repetition workout of the year was three weeks into being back together. We had done several "threshold" type workouts leading up to this, but this was the first one with any real pace approaching race pace effort with a set rest. Many variations were used but all in an effort to keep as many of our athletes running together as much as possible.

Men

A. 6x1M w/3' rest b/reps

B. 3x(1M-1k) w/3' rest b/reps ... ended up being about 4:30 rest b/each set

C. 3x(2x1k + 2x300m) w/2' rest after first 1k, and 1' rest after second 1k and first 300's, 3' rest b/sets

The trail we used was just short of 1M (1460m), and we did out-and-backs on it. We broke up the men into three groups, doing the workouts above. The "A" group was the more developed distance runners, and we were mimicing a "Vigil Miles" workout that we will repeat throughout the year. The "B" group was the distance runners who need a little more developing, or would just have needed to run these miles a little slower; instead of giving them less rest, I gave them the 1M-1k setup so they could still maintain the pace they needed and get their 3' rest. The "C" group was made up primarily of mid-distance runners whom I wanted to keep their cadence up. We maintained the aerobic goal of the workout though by keeping their rest shorter (relative to their reps being shorter). A couple of our potential contributors were in the "B" group, so it was not necessarily a talent separation.

The "B" group would finish the first mile with the "A" group, then jog ~400m back down the trail to start their 1k back. The "C" group would run with the "A"/"B" groups through the 1k, wait 2', then run back to the start, where they would do their 2x300m w/1' rest. After the "A" group finished their second mile back to the original start, all groups were there at roughly the same time and they could start the next rep together.

Women

A. 5x1M w/3-4' rest b/reps

B. 1M-1k-1M-1k-1M w/3' rest b/reps

The trail we used was just short of 1M (1460m), and we did out-and-backs on it. We broke up the women into two groups, doing the workouts above. The "A" group was the more developed distance runners, or the girls who could handle the higher volume at this point. We were mimicing a "Vigil Miles" workout that we will repeat throughout the year. The "B" group was the girls who needed just a little more rest (they would gain about 90sec of rest after the 2nd/4th reps) or we wanted to do slightly less volume. A couple of our top girls were in the "B" group, so it was not necessarily a talent-group separation.

The women would all run together on the first rep, then the "B" group would jog ~400m back down the trail and start their 1k after 3' of rest. The "A" group would stay put and run the Mile back after their 3' of rest. The "B" group would finish and have a little over 4' of rest after the 2nd/4th rep while the "A" group would keep their 3' rest. Then the "A"/"B" groups would start the 3rd rep together, and do the 4th rep the same way as the second. For the 5th rep, we actually split the mile into a 1k and a 400m in an effort to really keep the quality of the efforts high and give them a chance to start turning their wheels a little bit more.