SRR Track FAQ

How much does track cost?

Anyone is free to try a workout or two and see if they wish to run SRR track workouts. In the long run, to run with SRR at the Tufts Outdoor Track, you must be a member in good standing of the club who has paid the membership fee for the current year (currently $20/year per individual) You can join the club on-line (link through the Membership or Track links on the website at www.srr.org) or bring a check made payable to "Somerville Road Runners" to track. No cash, please!

Where do we run? Where do I park?

Outdoors we are at the Tufts Outdoor track off College (map). Indoor track is at Tufts' indoor track facility in the Gantcher Center. (map) Street parking is for residents only; you may be ticketed. We've been ok parking in the lot across the street from The Gantcher Center for outdoor and indoor track.

What should I bring with me?

a sports watch to time your laps (if its new, be sure to learn how to use it before you come!)
a bottle of water (there are fountains at both the indoor and outdoor tracks, but there are times when you don't have time to walk over and get a drink)
running clothes if you will be changing at the indoor track. Indoors, we have access to restrooms, but do not have access to lockers or showers. Outdoors, we sometimes, but not always, have access to restrooms. It's a good idea to visit the bathroom before heading to outdoor track.

Do I have to warm up?

Yes, Coach O'Leary recommends a one to two mile warm up. For indoor track we do this outside; for outdoor track you can do it on the track. Do not forgo this; failure to warm up can result in injury. If you come late, do your warm up on the track (outside lanes) and join the workout when you can.

When should I come inside for indoor track?

We have access to the indoor track from 7 pm to 8 pm on Tuesdays. Please do not come inside until about 6:50. This will help keep us in Tufts' good graces.

What will happen at a typical workout?

Runners will begin to gather at the track and at about the starting time, Coach O'Leary will call us together and explain the evening's workout. He also posts this to the SRR Yahoo group and posts it on the SRR track page. It's a good idea to look at it ahead of time, so you can be prepared and determine if you have questions.

He'll have all do a few more warm up laps including a few "striders." Striders are short fast pickups interspersed in those few laps. Many runners jog the curves and do "striders" on the straight parts of the track. If you are new to the group, these warm up laps are a good place to try to find people running at about your same pace.

After the warm up we'll typically start the workout together, each group going at its own pace doing its own distance.

The track has many lanes, where do I run?

Whenever you are doing the fast part of your workout you run in the first (inside-most) lane. If the fast part is run at 5 minute mile pace, you run in the first lane. If the fast part is 10 minute pace, you run in the first lane. Faster and slower runners have equal access to this first lane when doing the fast part of the workout. If you are doing the hard segment of your workout and a faster runner comes up behind you to pass, it is HIS/HER responsibility to move to the outside lane to pass, not the other way around.

When doing the recovery (slower part) of a workout use the outside two lanes or (even better) run outside of the track altogether if possible. This leaves plenty of room for others to pass. Some workouts are continuous (no recovery) and you may be in the first lane all night!

If you need to pass another runner who is also in the first lane:

look behind you to be sure no one is coming in the second lane
move fully into the second lane
pass
move immediately back into the first lane

How do I know how fast to run?

If you are new to the club, send an e-mail to Coach O'Leary with your time from a recent race (5k, 10k, half marathon, whatever you did recently) and he'll put you on the pace chart. Each runner is assigned to a particular interval pace group (A, B, C, D, E, F). Different groups typically have different workouts.

On the chart you'll see different paces. Workouts are arranged around these different paces. After a while you'll learn the three numbers you'll need to know by heart.

LACTATE THRESHOLD (LT) pace - This is the pace you could race at for about one hour (10K to 1/2 marathon depending on your ability). Workouts using THRESHOLD pace are to promote strength and also to increase your tolerance to lactic acid buildup in your muscles (also called Anaerobic Threshold workouts). These are usually combined with a very short recovery time. Your LT pace for one mile is found in the first column of the pace chart.

INTERVAL pace - The pace you race at for about 3K or 2 miles. Workouts using Interval pace are to promote aerobic capacity (also called VO2MAX), i.e. the ability for your body to take in oxygen to the bloodstream. I like to call these "heavy breathing" workouts - by the end of each interval you should be breathing pretty hard, and as the workout continues you will start to breathe heavy earlier in the interval. These usually consist of 2 to 5 minute segments of hard running with a moderately recovery somewhat shorter than the hard running time. Your INTERVAL paces are found in the middle columns of the pace chart.

REPEAT pace - The pace at which you could race 1 mile all-out. Workouts using Repeat pace are to promote good running form along with running efficiency and economy. These are not all out sprints! Don't do them too fast and lose proper running form or you will defeat the purpose of the workout. Work on your leg turnover being quick and light (think of running over eggshells or hot coals!) and your upper body staying relaxed. Your REPEAT paces are found in the last 2 columns on the pace chart.

How long is the track? That is, how far is one lap?

The Tufts indoor track is 200 meters. So eight laps is 1600 meters, just about a mile. The Tufts outdoor track is 400 meters. Out there, four laps is 1,600 meters, just about a mile.

Can I run beside my friend?

We encourage everyone to run as close to single file as possible in the first lane. You can run "off the shoulder," that is, a bit behind and to the right of someone else in the first lane. It also works well if small groups of runners run one behind the other and take turns "being the leader."

Can I do more than the suggested workout? Run it faster than the pace chart says?

The workouts are designed to be challenging but doable. If the workout is way too easy, check with Coach O'Leary. If the workout is too hard, do the same. It's a good practice to do the first part of the workout at or even a bit slower than the goal paces and if you have anything left, do the latter parts faster. It's very easy to start out too fast and not be able to finish. We don't want that to happen!

Is there a minimum mileage I should be doing before I join track?

Track at SRR is a resource for you. There are no mileage "requirements". You are free to do whatever mileage you want, including just track workouts and zero other mileage if you wish. What follows is merely my (Joe O'Leary's) advice:

The best way to race fast at almost any distance is to run solid consistent, aerobic mileage. Track is something we do on top of mileage, not in place of it. Running many aerobic miles week after week builds up a huge base of strength. Track sharpens that base. The bigger a base of mileage you have, the more improvement track work will make of it.

All of this is my way of saying that I do not think it is a good idea to do track unless you are getting in at least 25 miles per week of running (including the track workouts). I think it is a bad idea to attempt to do our track workouts on less. In fact I think it's better to do much more, if you are willing and able. However, I realize that not everyone has the time or desire to run this much. if you cannot for some reason run at least 25 miles per week and still wish to do track, I recommend you reduce the volume of the workouts I post so that the hard running for one day never totals more than 10% of your weekly mileage

Why this recommendation? For several reasons but primarily for race performance. Even in a race as short as a 5k, well over 90% of the energy you will use will come from your aerobic system - a system one develops through regular, aerobic (i.e. relatively easy) mileage -- not through hard intervals on the track. Also, track, especially indoor track, puts a dramatic strain on the joints, muscles and tendons. If your body is in danger of becoming injured, the stress of indoor track is the thing most likely to push it over the edge. And an injured runner cannot train. Although a good warmup can help alleviate the danger of injury in the short term, steady mileage does so as well -- in the long term -- by gradually preparing the body for these stresses.

If you ever wish to talk about this with me, feel free to pull me aside. I'll be happy to talk your ear off on the subject as well hear anything you have to say. And I won't deny that there are some very smart and very fast people who disagree with me on this. I don't presume to know everything about the subject. This is just the approach I have found over 25 years of competitive running that seems to work best for most and certainly works best for me. In the end, I suggest you take my recommendation as a starting point and experiment to find out what works best for you.