Registration Form – View and print a copy to pay with cash, check, or credit card.*

If you enroll after the first session, or if you cannot attend the first session, your program booklet and singlet will be mailed to you.

Sorry, no refunds will be provided in full or in part for any reason, including injury, after a program begins. No prorated fees are provided for late enrollments. You must be at least 18 years of age and complete an entry form and waiver.

Interval Training

Interval training helps improve your "anaerobic" tolerance (that is, your body's ability to process oxygen to maintain your pace), and therefore your ability to run faster with less effort. There are four components to an interval workout:

• The distance to be run – Usually three or four-tenths of a mile (or less).
• The number of repetitions to be run – Usually from one to four times the racing distance. So, if you are preparing for a 5K (3.1-mile) race, you would run repetitions totaling one to four times that distance, or three to 12.5 miles.
• The speed or time of each run – That is, the current or goal pace.
• The recovery interval – The time required for a runner to return to an "aerobic" level, which is usually equal to the time of the previous run, or to a heart-rate of 120 beats per minute.

• Warm up with a one to two-mile light run or jog.
• Stretch for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Run six acceleration sprints of 55 to 75 yards, followed by six to ten quarter-mile segments at your current 10K (6.2-mile) pace.
• Warm-down with a one-half to one-mile light jog.
• Stretch five to ten minutes.

Progressive tempo runs are either four to eight miles in length, or 30 to 45 minutes in duration. The first one to two miles (or 5 to 15 minutes) is run at low intensity, serving as a warm-up. Then, you will progressively increase your intensity for each remaining mile of the run. This portion begins at a pace that is approximately one minute per mile slower than your current 10K race pace (or 70% to 80 % of your maximum heart rate). Then you will progressively increase your pace to a level that is 15 seconds per mile slower than your current 10K race pace (or 80 to 90 % of your maximum heart rate).

This technique will build your stamina and ability to simultaneously run harder with more efficiency. It can also be used to enhance your ability to run "negative splits" during a race (i.e., so you can run the second half of the race faster than the first half).

• Stretch for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Run four to eight miles at a progressively-increasing high intensity; the first one to two miles, run slowly; then increase intensity for each mile thereafter.
• Jog and stretch five to ten minutes.

Fartlek, a Swedish term for "speed play", is basically a hodgepodge of running techniques mixed into one workout. It features many changes in speed and intensity to help increase your lactate tolerance, speed, power, efficiency, and the capacity to dictate and control your running rhythm.

Traditionally, you would conduct this training in a rural setting such as a trail or forest preserve where you can enjoy the terrain. As you progress through a course, you would run however you feel like running – jogging, striding, sprinting, and even walking – for indeterminate times and distances. The original purpose of this method was to refresh one's psyche, where you aren't bound to disciplined routines or structure.

Today, fartlek training sessions are often pre-planned, with specific goals for running speed, distance and intensity. You still enjoy the variety, but gain physiological benefits from the speed, intensity, and duration of the training.

• Warm up with a one to two-mile light run or jog.
• Stretch for five to ten minutes.
• Run six acceleration sprints of 55 to 75 yards, followed by 20 to 40 minutes of moderate to high-intensity fartlek running.
• Warm-down with a half-mile jog.
• Stretch five to ten minutes.

In and Out training features alternating periods of intense running (Ins) with periods of running at reduced intensity (Outs). The training is non-stop, proceeding directly from one segment to the next without stopping for recovery. The Out portion is basically a limited opportunity for recovery from the accumulated "load" you experience from the In portion. This technique helps develop your ability to control pace changes and offers experience in sustaining a challenging running pace during higher levels of stress. The duration of each In and Out may be as brief as one minute or as long as ten minutes. The number of Ins and Outs is determined by the desired total training time and intensity.

• Warm up with a 1-1/2 to two-mile light run or jog.
• Stretch for five to ten minutes.
• Run six acceleration sprints of 55 to 75 yards.
• Run approximately one-half mile segments of In-Out-In-Out-In where Ins are at your current 10K race pace and Outs are at a pace that is one minute slower than that.
• Warm-down with a half-mile jog.
• Stretch five to ten minutes.