3 Track Workouts Guaranteed to Kick Your Ass

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I'm a huge fan of the track workout.  It's something that I didn't introduce into my training for about five years after I started running, probably because of a subconscious fear instilled in me by awful, once-a-year miles forced on me in middle school gym class.  But now that I've gotten comfortable with running on the track, speed workouts are my favorite of all.  Yes, they're awful.  But you feel damn good afterward.

Scared of the track?

Going to the track is a little intimidating the first time, but it needn't be.  All you really need to know is this:

  • One lap is 400 meters, just about a quarter-mile.
  • Run counterclockwise.
  • Stay to the inside most of the time, yelling "track" when you need to pass someone — they should get out of the way.
  • When you hear someone behind you yell "track," you get out of the way.  Or get run over and make an enemy in the process.

Once you have this down, you need to know what you do there, since running around in circles at a steady pace gets boring quickly (as in immediately).  While lots of track workouts are so complicated you need to bring a piece of paper to remind yourself of the paces and distances, my favorites are the simple ones that involve running a single distance multiple times at a single prescribed pace, punctuated by rest intervals.  To me, such workouts mimic the feel of a marathon, where miles at the beginning feel easy, but as your body wears down, hanging on to the pace that was once so comfortable becomes a true test of fitness and willpower.

With that melodramatic introduction, here are my three favorite track workouts.  Of course, warm up before attempting any of these, cool down afterward, and only attempt them if you're already in good running shape and know what a proper intensity feels like.  These aren't get-off-the-couch-and-into-shape workouts.  If something feels too hard, by all means slow down.

Three Killer Track Workouts

Track Workout #3:  3 x 1 mile with 400 m rest intervals.

Pace:  Determine 5K mile-pace and subtract 10 seconds.

Just in case you aren't getting the notation, consider my example:  My 5K pace is about a 6:12 mile, so I'm looking at 6:02 for this workout.  After a warmup, I run one mile at 6:02, then jog slowly around the track one time, then repeat the whole thing two more times, for a total of three repeats.  Too easy, tough guy?  Try resting for only one minute instead of one lap.

Track Workout #2:  Yasso 800's.

I've mentioned this workout before, but that's because I like it so much.  It's used as a marathon prediction workout, but it's a good workout in its own right.  Here's how it works.  Start with your marathon time (or better, your target marathon time).  For me last year, it was 3 hours, 10 minutes.  Now shift the units so that it becomes minutes and seconds instead of hours and minutes.  (3:10 becomes 3 minutes, 10 seconds.)  Run 800m at this pace, then lightly jog for the same amount of time.  Do this as many times as possible.  If you can complete 10 repeats and 10 rests, then in theory, you can run your target marathon time on a flat course.  In my experience, this is a bit optimistic — that's why I like to do more than 10.  For more, see the original Runner's World article introducing the workout.

And my all-time favorite…

Track Workout #1:  10 x 400m with 400m rest intervals.

Pace: Determine 5K mile-pace, then divide by 4 and subtract 10 seconds.  (Example: 19:15 5K is a 6:12 mile.  Divided by 4 gives 1:33, subtracting 10 gives 1:23 for each 400m interval.)  This takes the idea of "easy at first, brutal at the end" to the extreme."  And it's so easy — Run 400m, jog 400m.  After one or two of these, it seems like a breeze.  Get to number 6 or so, and all the sudden 4 more is out of the question.  But because each only requires a short effort, I find myself thinking "Ok, I can manage just one more."  And then after a rest, I think the same thing. And so on until the end.

And then, as I drink my recovery drink, I feel like I own the world.

Good luck!  Why not get your speed on today?

P.S.  I tried to keep the running-nerd terminology to a minimum here, but if any of it seems foreign, check out the runner's glossary Megan and I just put together.


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Ever make your own BBQ sauce?

Ok, ready for this?  It's a fun one, because it involves:

(a) rolling things up into little southern-goodness-bombs and

(b) making your own barbecue sauce, something I'd never done before.

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Today's recipe is from Veganomicon, my featured cookbook of the month.  Which, by the way, is really starting to grow on me: Many of the recipes are a little more complicated than what I'm used to, but the recipes and notes are so well written that I feel like I learn something new every time I make one of the meals.  (Example: "The basic components of a BBQ sauce are something sweet, something sour, and something tomato-y.")  And the tone of the writing is funny and friendly, without being annoyingly witty or cloying.  As if the PPK needs any of my encouragement, nice job, PPK.

Proof that leaf wraps don't have to suck

I'm always wary of recipes that require wrapping the main event in some sort of leaf — lettuce, cabbage, or otherwise.  I guess I associate them with that idiotic low-carb craze where we all shunned tortillas and rolls in favor of animal flesh and heart attacks.  And if needless death doesn't get you, then surely that fact that lettuce leaf wraps always fall apart will.

But not these.  Wrapped in collards, these little flavor bundles stay together really well.  And what exactly is inside said flavor bundles?  Mushrooms, black-eyed peas, chopped collards, and the star of the show — homemade barbecue sauce!

Before you ask: Yes, you could substitute a store-bought barbecue sauce.  But what fun would that be?  Doing it yourself is far more badass (and the sauce is probably spicier, unless you have the barbecue otaku and have some blazing specialty BBQ in your fridge).

When, in the end, I tested my sauce for flavors, I ended up adding some more vinegar and salt.  And in hopes of not killing wife and unborn baby, I started with half the crushed red pepper, and it's a good thing I did.  The sauce was plenty spicy, even for me, and I like spicy stuff.  Just a warning.

Alright, enough of my yacking.  Here's the recipe.

(And leave me a comment, because I'd love to know how others like their barbecue sauce.  I've always been a vinegar-based guy; that's the stuff my friend and I embarked on that moronic 7-hour hajj to the Outer Banks one night to get.  But this recipe has shown me that vinegar and tomato can more-than-peacefully coexist.)

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BBQ Black-eyed Pea-Collard Rolls

(reprinted from Veganomicon with permission)

Makes 12 rolls, serves 3 to 4.  Time: 40 minutes.

  • 12 large collard leaves
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced thickly
  • 4 cups chopped collards
  • 1 (15-ounce) can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed (1 1/2 cups)
  • 3 cups Backyard BBQ Sauce (below)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

When the water is boiling, submerge the collard leaves and cover for 6 minutes.  When done, use tongs to transfer them to a strainer and let cool.  Handle them gently so that they don't rip.

Preheat a large skillet over medium heat.  Saute the mushrooms in the oil for about 5 minutes, until softened.  Add the chopped collards.  Cook for 7 to 10 minutes, or until most of the moisture has cooked off.  Add the black-eyed peas and cook through.  Pour on 2 cups of the BBQ sauce and cook for about 5 more minutes.  If it looks watery, turn the heat up a bit and cook a few more minutes.

Let cool just a bit so that you can make the rolls without burning yourself.

Place a collard on a flat work surface with the side that has not been sliced facing you.  Place about 2 tablespoons of the black-eyed peas and company in the lower third of the collard.  Fold the bottom up over the mixture, then fold in the sides.  Roll the collard up, gently but firmly.  If the filling is spilling out, remove some of the black-eyed peas and try again.

Continue rolling the remaining collards.  When ready to serve, spoon extra BBQ sauce over the rolls.

Backyard BBQ Sauce

Makes about 4 cups.  Time: 40 minutes.

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 medium-size yellow onion, chopped as finely as you can
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
  • 1/3 cup molasses
  • 1/3 cup white vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard (Dijon is fine, too)
  • 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

Preheat a saucepan over medium heat.  Place the onions in a pan and saute the oil until browned (about 7 minutes).  Add the garlic and saute for another minute.  Add all the other ingredients except the mustard and liquid smoke, and cook for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour, uncovered, stirring occasionally.  Lower the heat if the sauce begins to splatter everywhere.  Add the mustard and liquid smoke, and taste for sweetness/sourness.  Adjust the flavors if you think it's necessary, and cook for 5 more minutes.  If you like a smooth BBQ sauce then puree it, but that's not entirely necessary.


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Hi there, I'm Matt. I went vegetarian last March, and almost immediately I became a much stronger runner. I recently qualified for the Boston Marathon; now it's on to my first 50-miler!

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