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Thursday Morning Track

In conjunction with DCRR’s year-round distance-specific training programs, and the club’s regular Saturday long runs, our formal track workouts aim to give runners of all abilities the fitness to reach their running goals.

For novice, casual, and experienced runners alike, track workouts will provide you with essential speed and endurance workouts that will improve your cardiovascular fitness and will help you perform at your best regardless of your level of competition.

The Wednesday night track workout mirrors the Thursday morning track workout. If evening running is more convenient for you, the Wednesday workout is a good option.

Location and Time

Unless otherwise noted, all Thursday morning track workouts are held at Yorktown High School in Arlington, Virginia.

The Thursday morning workout starts promptly at 6:00 a.m. Most runners arrive at 5:40 a.m. to warm up as a group. Whether you do so at the track or prior to arriving, runners are expected to warm up prior to 6:00 a.m.

Traning Philosophy

Our workouts focus on two of the three forms of speed work used by distance runners who compete in distances from the 5K to the marathon: stamina training (10K race pace or slower) and interval training (around 5K race pace). We also do a limited amount of speed training (faster than 5K race pace), especially during the summer.

Do not worry if track workouts are new to you. Similarly, do not be intimidated or think that track workouts are reserved for high-performing “fast” runners. DC Road Runners track workouts are open to all ability levels.

Each posted track workout offers suggested training maximums. Each workout can be individually tailored to your current level of fitness and specific running goals. Coach Ed Grant, has decades of track coaching experience and is happy to customize a workout plan to meet your needs.

Pacing and Temperature

To get a sense of how fast you should run during these workouts, we encourage you use the McMillan Running Calculator. You can plug in a recent race time and a goal race time, and the Calculator will produce training paces for everything from long runs to speed paces.

We recommend applying Mark Hadley’s Temperature and Dew Point Adjustments in warm and humid weather. Temperature and dew point forecasts are also available from the National Weather Service.

Track Workouts: November-December 2025

November 5: 2 x 20:00 Tempo Run. 3:00 recovery.
November 12: 800M repeats. (Those recovering from a marathon, do at 10K-10M pace, max 6 repeats. Those preparing for the Philadelphia Marathon or a December marathon, do at 5K pace, up to 8-10 repeats.) 400M recovery jog for all.
November 19: 3 x 1600M repeats. 10K pace. 400M recovery.
November 26: No workout. Happy Thanksgiving. If you are in town, please volunteer for the Alexandria Turkey Trot.
December 3: 6-8 x 800M, 10K pace, 200M recovery.
December 10: 4-5 x 1000M, 10K pace. 400M recovery.
December 17: Christmas Relays! 2-person teams, each running 10x 400M, alternating. Details TBD.
December 24 and 31: No Workouts! Recommend taking a two-week break from the track (any key January races, let Coach Ed know, and we’ll set up a workout). Use hill repeats instead, either independent or as part of long runs.

Track Resources

About Coach Grant

DCRR’s Wednesday Night Track Workouts have been coached since 1994 by Edward Grant, a Level I certified coach by USA Track & Field. Coach Ed ran competitively in high school and college, and after some years away from the sport, he returned as a masters runner, logging a top marathon time at age 41 of 2:51:47 (Philadelphia).

The track workout philosophy is simple: work hard, rest an appropriate amount between repetitions and sets, and—this is up to you—take the proper measures of recovery and rest in the day or two following.

These track workouts are structured to follow a regular program of training cycles, emphasizing tempo pace and long interval training in the fall and winter, with shorter and faster workouts from April through July.

A word for beginners: You are welcome! As with any new situation, the workouts may seem intimidating at first. But there is plenty of advice available, both from Coach Ed and from other runners. You’ll want to keep coming back, and we want you to keep coming back.

Generally, Coach Grant recommends that you be running about 20 miles per week (or the equivalent in aerobic cross-training) before attempting our workouts. You should also be running a long run of an hour. If you are not quite at that level, but you want to get there, please join us. You can do a modified workout, meet and train with other novice runners, and start gaining more fitness.

Coach Ed looks forward to seeing you at the track!

Track Etiquette

DC Road Runners shares the Washington-Liberty track with other groups, as well as individual runners and walkers. A few simple rules will keep us safe, avoid collisions, and allow athletes to run unimpeded.

The Lane One Rule (Part A): When you are running the “fast” (non-recovery) part of the workout, you “own” Lane One. Faster runners will pass around you in Lane Two—and if you are one of those faster runners, swing out to Lane Two to pass. It does not matter what your pace is—stick to Lane One.
The Lane One Rule (Part B): As a corollary to the first rule, keep Lane Two clear so that others may pass. If you are running in a pack, still keep to Lane One; do not run two or three-abreast.
The Recovery Rule: Take your recovery jogs in Lane Four or on the inside of the track. When returning to Lane One, always check behind you so that you do not cut others off.
Other Groups: Try as we might, not all other groups using the track are as sensitive to these simple rules of Track Etiquette. Politely remind others not to encumber the track if this becomes a problem.

Speed for Beginners

Here are some basic training principles for running on and off of the track.

The essential key is finding your current level of fitness. You can use a good recent race performance to gauge your current fitness by plugging your finish time into the McMillan Running Calculator. The calculations that McMillan provides will give you a helpful range of paces for virtually every type of workout you can imagine.

What follows is some common running and speed work vocabulary:

Tempo Run: the tempo run is a cornerstone of speed training. We spend much of the winter training at tempo pace. If you really raced Cherry Blossom Ten Miler (or another ten miler), or if you have an upcoming 15K planned, you will know your “tempo pace”: it is your pace for races of tose distances.
Tempo and Cruise Intervals: we run a variety of tempo-and-cruise-paced workouts. Tempo intervals are run at just slightly faster than 10M race pace, while cruise intervals are done at close to 10K race pace. Recovery intervals are short. Again, the McMillan calculator will give you precise pace ranges for these types of workouts.
Interval Workouts: repeats from 400M to 5:00 in length, run at 5K pace, with a long break for longer repeats, and shorter breaks for shorter repeats.
“Faster” Interval Workouts: these intervals are shorter distances, usually 400M or less, run at 3K pace, mile pace, or faster. If done at 3K pace, a jogged 1-minute recovery is enough. As you get faster, a longer recovery is needed. We do relatively few of these workouts on Wednesday night, but they can be used as a second speed workout in the late summer and fall to complement our Wednesday night efforts. But these should be “short” workouts, covering no more than 2 miles in total repeat distance.
Long Runs: the most essential, but often the most misunderstood, component of your training schedule. Most weeks should include a long run of at least 90 minutes. Advice on how hard to run these varies somewhat, but most successful runners run these at two to two-and-one-half minutes slower than 10K pace, or 60-90 seconds slower than marathon pace. That can seem quite slow at times, but the purpose of these runs is not to build speed or to wear yourself out by running a hard pace. (As you increase your distance, that will make you tired enough.) It can take great discipline to keep these runs at the desired pace. Another way to measure the right effort is heart rate: about 70 percent of maximum heart rate is just about right. This can mean an even slower pace in the hot summer months.

Toward the end of a training cycle, when you are approaching your “peak,” some of your long runs should include a significant stretch at your marathon pace (40-60 seconds slower than 10K pace) or a shorter stretch (20 minutes, or 2 x 15 minutes) at tempo pace.

Don’t overdo the distance of your long runs, even when training for a marathon. Multiple 20-milers tend to prove the law of diminishing returns. For most marathoners, a series of gradually longer runs during the 4 to 5 months preceding the marathon, with the 6 to 8 longest runs averaging 16-18 miles, will be sufficient. The key is time on your feet, not distance. Coaching guru Dr. Jack Daniels, for example, recommends a long run of no longer than 2 hours and 30 minutes.