Many of us find that we have our fastest race times in the spring. Every one of my Personal Bests (5K to the marathon) has occurred in sub-50- degree temperatures. Back in my competitive days, I would look to races such as the St. Patrick's Day 10K as an opportunity for a really fast race. The St. Patrick's Day 10K is particularly attractive because it is a relatively fast course and the large field means that a runner can find someone running his pace and draft against that person, expending two to three percent less effort.

The challenge to a mid-March race is training because an icy or snowy DC winter can make it pretty difficult to get in the requisite training. If you are planning to go all out at St. Patrick's, here a few tips that may help you.

First, a long run, one or two hard days, recovery runs, and days off are the key ingredients to a successful 10K training program.

You need to make sure that you are doing a weekly long run. It is recommend that the long run be at least eight miles and no longer than twelve when training for the 10K. Most runners whose long run exceeds twelve miles have tired legs and find it difficult to generate the necessary leg turnover during mid-week speed sessions. On the other hand, it is mentally helpful to do a weekly long run that is longer than the actual race, with the marathon, of course, being the only exception. The long run should be at an easy conversational pace because its main purpose is to build leg strength. For those training with a heart monitor, run between sixty and seventy percent using the Karvonen formula. For those running by pace, run one and one-half to two minutes slower than current 10K race pace. The good news is that it does not matter how slowly you do your long run, so it can be done on a snowy or even icy surface.

Runners training for an early spring 10K race should concentrate on anaerobic threshold (AT) training in January and February. AT pace approximates a runner's current 15K or ten-mile race pace. My favorite AT workouts are three times one mile with a one-minute recovery and a twenty-minute nonstop AT run. The reason for the short recovery between mile repeats is that many runners blast through their miles on the track, having to walk between miles because they are running them too hard. You will get an equal if not greater benefit by running the repeats slightly slower with a very short recovery period.

The practical problem of winter speed work is the condition of the roads or track. Of course, if it is a mild winter, there should no problems and you can do your workout. Make sure that you do an adequate warm up of at least one mile before trying to run an AT workout; otherwise you greatly increase the risk of injury. But if conditions make it impossible to run outdoors, you will have to find a treadmill. You can get a pretty good AT workout on the treadmill; however, adjust the incline of the treadmill to 1.0 to make up for the absence of wind resistance. Otherwise, you may be thinking you are training at a faster pace than you actually are and could end up disappointed at St. Patrick's Day.

Every runner needs recovery days. After an AT session, a runner's body needs to recover. It takes between 36 and 48 hours for your body to repair itself from a hard session or even the long run. Take it easy the day after. Too many hard days with too little recovery are a sure-fire recipe to disaster that leads to injury or staleness. Recovery days are best run at sixty to sixty-five percent effort using a heart monitor or two minutes a mile slower than current 10K race pace. You can arrange your recovery days around the weather and when it is too nasty (too cold or snowing), simply take the day off. Your body will thank you.

Finally, weather permitting, in the first week of March, try a workout at projected race pace by running several mile repeats at race pace with a one-half lap recovery between miles. This should help provide confidence when you hit the starting line.

Make sure that you taper the week before the race, reducing your mileage and eliminating speed work that week. Start the race conservatively, perhaps even running the first mile five to ten seconds slower than race pace. After the first mile, pick up your pace and chances are you will meet your goal. See you at the St. Patrick's Day 10K on March 12th.

Kirt West is a RRCA certified coach and former member of the RRCA Coaching Committee. He is a private coach for motivated adult runners. Questions can be sent to E-mail.