Summer Track Series

The 2025 Colonial Road Runners Summer Track Series workouts begin on Thursday, May 1, 2025 at 6:30pm. These weekly workouts take place every Thursday night at the Abington High School track, located at 201 Gliniewicz Way, Abington, MA. Once again Coach Rich Ghiorse will be leading these sessions, and each week will lead a track workout that will help you discover your inner speed demon. You will gain the full benefit of these workouts by attending each session, Rich will make each week’s workout available (see below) to do on your own if you are unable to attend. Any questions should be emailed to abingtontrack@colonialrunners.org.

May 1

1 Mile warm up jog
16X100m striders (run the straights and walk the corners)
1 Mile cool down jog

Coaches Tip: This is our first workout, so the workout is intended to get everyone used to run faster than normal. A strider is a short fast run of 100m (straight away on the track) where you will gradually accelerate until your speed is a little faster than your 5k pace for the last 30m of the run. Recovery is a walk around the corner of the track, repeat this 16 times.

May 8

1 Mile warm up jog
Pyramid Workout: 200m/400m/800m/400m/200m at 5k pace with 100m walking recovery between runs.
1 Mile cool down jog

Coaches Tip: This is a sneaky challenge, with short recovery time between runs. Try to keep to an even 5k pace on the runs.

May 15

1 Mile warm up jog
6X600m at 5k pace, 200m walking recovery.
1 Mile cool down jog

Coaches Tip: A jump in volume this week makes this a challenging early season workout. Stick to 5k pace and you should be fine.

May 22

1 Mile warm up jog
800m at hard pace then rest for 5 minutes.
1 Mile at mile pace (Coach will time mile and splits).
1 Mile cool down jog

Coaches Tip: Everyone should know how fast they can run a mile all out. This is the night to find out. The mile is easier if you do some hard running before. The 800m run before the mile should be run hard, but not all out. This should help breathing during your timed mile.

May 29

1 Mile warm up jog
5X800m at 5k pace, 200m walking recovery.
1 Mile cool down jog

Coaches Tip: 800m repeats are a staple for building endurance and speed. Try to run the repeats at even pace.

June 5

1 Mile warm up jog
12X300m with 100m walking recovery.
1 Mile cool down jog

Coaches Tip: Use this workout to build a finish kick. Run the first 100m at 5k pace, and accelerate the final 200m to +5k pace as if you were finishing a race. Very challenging workout with some fast running, lots of repeats and limited recovery.

June 12

1 Mile warm up jog
Ladder workout: 400m; 800m; 1200m; 1600; at 5k pace with 200m walking recovery between runs.
1 Mile cool down jog

Coaches Tip: Try to run even pace for each repeat, this workout gets more difficult as it goes on. Save enough energy to run the longer repeats at the same pace as the shorter ones and you will be fine.

June 19

1 Mile warm up jog
8X400m at 5k pace with 100m walking recovery.
1 Mile cool down jog

Coaches Tip: This workout has a limited recovery time between repeats. As you get deeper into the workout you should start to notice lactic acid build up (heavy legs). This is a good way to train your system to handle lactic acid better. A tough workout that will pay dividends down the line.

June 26

1 Mile warm up jog
2 sets (200m/400m/800m/400m/200m) at 5k pace, 100m walking recovery between runs, 5 minute recovery between sets.
1 Mile cool down jog

Coaches Tip: Limited recovery makes this a difficult workout. Try to pace yourself so that the second set is as fast as the first.

July 3

1 Mile warm up jog
4 sets (200m/400m/200m) at faster than 5k pace, 100m walking recovery between runs, 200m recovery between sets.
1 Mile cool down jog

Coaches Tip: This is a difficult workout with short recovery times. Good workout to increase your foot speed.

July 10

1 Mile warm up jog
3X1600m at 5k pace, 400m walking recovery.
1 Mile cool down jog

Coaches Tip: This is the hardest workout of the season. Keep to your 5k pace and you will be fine.

July 17

1 Mile warm up jog
“Deck of Cards workout” 200m/400m/800m/1200m/1600m with full recovery between runs.
1 Mile cool down jog

Coaches Tip: Coach will bring 5 cards (A,2,4,6,8) and the runs will be picked randomly from the deck. The distance of each repeat is 200m times the value of the card drawn. So the A=200m, 2=400M, 4=800m, 6-1200m and 8=1600m. This is a fun workout with a mix of distances both short and long.

July 24

1 Mile warm up jog
6X600 repeats at +5k pace, 200m walking recovery
1 Mile cool down jog

Coaches Tip: 600m will keep you in the burn zone a little longer than you might be used to making this a sneaky challenging workout. Full recovery between repeats makes for quality runs. Note that the pace is faster than 5k pace (which everyone does anyway), so push yourself.

July 31

1 Mile warm up jog
Ladder workout 200m/400m/800m/1200m/1600m run at 5k pace, 200m walking recovery.
1 Mile cool down jog

Coaches Tip: This workout will build stamina, as you go up the ladder try to keep you pace the same.

August 7

1 Mile warm up jog
5X800m repeats at +5k pace, 200m walking recovery
1 Mile cool down jog

Coaches Tip: Try to run these at a hard pace and at an even pace. Challenge yourself!

August 14

1 Mile warm up jog
800m at hard pace, 5-10 minute recovery.
Timed Mile at mile pace
1 Mile cool down jog

Coaches Tip: This is a repeat of a workout we did earlier in the season. See how much you have improved. Next week will be our last workout of the season, this will be a 5k run on the track with no watches allowed. I will have everyone guess their time prior to the run, the top 3 closest to their guessed time will win prizes.

August 21

5k on the track, runners will predict their time before the run and run without watches. The 3 runners who guess their times the closest will win prizes.
Warm up and cool down as you see fit. Start time for the 5k is 6:45 sharp.

Coaches Tip: This is our last workout for the season. It has been great working with everyone this year. Thanks for coming to the CRR Track Workouts.