Gig Harbor's top four on the finishing straight of the Sundodger Invitational in Seattle. (Photo by Noah Benexch.)
Dear Rest of the Nation,
Please take notice: The top four runners of Gig Harbor High School are good. Very good. At Saturday’s Sundodger Invitational in Seattle, Mahmoud Moussa, Wolfgang Beck, Tristan Peloquin and Logan Carroll took spots three through six and were separated by only 0.22 seconds. Pack running to a T, they came in from 15:08.88 to 15:09.10 over the 4922m* course. They aren’t perfect, however. Their fifth runner was back in 45th place as they won over Kamiakin 63–91.
But Coach Mark Wieczorek, 28, a 1:45.36 800m runner who runs professionally for Brooks, said his top four “ran relatively controlled.” The wait for “uncontrolled” won’t be long. This weekend, Wieczorek says he is “letting them loose” at the Bob Firman Invite in Boise, Idaho. The quest for a fifth man starts then, and with a few boys who didn’t race at the Sundodger Invite, they have some candidates who could make the jump into a scoring role. If they find one, Gig Harbor will likely be rising higher than their current No. 8 ranking in the Running Times Top 10.
Wieczorek spoke with Running Times to give an inside look at what this week of training looks like. They train through most early season races, but they’re backing off a little in preparation for Saturday’s effort—the last time they’ll do so until the state meet on Nov. 9. Here’s how the week shapes up:
Monday: Long Run
After Saturday’s race, the team got to rest and run easy on Sunday so they were recovered for Monday’s long run, which doubles as a workout. The top guys will run 50–60 minutes and take a brief stop to refuel. After a sip of water or Gatorade or a bite of a PowerBar, they’ll go 20 minutes on the light end of threshold (around 6-minute pace). They’ll end with 15 minutes for a cooldown, giving the guys from 85–95 minutes of running.
Tuesday: Easy Day
Recovery day, 45–55 minutes. “Most of our mileage is controlled,” says Wieczorek. “A lot of days our schedule will say 30 to 50 minutes, for instance. That doesn’t mean if you’re the fastest guy on the team you’re doing 50, slowest is doing 30. It means if you’re recovering properly, if you’re responding well to the volume and training you’re doing, you’ll go 50. If you’re tired from workout, race, whatever reason, you’ll go 30.”
Wednesday: Aerobic Threshold Workout
Gig Harbor breaks up their workouts into aerobic threshold or lactate threshold. (Layman’s explanation: aerobic is slower while lactate is faster. See the Runner’s World Glossary for more.) Aerobic threshold depends on heart rate range, which Wieczorek has figured out for the runners on the team. After a 15-minute warm-up, Wednesday’s workout will be 30 minutes of aerobic threshold running that will be broken up into 3x10 minutes with 2–3 minutes of recovery between each set. The top guys on the team are running this workout in the 5:50 to 6:00 per mile range. They’ll finish up with a 15-minute cool-down.
Thursday: Easy Day
This will look a lot like Tuesday. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the squad usually adds in hip mobility drills over hurdles, core work with lunges and single leg squats, and some light strides. With the race on Saturday, they’ll back off and this day will be a little lighter on the extras.
Friday: Pre-Meet
After flying into Boise with 10 kids (seven will run varsity, three will run as junior varsity), Gig Harbor will jog 20 minutes through the course, do a full race day warm-up routine, light strides, and a 15-minute cooldown.
Saturday: Race Day
Wieczorek is going to have them race hard this weekend. He’s hoping the top four guys will do some serious damage and the fifth runner will be closer than he was at the Sundodger Invite.
Sunday: Easy Day/Rest
Because the long run is a workout day, the Gig Harbor boys will wait until Monday to do a long run so that they can recover from the weekend. They’re hoping they’ll do that with a smile on their face from the race.
Enjoy this look inside Gig Harbor’s training week? We want to feature you as well. Tweet @RunningTimesHS or email Liam.Boylan-Pett@rodale.com if you’re a coach or an athlete who wants to share what a week of their training looks like.
*We originally noted the distance as 5K, but it turns out the course was 78 meters short of that.
