by Marilyn McDonald

Some of us have about wound down our seasons while others still have a little while to go with some late season racing.

If you are winding down I recommend finding some fun cross training. This is the time of year to hit the trails, find some cross country running races or jump in some cyclocross or mountain bike racing -- anything short, fast and fun.

If you are still racing and heading to some of the fall half IMs and IMs you still have some work to do. You've likely been racing for a number of months now and dragging out more long miles may only leave you flat. The months of racing, tapering and long sessions can see you losing some strength by this point in the year.

I recommend focusing your energy on quality for your event and keeping strength and power up. You want to prevent the feeling of "getting slow" from the year worth of long training and hard racing.

Here is a run session I like to use for keeping leg speed and the quality of work without beating yourself up and taking too long to recover.

On the treadmill or flat road:

1. 30min warm up easy, include 4-6x 15sec strides and drills.
2. 2x (10x 45sec fast/15sec off ), 5min easy between sets.
   Note: “Fast” is the priority, not “speed.” The goal is to turn your legs over as fast as you can while maintaining form. The off can be walk, easy jog, or straddle the treadmill
3. 20min cool down.

This is a great session to keep the leg speed up and not leave a mark too deep to continue right into your next training session. If you’re feeling slow, sluggish and weak, this session is sure to pick you up.

Keep the quality and see yourself fly through your end of season races.