SRR Track

You must be a SRR member to participate in the workouts regularly but if you are considering track/SRR and would like to check us out, you are welcome to come to a session as a guest.

November 2025:

SRR Outdoor Track is currently meeting at the Tufts Ellis Oval Track on Tuesdays at 6:30 PM. Tufts has been keeping the lights on for us. As long as the weather permits, we will continue outdoors until December. Dress warmly :-)

In December, we will take a break of a few weeks

SRR Indoor workouts will then begin on Tuesday, January 6 at 7:30 PM. These workouts are held at the MIT Indoor Track (located inside the Zesiger Center Building on the 3rd floor). Just enter the building (no earlier than 7:00) and tell the attendant at the main desk that you are with the Somerville Road Runners for the track workout. They will allow you past the desk. From there you go up the steps to the 3rd floor. We meet at the far end of the track from the door. There is a bathroom on the way up the stairs, next to the area that overlooks the pool.

Please contact Coach Joe O'Leary if you have any questions about track workouts.

Pace chart is located here. Look up your 5k race time or pace on the far right and you can see your complete list of recommended paces. If you do not have a 5K race time, but have some other race times, there are alternate ways to determine your paces. more on that below.

About our pace terminology:

We use the pacing system designed by legendary coach Jack Daniels. It assigns each runner 3 sets of paces corresponding to a desired intensity. The paces are:

THRESHOLD - About your one-hour race pace

INTERVAL - VO2 max pace. About the pace you could hold in a race that lasts 10-15 minutes

REPEAT - About the pace you could in a race lasting 3-4 minutes

You can determine your pace set using one of the many online calculators. For example, go here and enter a known race distance and time. Then click on the “Training” tab below to see your paces. (I suggest ignoring the “Easy” tab. We don’t use it in workouts and frankly, I find it faster than I like to run on most days)

Tuesday Jan 13 - 7:30 PM at MIT

Everyone: 400 at THRESHOLD. Then take as much rest as you want and then do this workout:

  • Group A: 6 x 800, 2:00 rest.

  • Group B: 6 x 800, 2:30 rest

  • Group C: 6 x 800, 2:30 rest

  • Group D: 6 x 600, 2:00 rest

  • Group E: 6 x 600, 2:30 rest

  • Group F: 6 x 600, 2:30 rest

Tuesday Jan 20 - 7:30 PM at MIT - “Deek” Workout:
This is a 5K Pace Session. There is no “rest” merely active recovery. You will spend the entire workout in lane 1, unless you are passing others, regardless of the pace you run.

In this workout, you will alternate between running at your 5K race pace (for 400 meters) and a “float” pace for 200 meters.

The total minimum distance for the workout is 4800 meters but it is easier to think of this in terms of “blocks”. A block is 600 meters (3 laps), 2 laps at 5k race and one lap at “float pace. So this is 8 blocks.

If you are doing solid weekly mileage and feel this is not challenging enough, feel free to add 1 or 2 blocks to the total distace.

Tuesday Jan 27 - 7:30 PM at MIT

Tuesday Feb 3 - 7:30 PM at MIT
With the USATF GP race coming up this weekend, we will touch on all paces this week

Groups A, B:

  • 1 x 1 mile at THRESHOLD (1:00 rest)

  • 3 x 1000 at INTERVAL (3:00 rest)

  • 2 x 400 at REPEAT (2:00 rest)

Groups C, D

  • 1 x 1 mile at THRESHOLD (1:00 rest)

  • 3 x 800 at INTERVAL (3:00 rest)

  • 4 x 200 at REPEAT (1:00 rest)

Groups E, F:

  • 1 x 1 mile at THRESHOLD (1:00 rest)

  • 3 x 600 at INTERVAL (2:30 rest)

  • 3 x 200 at REPEAT (1:00 rest)

Tuesday Feb 10 - 7:30 PM ta MIT

Repeat 200s

This week we will be doing 200s at REPEAT pace. But instead of taking a set amount of rest, we will be starting each at a specific time.  This is a bit complicated so I have listed below the exact start times of every single 200 for every single group.  I will also print this out in large print and post next to the track for you to check as you are running reps.

To start the workout, all of us will will do 400 meters at roughly INTERVAL pace. It doesn’t matter what pace you actually end up running for this, I just don’t want anyone to go right into REPEAT pace from nothing. After you have finished this, take as much rest as you want before starting the main workout (below).

The main workout is as follows:

Groups A & B:

Do 3 sets of 6 x 200 starting every minute. Take an additional 2 minutes rest between sets.  The intervals in each set start at the following cumulative times

  1. 0:00, 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, 4:00, and 5:00   

  2. 8:00, 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 13:00. 

  3. 16:00, 17:00, 18:00, 19:00, 20:00, 21:00

 

Groups C & D:

Do 6 x 200 starting every 1:10, then 2 sets of 5 x 200 starting every 1:10. Take an additional 2:00 rest between set

  1. 0:00, 1:10, 2:20, 3:30, 4:40, 5:50.

  2. 9:00, 10:10, 11:20, 12:30, 13:40

  3. 17:00, 18:10, 19:20, 20:30, 21:40

 

Groups E, F:

Do 5 x 200 starting every 1:30, then 2 sets of 4 x 200 starting every 1:30. Take an additional 2:00 rest between sets 

  1. 0:00, 1:30, 3:00, 4:30, 6:00

  2. 9:30, 11:00, 12:30, 14:00

  3. 17:30, 19:00, 20:30, 22:00

 

Important points about this workout:

  • Be sure to get in a good warmup of at least a full mile and preferably 2 (super easy)  before we meet at 7:30 PM.  DO NOT SKIP THIS

  • Track etiquette is critical:  We are all going to be starting/stopping a lot at high speeds with other runners on the track.  So please pay attention, run single, file, all of it.

  • Bring a watch and have it show you the total running time of the workout.  Not the current interval time, rather the total time since you started the workout.  Leave it running for the whole workout.  If you must, hit the lap button at the end of each 200 but you want the watch to be set to show you the total running time after you do that because you will need this to know when to start the next rep.

 

This might seem hard to you.  The rest is a LOT less than we normally get after running REPEAT pace.  But while this workout can be very, very hard, it can also be be the easiest workout you ever do if you want 

Why?  Because while I encourage REPEAT pace, in the end, I do note care what pace you run for each rep.  It is perfectly valid to "take a rep off" in the middle of a set.  Or to take several reps off.  I want you to push yourselves but not destroy yourselves.

I will use myself as an example. This is actually my paces from from last year so not true right now.

Last year I could at around VDOT 53 or 54.  That means I was in group B and I had to run 200s starting every minute.  It also means that a 200 will take me 40 or 41 seconds to run if I hold chart pace.  So at most I only get 20 seconds rest.  That sounds really hard.

But now suppose instead I were to run each 200 in exactly 1 minute.  So I would get ZERO rest after each rep.  but I also would be running an 8:00 mile which is basically a warmup jog for for me.    Suddenly my tough REPEAT pace has become a jog.    It all depends on how much I insist on holding chart pace.

So basically this workout is only has hard as I make it.  The same goes for all of you.  Start off trying to hold something near chart pace.  But if you find yourself falling over tired, take a 200 right at the slow pace.  You'll still start with all of the people you're running with, but you will recover to be ready to maybe run the next one hard.

Tuesday Feb 17 - 7:30 PM at MIT

Cruise Intervals as per Jan 6.

Tuesday Feb 24 - 7:30 PM at MIT

  • A: 5 x 1000 at INTERVAL (2:30 rest)

  • B: 3 x 1000 at INTERVAL (3:00 rest), 2 x 800 at INTERVAL (2:00 rest)

  • C & D: 6 x 800 at INTERVAL (2:30 rest)

  • E: 7 x 600 at INTERVAL (2:30 rest)

  • F: 6 x 600 at INTERVAL (2:30 rest)