Sacfit offers great training programs for beginning, intermediate, and advanced runners.

Beginning Runners

For beginners, the program is designed with one simple and straight forward goal: to get you to your fitness goal, whether it’s just getting out the door or crossing the finish line of your first 5K, 10K, or even half or full marathon! As such, we provide a program that increases mileage and intensity very gradually so as not to induce injuries, and thereby maximize success.

We also construct individualized programs that allow you to go at your own pace along side others with similar pace. And rather than focusing on miles, our beginner members start with timed runs. Since there are no miles to worry about, you just begin your run and when the timed workout reaches the halfway point, you turn around and return back.

Intermediate and Advance Runners

For our intermediate and advanced runners, we offer a range of ability-based programs designed to meet your individual goals, be it finishing your first half or full marathon, improving your time from your last race, or qualifying for Boston. All intermediate and advanced workouts are mile-based rather than time-based.

All these factors contribute toward the ultimate goal of improving fitness, and for those with race goals, completing a half or full marathon. But in keeping with the Sacfit philosophy, all of our programs are also designed to keep the process of getting fit a fun, enjoyable, and interesting endeavor. After all, if it’s not fun, what’s the point?

All Sacfit programs are designed to consider the busy schedules of our lives. While some adjustment and priority must be made for any new undertaking, our programs ensure that you will not be consumed by workouts. Following is our typical weekly schedule:

• Monday – Recovery Workout
• Tuesday – Specialized Workout – Hill Repeats, Stairs, and Track
• Thursday – Specialized Workout – Pace and Tempo
• Saturday – Long workout
• Sunday – Rest day

The mid-week workouts consist of 20- to 30-minute runs for beginning team members, and between 3-6 miles for intermediate and advanced team members. These workouts increase in time and distance over the season. For Tuesdays, we provide supervised workouts for hill repeats, stairs, and track workouts, and for Thursdays, we offer supervised workouts for pace and tempo workouts.

For the weekend, the Saturday morning workout is the “long” run. Beginning runners start at 30 to 40 minutes, Intermediate starts at 4 to 5 miles, and our advanced runners start at 6 miles. Then, over the course of the program, the duration and mileages gradually increase as you move toward your goal race distance.

That’s three supervised workouts each week to provide you optimal motivation!

And finally Sunday, which is an optional easy, short bike ride. We’ll start at various points along the Parkway, and other venues, and ride a while to loosen the legs and complete the workout week with a cross-train that fulfills the final piece of best practices for endurance training.

The most important component to sensible and safe training is not pushing too hard too soon. In running, that’s finding the right pace. In order to find the right pace for you, we conduct a Pace Finder run at the start of the season. The Pace Finder run is not a race. Rather, it is easygoing run or walk (or both) at a pace that is comfortable enough for you to carry on a conversation throughout the run or walk.

As you complete your walk – anywhere from one to two miles, Sacfit coaches record your time and a few vitals like your pulse. From that, we calculate your pace group, which we assign as color groups – Blue, Green, Gold, or Red. And from there the fun begins…