Dawn Grunnagle — January 2015
15 x 3 min (tempo) w/ 1 min jog rest
I can’t express just how beneficial and fun my time working with Dawn Grunnagle was from 2013 through 2016. She was my first true post-collegiate athlete and one that pushed me to be a better coach and showed me just how important all of the small things and details are if you want to be ELITE.
When I started working with Dawn she was a pure middle distance runner, but had dreams of qualifying for the Olympic Trials in the marathon. We were successful in moving her from the 800/1500 up to the half marathon/marathon and accomplished that first major goal of qualifying for the Olympic Trials.
In the winter of 2014-2015 we were prepping for the 2015 Los Angeles Marathon. It was going to be the US Championships for that event and was a preview of sorts for the 2016 US Olympic Trials, which were also going to be held in LA.
That winter was the best block of training that Dawn had put in with me as her coach. It was also a time where I was training as well and since it was during the winter I was able to run most workouts and long runs with her. It was a very fun time for me as a coach of an ELITE level athlete.
The session here was 15 x 3 minutes…starting with the first few around goal marathon pace and getting faster throughout. By the end of the session we were running 2:40/800 meters (5:20/mi pace) and really rolling. The 1 minute rest periods were short…but long enough to just get the breathing back to normal before jumping back in it.
LA ended up being hot…in 2015 and in 2016…and while we never got to see the fruit of her hard training in a marathon result, I do believe it was the foundation of her marathon career, which has now seen her run 2:33.
Phillips Running 