Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Tuesday Night Running Session

Dear Athletes
 
In my absence and without a coach, many of the Tuesday Night runners are keen to keep going at McGilvray whilst I am away. This is great news! What I have done is modified (shortened and reduced intensity) of the Thursday night sessions for the next few weeks which I'd like you to give a go on top of the drill sets that we've been warming up with. Meet at 6pm for a steady 10-15 jog warm-up and aim to start the drills at 6.15pm. I'd like you to really focus on the hopping drills and those that get your legs working quickly, i.e. "fast feet". With that in mind, here are the "main sets" that you should aim to have a go at:
 

WEEK 1 (Tuesday 24th June): 6.00pm Running Intervals = "The Recovery Test Set" – most people think that a 'test set' means hardwork, the reverse is true with this session, where you monitor your fitness development through your recovery adaptation. A heart rate monitor is quite essential for this session. Basically, every time you have a recovery week you will complete this set of 3 x 1km with 60secs recovery, at the exact mid-point between Lower and Upper Level 3 Pace from the Pace Calculator. As soon as each interval is completed you should record your finishing HR. Ideally as you go through the program, your HR will start to drop-off from one session to the next indicating that you are recovering well and responding to the training program. There are some external factors such as residual fatigue, dehydration, ambient air temperature, glycogen levels etc which may impact on the results of these sessions, but so long as you turn up fresh, having eaten and drunk well during the day and having stayed out of the sun, you should see a very interesting and reassuring progression with this walk-in-the-park session.

 

WEEK 2: 6.00pm Running Intervals = 5 x 1km continuous alternating steady with smooth flowing form and faster (~10km pace) but letting go of your run technique!

 

WEEK 3: 6.00pm Running Intervals = Warm-up well for 10 to 15 mins and include 4 x 30s strides in the last 5 to 7 mins. Now run for 4 mins at upper Level 4 (~10km pace), steady run for 4 mins, 3 fast / 3 easy, 2/2, 1/1 - best done on varying terrain (i.e. soft but firm surface over a few undulating hills).

 

WEEK 4: 6.00pm Running Intervals = As per Tuesday 24th June.

 

WEEK 5: 6.00pm Running Intervals = "The Short and Long" – this will be a mix of 400m intervals with 1km continuous runs. Do 2 times 4 x 400m with 30secs rest, into 1km with 2mins recovery before starting the next set:

i.e. 2 x (4 x 400m + 30s RI 1 x 1km + 2mins RI).

 

This will be completed at ~10km pace. The 400s usually feel really easy (they should, you'd have to do 25 of them continuously if you were doing a 10km run!), but the 1km intervals start to 'pinch' a bit by the time the last set comes around. Try to hold a relaxed, comfortable gait focusing on relaxing the upper body, not 'bouncing' up and down and trying to hit a stride rate of 88 to 92spm (a Wetronome will help you with this) if you can (this is the number of times your right foot hits the ground in a minute – a higher rate is more economical, can help to reduce fatigue and the possibility of injury from overstriding. Try practicing this on some of your other runs, as we'll be doing a lot of it!).

 

WEEK 6: 6.00pm Running Intervals = Warm-up well for 10 to 15 mins and include 4 x 30s strides in the last 5 to 7 mins. Now run for 5 mins at upper Level 4, steady run for 5 mins, 4 fast / 4 easy, 3/3, 2/2, 1/1 - best done on varying terrain (i.e. soft but firm surface over a few undulating hills).

 

Enjoy!

 

Paul

 
Paul Newsome
Swim Smooth & The TEAM CORE
www.swimsmooth.com & www.theteamcore.com
+ 61 (0) 431 540 980
Follow the Blog at http://theteamcore.blogspot.com/

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