Workout of the Week (part 2)

Running fast can be fun. It helps your running across the board, whatever distance you may be training for, or just maintaining a decent level of fitness.

WHAT: 5-6 sets of 2mins at your goal park run or 5k pace, a 1minute recovery jog, then run at a slightly harder effort for 1 minute, jog easy for 1 minute then go again

So the workout would look like:

Warm Up followed by

2mins @ parkrun / 5k effort, with a 1min easy jog / 1min @ a slightly harder effort than 5k / 1minute easy jog. Run this 5 to 6 times

Cool down

WARMUP/COOLDOWN: Warm up before the workout with 15-20 minutes of easy running followed by 4-6 x 20-second strides (i.e., accelerate for 5 seconds, spend the next 10 seconds at near-top speed, and then gradually decelerate to a jog over the final 5 seconds. Catch your breath for 40-60 seconds and then repeat 3-5 more times). Cool down after the workout with 5-15 minutes of easy running.

WHY: To move at speed, push your ceiling up as to what you can do.

WHERE: Preferably somewhere that is flat with a nice stretch you can get one complete rep in of 2mins / jog/ 1min / jog. Otherwise you can run on a Treadmill in the gym

WHEN: Generally in the middle of the week. You feel fresh & not fatigued from a harder workout the day before. Avoid doing the day before a more challenging run.

Running at a tempo you can sustain for an hour is a hard session. Breaking up this pace into shorter intervals lets you move at a controlled speed, which feels far more manageable and begins to teach your body to cope with the stress of running. Ending with short, faster efforts on tired legs gets that little bit more out of your session

WHAT: 5 to 6 sets of 5 mins at a tempo you could hold for an hour (imagine a 6/10 effort) followed by a 2minute easy walk/jog. At the end of these reps you run 4 repeats of 30seconds hard (8to 9/10 effort) off a 1 minute walk So the workout would look like:

Warm Up followed by

5 minutes running at a tempo you could hold for an hour

2 minutes easy jogging running. Repeat this 5-6 times

4 x 30 Seconds hard, with a 60 second easy jog/walk recovery.

Cool down

WHY: To help teach your body how to control a tempo pace and use what your body produces (lactate) as fuel

WHERE: Preferably somewhere that is flat with a nice stretch you can get one complete rep in of 5mins. Otherwise you can run on a Treadmill in the gym

WHEN: Alternate on a weekend, one weekend Parkrun, one weekend this session.

Long switch ups (or a kind of fartlek). Long runs are important, getting time on feet builds both physical and mental resilience. Some runners love them, some find them hard. Mix your long runs up by matching an easy running section by following with running for the same amount of time slightly harder. It may be 10 minutes easy, so 10 minutes slightly harder, then 3 minutes easy, 3 minutes harder and so on until you run is done. Try to make each easier / harder section a different time.

WHAT: Start by running easy for 10 to 15 minute then decide how much longer you want to run easy. However long that is match with the same time block that is a little bit of a harder effort. Keep this up until you have run for as long as you planned.

WARMUP/COOLDOWN: Nice and easy to remember – 10 to 15 minutes running at a 2 out of 10 effort.

WHY: To help bring some variety into a longer run and allow you to manage how hard you want to make it.

WHERE: Preferably somewhere that is flatter – to let you get in a decent rhythm and feel the paces. Between Margate and Reculver Towers gives you a nice long flat sections to use. Check the wind as well! This can make a big difference to how fast / slow your effort will be.

WHEN: Whenever you would normally do a long run use this instead

We are so lucky to have great tech to support our running today. However sometimes we can over rely on that tech and forget what it is like to just run, no eye on pace, splits, no taking pictures, nothing for Strava – just for you and the joy of running

WHAT: Choose one of the easy runs you would normally run. Cover up your watch, leave the phone at home (or even the watch) and don’t record the run or look at any metrics. Then just go out and run. Take in everything around you, run at whatever pace feels comfortable, listen to your body / breath and take that as the race to run at today. When you feel you’ve run far enough turn for home.

WHY: Switching off from tech allows us to switch onto where we are and what it feels like to run, without worrying about being too fast / slow / not far enough/too far. It can help remind us of how enjoyable running can be for the sake of running.

WHERE: Anywhere you know will make you smile and enjoy the run

WHEN: Choose a day when you have an easy run planned and switch it up with the tech free run.