The main set will be focused on lactate shuttling; working on the physiology and psychology of working around the lactate tolerance heart rate (the maximum heart rate / effort that can be maintained whilst lactate in the blood remains at a steady level; at any effort above that point lactate concentration continues to rise and you can only continue for a relatively short time at that pace.)
The technical focus of this week is making sure the knee is flexed when your foot touches the ground.
Suggested Drills for the week
Lunge progression
B-Progression
High-cadence running on the spot then lean forwards from the ankle until you cannot maintain balance without moving forwards
Strides whilst imagining driving the ground backwards
Tuesday Session
10 minutes warm-up
4 minutes of run fast* for a count of 20 breaths, walk for 10 breaths (repeating this cycle for 4 minutes) THEN full recovery including some easy running.
* fast – this should be a reasonably smooth acceleration to your maximum pace. By the end of the 4 minutes it will feel EXTREMELY challenging.
REPEAT the above four times
10 mins Cool Down
For background see here.
Thursday Session
20 mins easy warm up – include the suggested drills for the week
800m at Half Marathon pace then build every 400m until you are breathing so hard that you have to take a breath every step, following that 400m slow down just enough to be able to speak short (2-3 word) sentences, on the following 400m speed back up to the breathing every step pace, repeat this for 35 minutes.
This set is inspired by this post about finding your lactate threshold/VT2
5 mins cool down
Weekend Session
Minimum of 10 minutes warm up
Do a long run (distance will be up to you but this should be your longest run of the week) on a course that has rolling hills or Tatton Park XC.
Manchester Harriers and Athletics Club 