Month: June 2023

After some stellar performances over the last couple of weeks in races we’re going to be attempting to maintain that speed for a few weeks. This week will be pyramid week and I’m going to be observing (and videoing if I have consent) some strides; so I can see what technical areas to work on in July.

Suggested Drills for the week

Perfect form bodyweight strength including squats and lunges

Oberserved strides

Tuesday Session

8 mins easy warm up

1 minute, 2 minutes, 4 minutes, 8 minutes, 8 minutes, 4 minutes, 2 minutes and then 1 minute at ‘max effort for that time’. With 2 minutes at a recovery pace (probably 5-10s per km slower than marathon pace) between each effort

8 mins Cool Down

Thursday Session

5 minutes easy

Warm-up and drills

Pyramid – 100, 200, 400, 800, 400, 200, 100 with 400 m easy between each. Efforts at mile pace or faster.

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) with a 50-100m stride every 1km.

This week is the first of the Sale Sizzlers so Thursday’s session is cancelled and Tuesday’s session allows for a bit of self selection of pace.

The technical focus is keeping hips nice and high and stable for an efficient run that keeps low load on the knees.

Suggested Drills for the week

A-March

Jump Lunge

High Cadence running on the spot then lean forward from the ankle until you ‘fall’ into a run

Strides – imagine a helium balloon attached to your head lifting your head and torso up (but keep your shoulders relaxed)

Tuesday Session

10 minutes warm-up

Chain running – run in a line, the last runner runs hard (90% of max pace) to the front of the group, when the last runner reaches the front then the next ‘last runner’ sets of hard to get to the front. REPEAT for 15 minutes

10 minutes easy

15 minutes more chain running

10 mins Cool Down

If you are racing on Thursday then moderate your effort in the hard runs accordingly.

Thursday Session

NO SESSION (If not competing in the Sizzler then a good alternative would be; warm-up, 5km max effort, cool-down)

Weekend Session

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 – put in max effort up the hills (assuming its reasonably local and the hills are less than 5 minutes to climb).

This week we will be coming to the end of our phase of working on 1 mile and 5km race preparation. The sessions are designed to result in peak 5km form by the week of the 19th of June (the week of the Manchester Mile and the first Sale Sizzler)

The technical focus of this weeks drills is maintaining a short stride; this minimises injury risk and forces a higher cadence – which then avoids overstriding when running at fast paces.

Suggested Drills for the week

Straight Leg Run – landing on the ball of the foot and using the springiness in the calf and achilles to keep ground contact time short.

B-March

B-Skip

Short strides with a focus on driving the feet back and a short stride length.

Tuesday Session

15 minute warm-up

35 minutes at a pace at or slightly faster than 10km race pace

10 minute cool-down

A simple but tough set…

Thursday Session

Its the last time we’re doing 5 x 1km this season, down to 60 seconds rest which should mean that you will not be recovered before starting the next rep.

5 Minutes easy running

Drills and Strides

FIVE TIMES: 1000m at target 5km pace, 60 seconds rest

5 minutes easy running to cool down

Weekend Session

Minimum of 10 minutes warm up

Long* Run with a ‘stride’ every 1km – to do a ‘stride’ accelerate to 90% of your sprint pace whilst still holding a nice tall endurance form, hold this pace for ~20-30 seconds (roughly 20 breaths or 100m) and then gently decelerate to your normal pace.

*Long is relative to what you have been doing recently; no more than 20% longer than any run you’ve done in the past 4 weeks.

At least 10 minutes cool down

This week we will be coming to the end of our phase of working on 1 mile and 5km race preparation. The sessions are designed to result in peak 5km form by the week of the 19th of June (the week of the Manchester Mile and the first Sale Sizzler)

The technical focus of this weeks drills is on knee flexion; ensuring that the foot strikes the ground after the knee has started flexing and the foot is moving backwards

Suggested Drills for the week

Straight leg running

B-progression

Strides with focus on short strides and 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

5 Minutes easy running

Drills and Strides

SIX TIMES 800m at faster than 5km pace – with work on psychological approaches to fatigue

5 minutes easy running to cool down

Weekend Session

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 – put in max effort up the hills (assuming its reasonably local and the hills are less than 5 minutes to climb).