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).
Manchester Harriers and Athletics Club 