The main fitness focus will be lactate shuttling – working on efforts above and below lactate threshold (the highest level of effort where lactate concentration in the blood still remains steady), however, following Wythenshawe XC we’re going to spend some time working on going from a ‘leg lift’ section into fast flat terrain.
The technical focus will be running with good posture.
Strength Exercises for the week
All exercises should be body weight variants only unless an S&C coach (can be me) has agreed you have perfect form. Good examples of form can be found on https://www.muscleandstrength.com/exercises
Glute Bridge, Turkish Get-Up, Cobra – we’re working on the Turkish Get-Up for a while since it is a complex but extremely useful exercise
Suggested Drills for the week
A-Progression (A-March, A-Skip, A-Run)
Lunge Progression (Static Lunge, Walking Lunge, Jump Lunge – all with focus on keeping core upright)
Strides while imagining a balloon lifting your head
Tuesday Session
10 minute warm-up
Alternating minutes at 10km / Cross-Country race pace and half marathon race pace, i.e., 1 minute at each for a total of 16 minutes – repeat this twice with a break of 5 to 6 minutes between the efforts.
10 minute cool-down
Thursday Session
10 mins easy warm up – include the suggested drills for the week
5 REPS of:
2 minutes high knees (over low hurdles) into 400m best effort followed by 400m easy
10 minutes strength work
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) with a 50-100m stride every 1km.
Manchester Harriers and Athletics Club 