Author: Alex Masidlover

The main sets 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 keeping a tall posture for economical running and lower fatigue on long runs.

Suggested Drills for the week

A-March

Ball Slam

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

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

10 mins easy warm up – include the suggested drills for the week

3x 800m @ 10km race pace with 400 easy between reps followed by a threshold effort* with 50m ‘sprint’ bursts.

* threshold should be approximately a pace you can sustain for an hour – this will be somewhere between 10km and half marathon race pace. This table allows you to look up your ‘VDOT’ based on race paces and then table 2 on the same page shows your threshold pace.

10 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.

The main sets 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 keeping the upper body relaxed when working hard.

Suggested Drills for the week

A-progression

Strides whilst focusing on aspects of arm drive – a-prog x2 – correct plane, relaxed shoulders, 90 degree, relaxed shoulders, drive back, relaxed shoulders

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

Thursday Session

20 mins easy warm up – include the suggested drills for the week

FOUR TIMES:

4 x400m first lap at XC race pace/effort, then aim to slow down by 10s per lap on each of the remaining 3 laps – minimal rest between laps (just enough to get everyone to start at the same time).

Recover for 2-3 minutes after the 4 laps then repeat…

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.

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.

This week we will be doing some observed running to identify areas to work on in future weeks.

The main set will be focused on improving VO2 Max – the amount of oxygen the body can use during exercise; this is a key parameter in middle to long distance racing.

Suggested Drills for the week

Straight legged running

A-Progression (A-March, A-Skip, A-Run)

B-Progression (A-March, A-Skip, A-Run)

Strides

Tuesday Session

10 minutes warm-up

SEVEN TIMES: 3 minutes at 3km race pace 3 minutes recovery (can be walking)*

8 minutes cool-down

* This is one of the hardest sets of the year; reps 5 and 6 should seem almost insurmountable, rep 7 will only feel achievable because it is the last one…

Thursday Session

20 mins easy warm up – include the suggested drills for the week

FIVE OR SIX TIMES: 800s at 5km race pace with max effort on the straights – recovery until breathing normally

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.

This week our technical focus is on a nice strong arm drive.

For our main sets we have some Christmas specials!

Suggested Drills for the week

A-Progression (A-March, A-Skip, A-Run)

A-Progression (A-March, A-Skip, A-Run) with focus on arm drive

Strides while focusing on the individual aspects of arm drive in each of 4 sets of strides; keeping elbow joint at 90 degrees, keeping the arm in the correct plane, getting a full arm drive and keeping the shoulders relaxed.

Tuesday Session

10 minutes 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 minutes cool-down

Thursday Session

20 mins easy warm up – include the suggested drills for the week

2000m effort 3 minutes rest

1600m effort 2.5 minutes rest

1200m effort 2 minutes rest

800m effort 1.5 minutes rest

400m effort

5 mins cool down

The efforts should be at approx. 5km race pace.

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 Greater Manchester XC Championships

This week our technical focus is on keeping the hips high and stable to avoid wasting energy lifting the torso up and down.

For our main sets we have some Christmas specials!

Suggested Drills for the week

A-March

Ball Slam

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

10 seconds max effort then 2 minutes recovery

20 seconds max effort then 2 minutes recovery

30 seconds max effort then 2 minutes recovery

40 seconds max effort then 2 minutes recovery

50 seconds max effort then 2 minutes recovery

60 seconds max effort then 2 minutes recovery

70 seconds max effort then 2 minutes recovery

80 seconds max effort then 2 minutes recovery

90 seconds max effort then 2 minutes recovery

100 seconds max effort then 2 minutes recovery

110 seconds max effort then 2 minutes recovery

120 seconds max effort then 2 minutes recovery

10 minutes cool-down

Thursday Session

20 mins easy warm up – include the suggested drills for the week

Pass the parcel! Full details will be explained on the night. If you want something equivalent then 10×400 with approx 2 mins rest between efforts.

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.

The fitness focus this week and until the new year will be working on getting our aerobic threshold as close as possible to our lactate threshold; there is a good, albeit cycling focused, article here.

The technical focus will be working on maintaining a good posture and light-footedness

Suggested Drills for the week

Straight leg run

A-progression

B-progression

Tuesday Session

10 minutes warm-up

2 x 20 minutes at a pace where conversation is no longer possible but short sentences with brief gaps to breath are still possible – this should be somewhere between your half marathon pace and your 10km race pace

5 minute cool-down

Thursday Session

The aim of this set is to maintain a heart rate that is between aerobic threshold and lactate threshold – we do this by keeping the majority of the lap easy but with some hard effort in the middle of each lap and minimal rest between laps

20 mins easy warm up – include the suggested drills for the week

On each lap; start easy accelerate slowly to 90% of sprint speed by 200m then decelerate slowly until the end of the lap – once everyone has completed the lap start again.

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.

The fitness focus this week and until the new year will be working on getting our aerobic threshold as close as possible to our lactate threshold; there is a good, albeit cycling focused, article here.

The technical focus will be working on making sure your knee is flexed before your foot touches the ground.

Suggested Drills for the week

Straight leg, ball of foot taps

Toe-taps

B-Progression

Strides; focusing on pulling the ground backwards

Tuesday Session

10 minutes warm-up

45 minutes at a pace where conversation is no longer easy and it is no longer possible to breath only through your nose.

5 minute cool-down

Thursday Session

20 mins easy warm up – include the suggested drills for the week

FOUR TIMES:

4 x400m first lap at XC race pace/effort, then aim to slow down by 10s per lap on each of the remaining 3 laps – minimal rest between laps (just enough to get everyone to start at the same time).

Recover for 2-3 minutes after the 4 laps then repeat…

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) but every 1km do a stride (accelerate to 90% of sprint speed, hold it for 10 breaths or approx 20 seconds, then decelerate).

The fitness focus this week and until the new year will be working on getting our aerobic threshold as close as possible to our lactate threshold; there is a good, albeit cycling focused, article here.

The technical focus will be working on a strong effective arm drive.

Suggested Drills for the week

A-Progression (A-March, A-Skip, A-Run)

A-Progression (A-March, A-Skip, A-Run) with focus on arm drive

Strides while focusing on the individual aspects of arm drive in each of 4 sets of strides; keeping elbow joint at 90 degrees, keeping the arm in the correct plane, getting a full arm drive and keeping the shoulders relaxed.

Tuesday Session

5 minute warm-up

10 minutes at the fastest pace at which you can still hold a conversation (albeit one with heavy breathing).

5 minutes easy

15 minutes at the fastest pace at which you can still hold a conversation.

5 minutes easy

10 minutes at the fastest pace at which you can still hold a conversation.

5 minute cool-down

Thursday Session

20 mins easy warm up – include the suggested drills for the week

Two 15 minute blocks of 400m timed reps; alternating breathing only through the nose and normal breathing – aim will be to get to the fastest pace you can maintain both nose-breathing and normal-breathing laps at the same pace.

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 the last 30 minutes at the pace practiced earlier in the week, i.e., the fastest that you can still breath through your nose/hold a conversation at.

The 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)

The technical focus will be running with good posture.

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

3x 800m @ 10km race pace with 400 easy between reps followed by a threshold effort* with 50m ‘sprint’ bursts.

* threshold should be approximately a pace you can sustain for an hour – this will be somewhere between 10km and half marathon race pace. This table allows you to look up your ‘VDOT’ based on race paces and then table 2 on the same page shows your threshold pace.

10 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.