This Month’s Group Training Schedule

Monday

MONTHLY TRACK SESSION

Please before you do this session make sure that the area you intend to run is safe and Social Distancing can be maintained if required.

Warm Up (i.e. Drills, gentle run for 2-5 mins)

Choose 3-4 points (i.e. Street Furniture, Lamp Posts or Trees depending on where you are and what is safe)

Choose a start point and run at 5k+ Pace to the first point, recover run/walk back to start point, run at 5k+ pace to second point, recover run/walk back to start and continue until you reach the furthest point and returned to start position.

Repeat as many times as you feel you can do having a 2min rest between reps.

Cool Down (Gentle run and relaxed static stretches) don’t overdo it.

 Tuesday

• SPEED SESSION – 400m reps – Abbey Road Sports Field

  Session to commence with a warm-up, a series of Technical Drills for Speed (which could include Slow High

  Knees, High Knee Skips, Fast Feet, Butt Kicks, Sideways Jumping Jacks, etc.), the Main Session, and a Cool Down.

   

  ‘A’ Session: 6 reps x 2 sets, and

  ‘B’ Session: 5 reps x 2 sets.

  All to walk back to the start between reps, with 4 minutes recovery between sets.

  “Each rep should be as good as your first”

   

  Members are reminded to undertake an appropriate cool down, followed by some static stretches,

  at the conclusion of the session.

 Thursday

ENDURANCE SESSION – SWALEDALE AVENUE HILL SESSION

“Hills are speedwork in disguise” – Frank Shorter, US Olympic Marathon Gold Medallist, 1972 and Olympic Silver Medallist, 1976.

Starting on the corner of Lunedale Road and Staindrop Road, Members build their pace along Staindrop Road, before applying effort (75%-80% of max. effort) as they turn right into Swaledale Avenue. As you ascend the hill lean from your ankles, emphasize your arm action, driving forward with high knees, fully extending your rear leg, and try to be up on your toes.

Don’t stop when you get to the top! Run strongly off the brow of the hill, maintaining the pace as they turn right into Birkdale Road. Members then take recovery from the corner of Birkdale Road and Lunedale Road back to the starting point, where they commence the rep. again. Take the recovery period as slowly as you want, loosen off, and bring your heart rate back down.

Each loop is approximately 800m, and effort on each climb should be the same as the first rep.

A Session – 8 reps

B Session – 6 reps

SPEED SESSION – FARTLEK (Swedish for ‘Speed Play’) (Green Park) Session to commence with a warm-up (run to the session) and a set of technical drills (technical template for running uphill/downhill).

Main Session: Periods of increased pace followed by periods of recovery. The emphasis is on running for significant periods at a pace faster than your normal training and racing paces ie. greater than 5K pace. Each hard effort is followed by a recovery stage, when the pace should be reduced to a point where breathing and pulse rate return to, or near, resting rate, after which the next hard effort follows.  (10 minutes Fartlek / 4 minutes rest / 10 minutes Fartlek / 4 minutes rest / 5 minutes Fartlek).

 Members are reminded to undertake an appropriate cool down, followed by some static stretches, at the conclusion of the session.

LUMPS AND BUMPS – West Park (Meet in the car park at The White Heifer That

Travelled, though there is ample car parking in the new Aldi car park)

(The paths consist of a fine, loose gravel. Road shoes should be adequate, however Members may prefer to wear trail shoes).

The session starts with a warm-up (run around route), and some appropriate drills (Lunges, Single Leg Hops, Squat Jumps, Bounding, High Knees, Hill Sprints, etc.). From the starting point, Members run straight up the hill ahead of them, circling the ‘sculpture’ at the top of the hill, and then take the last path before they would re-join the way they had come. Following this path until the next right-hand turn. Taking this right-hand path then brings you back to the starting point, where you start to climb once again (use flour to mark the paths with arrows to ensure that Members take the correct route).

 The loop contains a couple of climbs and one sharp decline, and Members should be mindful to use the appropriate techniques for uphill and downhill running (when running uphill Members should demonstrate a slight lean from the hips, not the stomach, with the chest straight and open, and focus on the path 10m/15m ahead of you, shorten your stride length and try to run on your forefoot/ball of your foot. When running downhill, for shallow descents it will be possible to lengthen your stride almost to the point of over-striding, but for steeper descents you are advised maintain a shorter stride, being sure to plant the whole of your foot in a plantar flexed position, allowing the whole of the sole of the foot to be in contact with the ground.

 The ‘A’ Session is 15 Minutes of continuous repetitions, followed by a 4 Minute recovery, and a further 15 Minutes of continuous repetitions in the opposite direction;

 The ‘B’ Session is 15 Minutes of continuous repetitions, followed by a 4 Minute recovery, and a further 10 Minutes of continuous repetitions in the opposite direction.

 Members are reminded to undertake an appropriate cool down, followed by some static stretches, at the conclusion of the session.

Tuesday

SPEED – PAIRED REPS ON ABBEY ROAD SPORTS FIELD (50m/75m/100m)

Session to commence with a warm-up, a series of Technical

Drills for Speed (which could include Slow High Knees, High Knee Skips, Fast Feet, Butt Kicks, Sideways Jumping Jacks, etc.), the Main Session, and a Cool Down.

A Session – 10mins/5mins rest/10mins/5mins rest/5mins

B Session – 10mins/5mins rest/10mins (can add 5mins rest/5mins)

Members are reminded to undertake an appropriate cool down, followed by some static stretches, at the conclusion of the session.

ENDURANCE SESSION – 600 metre reps – Broken Scar 

“Each rep should be as good as your first”

A group: 6 to 8 reps

B Group: 5 to 6 reps

Everyone to meet at Broken Scar car park at 6.30pm

Steady groups to start here as well.

Tuesday 

SPEED SESSION – INDIAN FILE/PYRAMID SESSION (Abbey Road Sports Field)  

Session to commence with a warm-up exercise and a series of technical drills and strides.  

Indian File – 10 minutes
In lines of 6 and where runner at the back runs to the front
First run to the front will be steady and then each time slowly increase your speed to the front of the line and on your last run you should be running at high intensity and be warmed up ready for the Pyramid Session.

Pyramid Session
All runners start at the same point and on the whistle run in excess of 5K pace (85%-90% of Maximum Effort) for a minute. When the whistle blows, stop and rest for 30 seconds, and then run back for a minute. If paced correctly, all runners should finish where they started.

Runners will then run for 2 minutes, have a 60 second rest, and run back for 2 minutes.
Then run for 3 minutes, with a 90 second recovery, and run back for 3 minutes.
Then run for 4 minutes, with a 2 minutes recovery, and run back for 4 minutes, before coming back down the pyramid (3, 2, 1).

At the conclusion of the session, Members should undertake an appropriate cool down, followed by some static stretches.

Thursday 

HIGH GRANGE 800m Reps –  (Meet in the car park at The White Heifer That Travelled, though there is ample car parking in the new Aldi car park) – Session will commence with a warm-up (run to the session and a recce of the route).

 Each rep starts on West Auckland Road at the traffic lights at the junction with John Fowler Way. Runners will follow West Auckland Road North West towards the roundabout, and at the roundabout follow the path around to the right heading up Rotary Way. At the next roundabout, runners will bear right once again, and then right at the next roundabout taking them onto Alverton Drive. Each rep. ends at the junction on Ainsley Grove and Alverton Drive.

 A 1:30 recovery should be taken between each 800m rep., during which time runners should walk down Alverton Drive, cross Abbotsfield Way (carefully), and follow the public footpath to the starting point of the rep. once again.

 The ‘A’ Session is 10 x 800m Reps;

The ‘B’ Session is 8 x 800m Reps; and

The ‘C’ Session is 6 x 800m Reps.

 This is intended to be an endurance session, hence the higher number of reps., however Members should seek to run each rep. at a threshold pace (ie. perhaps a pace that you could sustain for an hour, or 7/10 on the RPE scale – it should feel ‘comfortably hard’.)

 At the end of the session, Members are reminded to undertake an appropriate cool down followed by some static stretches.