Try these six coach-recommended sessions to upgrade your training
words: tina chantreyCOACH CLASS
es, it’s cold and there’s a good
chance you haven’t seen the
sun in a while. Getting out the
door, especially in the evenings,
is a mammoth task. The UK winter is not
the most inspiring place to be when you’re
a runner. But with a few new sessions to
get stuck into you can breathe new life into
your winter training programme. We asked
some experienced running coaches for their
favourite sessions to help you maximise your
run time.
ACCELERATION RUN
“This is one of my all time favourite
sessions,” says Andy Blow (1), international
level triathlete and founder of Precision
Hydration (precisionhydration.com). “You
start at a jogging pace to warm up and,
either each mile or each kilometre, you lift
the pace in a linear way to a degree that
means, by the end of the session, the final
mile or kilometre is run at a hard effort
(usually between 5K or 10K race pace).
“You need either a measured loop, or
a GPS watch, to give you real-time access
to your splits to make it measurable and
repeatable. The session can be anywhere
from three to seven miles long, depending
on your fitness level and training goal. I used
to start at three miles in the late winter and
build up to six over a period of about two
months to allow for some progression in the
level of endurance required. The differential
in pace from mile to mile depends on how
long or short the run is and it really does
require (and therefore train) good pace
judgement to get it right.
“It also teaches you the value of starting
conservatively in races and picking up thepace as you go, as this is the opposite to
what seems to come naturally to many
people. It’s a tough session but also very
rewarding when you get it right and see each
split being ticked off faster than the last.”SHORT SETS OF SPEED
“Planning to do a parkrun? Have a 5K
coming up? This is a tried and tested
session that I think will be great for you,”
says James Thie (2), performance director of
athletics at Cardiff Metropolitan University
(@TeamThie). “Aim to do the session on
the Tuesday before a Saturday event (or
equivalent number of days before). You
can use a road or a good trail surface, a
measured loop or go out and back.
“The breakdown is 5 to 6 x 1K with a
light recovery jog between. The recovery
should be slightly shorter than the time84 MARCH 2017 womensrunninguk.co.ukY