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M: 40easy (am); 60 steady (pm) ( HR – 32)
T: 40 easy (am); 10x 1k, alternating 5k/10k pace with alternating recovery of 200 jog in approx 65” and 100 jog in approx 35”. Struggled to make any acceleration on the 5k pace efforts. 5k pace reps in 3’04/3’07/3’04/3’01/3’07, 10k pace reps in 3’07/3’10/3’08/3’11/2’58 followed by 5 min 5 man relay – 100m legs, 4 efforts (pm) – realistically closer to a bit faster& a bit slower than 10k pace on main part. (HR – 34)
W: 40 easy (HR -37, weight 65.8kg)
Th: 35-40 easy (am); 1 x 1600(400 jog in 3’) 2 x 800 (200 jog in 90”) in 4’39, 2’17, 2’16 (pm) (HR – 34)
F: 40-45 easy/steady (HR – 36)
S: rest (HR – 32)Su: 5000m in 14'46.9 – BAL, Sheffield, 7th place, 1st ‘B’ string.
Splits were 2'56, 5'48, 8'44, 11'47.
Tried to stay with lead group but dropped just after 3k and became harder after that but a good performance overall, beating a couple of people who were ahead of me in recent road 10k.
Su - 5000m in 14:46.9 (7th place, 1st 'B' string, Don Valley, Sheffield). Splits were 2'56, 5'48, 8'44, 11'47.
Dropped by lead group just after 3k and slowed once isolated. Overall, a good performance beating a couple of people ahead of me in recent road 10k.
Conditions - rain, 14 deg C, wind was difficult to gauge as the nearest forecast (at a station to the north) was 21mph but it clearly wasn’t that strong and the one to the south was 6mph. Also, Don Valley is well sheltered and the wind at track level wasn't too bad but a bit of a headwind in home straight. (HR - 31)
Last 2 weeks -
Mon - 5.5 miles steady
wed - 3000 Metre Open Meeting - 9:54
- bit of a shocking performance with a PB of just two seconds, my last race over the distance being over two years ago. If I have any excuse then it's pace judgement. Went through 1 mile in 5:03 and died shortly thereafter. Still taking 41 seconds to complete the final 200 metres regardless of the headwind was pretty weak.
Thurs - 5.5 miles steady
Sat - 7 miles steady
Last week -
Ill for first 4 days.
Fri - 5 miles inc 6 x 100 metres up v.steep incline - 23, 19, 19, 19, 19, 20.
Sat - 8.5 miles hilly in 59 and a half minutes
Sun - Faster than mile pace speed session - 10 x 200 metres w/ 2 min recovery - 32, 32, 32, 32, 31, 32, 32, 31, 32, 30.
My last week
Mon: 200,300,400,400,300,200*2........ 200's in around 33, 3's in about 51, 4's in about 72
Wed: 550m grass loops* 6 averaged 1 49
Thu 9.6km run in 47 16, nice and easy
Sun: 12km run in 1 02 40 very easy run
hoping for 2 17, 4 39, 10 10 and 18 20 for 8,15,3k and 5k MT
Some amazing sessions HC and some good races aswell, also saw you ran a PB at Watford saturday (Y)
Nice 5000, HC absolutely frightening time.
Sounds like some training Cross - I'm sure you'll get the times you want if you get in the right race.
Good week for myself
Tue: 10 x 30 seconds uphill w/ 2 mins - 1:30 mins recovery (sprinted off at the start and tried to keep pushing when the lactic kicked in each time on the 20 second mark - hill gradient of 9%.
Wed 6 miles steady in 40 mins
Fri: 23 x 100 metres w/ 45 second recovery - track was busy with an event so did the session on grass - the very consistent 16's suggest that it was probably a little more than 100 - but not really relevant - a good sustained top speed session.
Sat: 8.5 miles hilly in 58 and a half minutes
Sun: 10 x 1 minutes hard w/ 1 minute easy recovery - last few were v.hard.
Weekly Mileage Approx: 28.5
5KM Race next Wednesday - speed and endurance are so good so absolutely no excuses - first km in 3:20 and keep pushing hard. Hopefully will finally break the 17 minute barrier.
Sorry, not posted in a bit, a couple of pleasing weeks to report though, especially the 5k that Cross 13 alluded to.
Week 39 (08/06)M: 40 easy (HR – 40)
T: 2k (200 jog in 80”), 1600 in 6’05, 4’42 followed by 4 man 5min paarlauf (2 x 200m legs, 2 x 100m) (HR – 34)
W: 45 easy/steady (HR – 36) (weight 64.9kg)
Th: 40-45 easy (HR – 36)
F: rest (HR – 33)
Sa: 2nd in 5000m at Watford in 14’26.57(PB). Fantastic run with splits of 2’52, 5’44, 8’37, 11’32 @ each k - 13’19 at the bell. Moved through with even pace running until I moved up to the shoulder of the pacemaker and the first two in the race field. Dropped slightly during the 4th km by the front two. At the bell, I was perhaps 10m or more behind second and a bit further down on the pacer and the leader. I caught second place on the back straight, passing him before 200. The leader was flying away on the last lap and from then on it was a matter of pushing as hard as possible for a PB and holding off the closing pack behind me. Conditions - drizzle, 19 deg C, 84% humidity, 7mph wind (though well sheltered due to track venue and close pack though could feel a stronger wind on back straight in closing laps). (HR – 36)
Su: rest (HR – 44)
Week 40 (15/06)
Mon: 35 easy (am); 60 steady (pm) (HR – 33)
Tue: 1 x 3200 (400 jog in 3’), 2 x 1600 (200 in 90”), 4 x 800 (200 in 90”). Rep times were 9’54, 4’50, 4’53, 2’23, 2’21, 2’20, 2’18 (HR – 32)
Wed: 40-45 easy (HR – 36) (weight 64.9kg)
Thu: 3 person relay alternating 300m/100m legs for 15’ (4 x100, 4 x 300), followed by 10’ 2-person relay with 400m legs (3 x 400, 1 x 200 approx) (HR – 37)
Fri: rest (HR – 38)
Sat: mile race won in 4’23.5 – splits for each1/4 mile – 63, 2’09, 3’16 – pacer took me to ½ mile after which I was in the lead by a few metres on my own. Conditions 16 deg C, not humid though I don’t have figure, sunny with a bit of cloud cover, and a 9mph wind though track has reasonable shelter from trees. Would have liked quicker, didn’t feel especially hard, but don’t have the mile-specific fitness to hold the pace - even though the legs feel okay, they won’t go any quicker on laps 3 & 4 whatever the brain tells them! (HR – 35)
Sun: rest (HR – 36)Pb XD
From 4 55.9 to........... 4 40.96
absolutley chuffed!!
Only need 1/2 seconds to get my target for the year!
What are your thoughts regarding conditioning work (Weights, circuits, core etc)?
I am recovering from knee surgery and have been doing lots of this as I build my fitness back up. The obvious problem is fitting it in when the mileage increases. I am looking to start 'proper' training again in the autumn in combination with cross country in preparation for the track season.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Mon: 35 easy(am); 65 steady (pm) (HR – 34)
Tue: 35-40 easy (am); 15mins 800m efforts while partner ran 400m in continuous relay followed by 25min partner running 800m while I ran 400m. (4 efforts and approx 250m of 5th effort on 800s, 6x400) (pm) (HR – 32)
Wed: 40 easy (HR – 35) (weight – 65.4kg)
Thu: 10 x 600 (100 walk in 1’, approx 3’ after 9th effort as needed toilet) in 1’43, 1’42, 1’41, 41”, 42”, 44”, 42”, 41”, 43”, 41”. Followed by 4 x 100m efforts (walk back) (HR – 36)
Fri: 40-45 easy (HR – 37)
Sat: ‘5k’ in 16:33 (slow because of needing to cross twice across Vauxhall Bridge as taped of due to incident), ‘4k’ in 12:58, ‘3k’ in 9:03 – stopped at this point as two races in next week. (HR – 34)
Sun: rest (HR – 34)Week 42 (29/06)
Mon: nothing (at Wimbledon tennis)
Tue: 35 easy (HR – 36)
Wed: 3rd in 3,000m in 8’33.78 at Watford, conditions - 49%humidity, clear, 21 deg C, 8mph wind. Boxed in on slow first lap of 71”, reacted too quickly by going through next 600 in 1’38 for a 2’49, held on for a 5’38 at 2k but then faded in final km for 8’33 being outsprinted in final 100m for 2nd (HR – 34) (weight 65.4kg)
Thu: 35-40 easy (HR – 44)
Fri: rest (HR – 39)
Sat: 5,000m in 14’54.07, 9th, BAL in MAnchester. Conditions - Sunny, 23deg C(possibly warmer), 16mph wind. Splits of 2’53, 5’49, 8’48, 11’55. Moved through in first 2k, then ended up leading a group in the wind trying to catch 3rd/4th place, should have realised sooner we were not catching and got the rest of the group to share the work, as I faded I was dropped in 4th km by the group and ended up being caught in final 100m by my team-mate. (HR – 36)
Sun: rest (HR – 45)Nice running Cross 13.
As for weights & circuits, I include a lot of these in the winter & pre-track season. The emphasis has to be on more specific work the closer you get to your main goals, but this can still be included in some measure.
Last weeks training.................
Mon: 6 * 300m, 100m walk recovery in 49-51
Tue: 9.4km run @ 4 20 in 40 45
Wed: 3* 1200m on grass in around 3 50
Sun: 10.6km run @ 4 44 in 50 20
Im pleased with last weeks training, have several races before i go away in 9 days so.... PB's hopefully
Thanks alot HC, some good performances
Mon: extra rest day as two races in previous week. (HR 35)
Tue: 35easy (am);2 x (400, 800, 1200, 1600), all recoveries 100 follow-on in 25”-30” except last two 100walk in 1’. Times were 67/71”, 2’22/2’30, 3’36/3’42, 4’55/4’51. (pm) (HR 32)
Wed: 35-40 easy (HR 36, weight 65.4kg)
Thu:35 easy(am) 10x600 (100 jog in 45”) in 1’45 average (pm). (HR 34)
Fri: 35easy (HR 37)
Sat: rest (HR 34)
Sun: rest (HR 33)
Week 44 (13/07)
Mon: 35easy (am); 50x200 (30”) in 31”-34” average approx 33” (pm) (HR 33)
Tue: 35easy (am); 4 x [2x600(75”),1 x 300] [5’] in 1’37”, 1’40”, 45”/ 1’38, 1’37, 46”/ 1’37, 1’38, 47”/ 1’40, 1’39, 49” (pm) (HR – 39)
Wed: 35 easy (HR – 39, weight 64.7kg)
Thu: 35easy (am); 16 x 400 (100 jog in 45”) in 68”, 67”, 69”, 69”, 67”, then 8 68”s, 67”, 67”, 65” (pm) (HR 33)
Fri: 75-80 easy/steady (HR 36)
Sat: ‘5k’, ‘5k’, ‘4k’ in 16’41/16’23/14’ – 4k effort made longer & slower by road works and barriers. (HR 36)
Sun: rest (HR 35)Mon: 40-45 easy (HR – 31)
Tue: rest (HR – 34)
Wed: BMC regional 1500, Eltham – 3rd in 4:02.5, 6th fastest in race on PBs so good competitive performance. Ran an even 2:07 to 800 before fading to 3:13 by 1200, unable to go with two leaders who followed pacemaker and although moving clear of pack in final two laps, unable to maintain pace with wind against in home straight. (Conditions 18 deg C, 79%humidity, cloudy, 11mph wind) (HR – 33)
Thu: 40-45 easy (HR – 38, weight 65.3 kg)
Fri: nothing (HR -33)
Sat: BMC regional 800, Parliament Hill, in 2:04.42. Almost a solo time trial as with ‘A’ and ‘B’ races combined due to insufficient athletes, I couldn’t stay with the ‘A’ athletes but ran well ahead of everyone else. Followed up 3-4 hours later with pacing the 1500m to 700 in 1:48/9 – about the same pace as 800m race. (Conditions 23 deg C, Sunny, 40% humidity, 8mph wind) (HR – 31)
Sun: 85-90 easy/steady (HR – 35)
Week 46 (27/07)Mon: 35easy (am); 35 x 300 (35” approx rec for me, female training partner starting with handicap off 30” rec) 2 in 48”, 3 in 49”, 10in 50”, 18 in 51”, 2 in 52”. (pm) (HR – 32)
Tue: 35 easy (am); 5 x 600 (100 jog in 45”) in 1’45, 1’47, 1’47, 1’48, 1’48 – sluggish after tough session last night (HR - 37)
Wed: 35 easy (HR – 34, weight 65kg)
Thu: 2 x 1500 (400 jog in 3’) in 4’25, 4’28 (HR – 32)
Fri: 40-45 easy (HR – 33)
Sat: rest (HR – 34)
Sun: rest (HR – 33)Mon: 40-45 easy/steady (HR – 32)
Tue: rest (HR – 38)
Wed: Welsh Champs 10,000m – Neath. 5th place in 30’43.28, don’t know official result yet. Went through halfway with lead group in 15’07, then 18’10 at 6k. Dropped from group around 7k and faded badly, reaching 9k in 27’40, before going through bell in 29’34. Disappointing effort to fade so badly late on. (Conditions 18 degrees C, 58% humidity, 5mph wind, Sunny) (HR – 35)
Thu: nothing (HR – 37)
Fri: 45 easy/steady (weight 65kg) (HR – 34)
Sat: 41/42 min whistle fartlek @ 10k pace/steady long run pace. Efforts in a cycle of 1’, 2’, 3’, 4’ with 1’ steady between each effort/set. Exercises inc press-ups, abdominals. Finished with 13min paarlauf, 400m legs, 5 efforts. (HR – 38)
Sun: nothing (HR – 40)
Week 48 (10/08)
Mon: 40-45 easy (HR - 35)
Tue: 1 x 2.4 k in 7’25 (400 jog in 2’45-2’50) 1 x 2k in 6’08 (HR – 35)
Wed, Thu, Fri: rest (HR –38, 34, 34)
Sat: 5,000m in 14:46.6 – 5th – disappointing in a race in which I went in with fastest season’s best. After km splits of 2:51/5:44 fell away from the pace and got nowhere near the win (conditions 17 deg C, cloudy, 14mph wind but track sheltered by a hill on the side wind was from so felt less on the track. (HR – 33)
Sun: rest (HR – 37)come on guys/girls
shall we see if we can get this thread back on the road:
i will start off- i am 4:08 1500m runner and 16:27 5k
this week has been about peaking for the staffs county champs:
sun: 5k race- good to get legs moving and first race for 4 weeks - 16:27 pb but havent ran this distance as much as i would like to
mon- rest
tues- 45 min run
wed- 1500m session- 3 sets of 300 with 1min btw reps and 2 min btw sets
thurs- rest
fri- 30 min tempo
sat- 8 hilly reps in 1;53-1;45 with 2 min rec
sun- was goin to be long run but snowy and wet so it will be tomorrow
I'd like to discuss 1500m pace done at this time of year. In my next 4 week training block I will be introducing some 1500m pace work every other week. The first of the two sessions will probably be 5 * 300m @ 1500m pace with equal time standing rest. The second will be 4 * 400m @ 1500m pace with equal time standing rest.
Obviously there is the option of running these at current fitness 1500m pace (about 4:12), running them at goal pace (4:02) or some other combination. This isn't designed to be a ball buster, but a reasonably aerobically stressful session at faster paces. I plan to do this workout progressively moving from current fitness pace through to goal pace while resisting the temptation to hammer the final rep.
staffs runner - what pace are you doing your current 1500m pace session (goal / current or some other)? and how many reps in each set?
Also, assuming it hadn't been snowy you would have had a 5k race, 1500m pace, tempo, hill reps and long run in 8 days. It smacks of trying to do everything in too short a time span (or some sort of Frank Horwill wet dream) - particularly for someone of your age. If I'd wanted to hit so many different systems I would have combined some into one session to reduce the number of quality days. You have a very high % of quality to quantity (accepted wisdom in some parts being 20:80 ratio).
What's the rationale behind the above week?
No work on basic speed? When / how often / how do you you address this? I wonder if the above week is a by-product of your odd 1500m / 5k (and perhaps too broad) specialism.
Don't take the above the wrong way - my questions are born of curiousity and not out of a desire to denigrate.
Good to see this thread again - I used to contribute during the summer months.
I come to 1500m from a different angle to many - it's my minimum competitive distance and really just raced to help improve economy / 'comfort' at 5000m pace. My times from 2009 were:
1500: 4:08
3000: 8:53
5000: 15:11
Shows a bias to the 5km, though around that time, I could probably have run in the region of 4:04 and 8:45 shape over the shorter distances. The 3km was pacing a friend at 72s per lap before running the last one hard.
An ideal winter week is along the lines of:
M: 6M, 5M with 6-8 x easy strides
T: 5M, 10-13M with 5-10M 'slow' tempo (approx 5:35 - 5:40 range)
W: 5M, 5M (maybe with 6-8 gentle strides)
T: 5M, 10M with 4 - 5M @ around threshold pace (approx 5:20)
F: 5M, 5M recovery pace
S: varies. Often about 10M or more, sometimes with some speedier bits
S: Long slow run, typically 20 - 22M at about 6:30 - 6:45 pace
An ideal week gets me in the 90 - 100mpw range, a more realistic one between 80 and 90mpw as inevitably I'll miss one or two of the easy doubles / recovery runs. Sadly the weather has made even the 'realistic' schedul difficult in recent weeks and I'm delighted to get near 80.
I'm not a great fan of XC and generally will only race once or twice on mud over the winter. I may turn up to the occasional road race between Dec and early Feb, but will just train through them - most recent example was the Bedford HM, which I treated as a progressive tempo. Excluding the strides and occasionally pushing the last few laps of a tempo, I refrain from running anything faster than threshold pace until April / May, then improve speed over 3-4 months.
my 1500m session last week of 3 sets of 300m was reli just a sharpener for the big county champs this sat. i am doing the 1500m session at 4;08 pace so aiming for 48 sec which i managed to hit apart from the set 2 where there was a 48,50,49. i am reli focusing on xc with the es and uk inter counties coming up in march.
in april i will be starting with some 3ks and 800s. i will also do a fav of my coach session ( although reading around its frank h) of 2 reps of 1000m with the first 800m in 1500m pace and last 200m busting it. rest is unlimited norm about 10 mins. throughout the season we will progress to running 400m busting it. this helps with my 3rd lap.
basic speed is done in may, june and may which can just involve running 8 reps of 150m with 2 mins rec.
well pbs for 800 is 2;02 and 3k 9:21
i have been doing a lot of v02 max work so lots of miles reps with 3 mins rec and 800s with 2 min rec which will help for the country and the track in the summer.
so you are suggesting have less quality?
thank you for your advice.
Quite like the look of the 1500m session 3 * (3*300) at goal pace with short recoveries.
The 2 * 1000m sounds like a tough session and certainly one for later in the season and not too often.
Any reason why you keep your basic speed to the later months? I would have thought at your age all year round speed development would be useful, it can also be done without too much stress on your body.
I’m starting with similar vo2 max work with the 1200 – 1400 reps at 5k pace and 800m reps at 3k pace. I don’t enjoy them very much!
Without knowing your situation it’s hard to suggest much – however i do feel as though you are doing too much quality considering your age and mileage. I would say most weeks should have a primary quality session and a secondary quality session and these vary with the time of year. In addition a long run and some low stress speed is plenty for one week. As the year develops, overall mileage drops a little, you get fitter then the basic speed session can become a bit more serious. At the moment it’s a struggle to see where your focus lies when one week includes hills, reps, lactate threshold and a race which stresses vo2 max.
Your % of running as quality is very high (is it about 75%?) – you could add another hour easy run on an off day and swap a quality day for a medium long run and probably not add to the existing stress. I would also bet that your warm-up and cool-down are probably pretty short considering your overall mileage.
But there are different schools of thought, so this is just opinion.
yep you have betted correctly that the warm up usually consists of 1 mile jog, drills when a session and 4 progressive sprints of 80m.
i dont actually know why i am keeping the speed until the later months- i suppose it may be down to xc.
i think v02 max work is one of my strengths however i think it may because i do it too often as you have said!
i am progressing my steady by 5 mins every 2 weeks and will get it to 1hr before the big race start in the xc.
thank you for your advice
I think there have been studies that show that most people achieve their vo2 max peak relatively quickly over a training lifetime. I believe it gets to the point where, if you reach the ceiling, training to develop it becomes a case of diminishing returns.
Running economy and LT can continue to be improved year on year. This means that even if your vo2 max has peaked (although very unlikely at your age) your efficiency and fractional utilisation of vo2 max can continue to improve for years.
Practically, I'm not sure whether training for vo2 max development is a good thing all year round. A lot of my reading has lead me to believe that there is a phase for vo2 max development in a season and from then on it's maintained only (through decreased work) and the focus becomes on another system. The following year you start off at a higher vo2 max than at the start of the previous year and repeat the cycle.
After a few years of training I suspect as vo2 max levels off you can get away with less time spent on it to maintain it and focus on other types of training which yeild more continuous improvement. Interested in other views on this - either anecdotally, scientifically or anything else.
So, if the above is true it sounds like for you you'd try to peak that season's vo2 max in time for cross country (as that is 5k for you) and for the rest of ther season maintain it while moving on to more event specific work. I'm not saying you don't need strong vo2 max work for the 1500m - more that it can be done earlier in the season and just maintained later in the season when your training may have a different focus.
Boniface Earl Jones - would be very interested in your opinions as it looks like you've been training for a few years and you restrict your vo2 max to later in the season. Is this related to what I have written here or just your preferred periodisation? Do you find you need less and less of this development work with every year that passes?
Moraghan,
My method is heavily influenced by my traditional April marathon fix, but if I was just focussing on track, my plan to March would be almost identical, apart from capping the long run at 2hrs. I've found that this training method is most appropriate for getting me aerobically fit - which is the key ingredient for 5km. I feel the large base also allows me to conserve fitness over a longer period of lower mileage training whilst racing track.
The increased speed comes within the first few track sessions (generally a typical club mix of faster 400s with some Vo2max - I just jump in as the group makes it feel much easier).
The year on year effect simply allows me to start closer to where I left off the year before, before working approx 30s off the time through the system. For example:
2007 start: 16:01, best 15:34 (1500 4:15)
2008 start: 15:58, best 15:24 (1500 4:10)
2009 start: 15:44, best 15:11 (1500 4:08)
The 1500 time is also dropping in proportion, despite little / no specific work, so probably an effect of improved AT, LT and Vo2max over the winter months and early season.
My basic speed is poor for about 80% of the year, but seems to surface of its own accord in the summer months... in March I'd be happy to run a set of 400s under 70s (and they'd feel flat out), though by August I'll be dropping 58-60s laps into a much longer session and the pace feels maintainable. Haven't quite worked that one out!
Apart from 2009, which where my season was cut short due to a (my) wedding, I've generally found that I'm at my best in late September, at which point I'm capable of running my early season 5km pace for 10km. (eg April 2007 16:01, September 32:04, splitting in about 15:47 from memory).
The need for a strong aerobic system, even over 1500m, is demonstrated by ranking my top 10 best performances (based on open age grading). The top 10 is comprised of 1 x M, 3 x HM, 2 x 10M, 1 x 5000, 1 x 3000, 2 x 1500.