Month: December 2017
Milkshake
Posted on December 14th, 2017 by John Armstrong
Oregon Circuits are one of the hard ways to improve as a runner. An easy way to improve is milkshake.
There is research evidence that eating immediately after a tough workout improves your recovery and helps you build muscle. You don’t want to do this after every session, its for recovery after your long run or a hard training session. You should be eating 100-300 calories in a 3:1 ratio of carbohydrates to protein.
That’s a small to large Yazoo. Or a chicken sandwich (no mayo). Or a banana and some chia seeds (whatever they are).
Thursday is Oregon Circuit Day
Posted on December 12th, 2017 by John Armstrong
You’re already doing some strength and conditioning, right?
Our training schedules don’t tell you exactly what strength and conditioning to do, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do anything! If your strength and conditioning regime leaves something to be desired, then now is a good time to start developing a good routine.
You could, for example, do a few exercises every morning. You could pop to an outdoor gym a couple of times a week, or join a real gym. Maybe you would rather do a pilates class. The Nike Training Club app is an excellent way to get some workout ideas and instructions on how to do the exercises right.
We usually leave it up to you to figure out your strength and condition routine, but to give you a few ideas this week we’ll be doing an Oregon Circuits session. That’s a training session where you alternate some fast running with strength and conditioning exercises.
There’s a lot of flexibility in putting together an Oregon circuits session depending on what you want to achieve. We’ll be doing an all-round fitness session with 400m runs and a variety of different exercises that should give you some ideas for how to put together your own strength and conditioning regime. So you’ll run 400m and then do whatever exercise I call out, for example: squats, push ups, burpees, lunges, plank, sit ups, high knees, leg raises. The whole session will last 25 minutes.
BURPEES
What’s a burpee? The basic burpee is:
- From standing get into a squat position with hands on the ground
- Thrust back into a plank
- Return to squat position
- Stand up.
To make it more fun you can do a press-up after from the plank position and do a vertical jump after standing.
Our Schedules for Spring 2018
Posted on December 9th, 2017 by John Armstrong
We’ve got a feast of running lined up for you in spring with no less than 3 schedules for you to choose from, all adapted to the Mornington Chasers timetable so we can train together as much as possible.
The schedules we have are:
- A London Marathon schedule. This is always a big race for the club.
- A Brighton Marathon schedule. The club has 10 places available (you still have to pay for your place, but you don’t need to raise money for charity).
- A Paddock Wood Half Marathon schedule. This is a fast flat half marathon in Kent, so should be a good place to get a PB.
As preparation for all of these big target races, the schedules work in the following preparatory races. Make sure you sign up for them ASAP. Dates and times are in our calendar.
- The Fred Hughes 10 (in St Albans) or, if you are fit enough already and prefer a trail race, the Benfleet 15.
- The National Cross Country championships, Parliament Hill. Sign up via our calendar. If you are following the half marathon schedule you should take this easy, everyone else should be in it to win it.
- The Mornington Chaser’s Regent’s Park 10K in March. This is our club 10K championship. If you are following the half marathon schedule, you should race this hard. If you are following the marathon schedule, you should build this into your long run as a marathon pace section. Marshal the race in January or February to get free entry.
- The Official Hampton Court Half Marathon (in March, not to be confused with the “original” Hampton Court Half Marathon in February) or if you are a trail fan the Ashridge Boundary Run (note that this is on a Saturday an is a scenic but demanding 16 miler)
- For those who like to train on Saturdays as well as Sundays, the schedule also incorporates the remaining Start Fitness Met League Cross Country fixtures. You can just turn up for those races on the day: just remember to bring your club vest and make sure that you have England Athletics membership (log in to our website to check).
Can’t wait to get started? Well we’ve also got a December schedule that will build your strength and, if you are a marathoner, will start to condition you ready for the long runs ahead.
