Speed Sessions – Staying Out of the Danger Zone
Posted on April 25th, 2021 by Sarah Funderburk
What a glorious week of running weather, Chasers! I’m personally going to ignore the forecast and hope that it continues. We are a couple of weeks away from the next Chaser 3k, so let’s talk about how the speed sessions are going, getting some feedback and what’s next
Remember we now have 3 speed sessions to choose from each week. Three can be quite a toll on the body, so if you’re giving all 3 a go, listen to your body on the easy days and really run easy (at a comfortable and chatty pace, cover your watch if you can) or take a rest day if needed. If you’re still feeling tired when it comes to the next session, you may want to skip it to make sure you are getting enough recovery. If you are doing the sessions, let me or any of the other coaches leading the sessions know what you think. Message me as well if you want to give some feedback on the overall schedules. We want to make sure that these schedules are working for you! After the May 3k, we will be beginning to target some summer races before turning attention to fall half marathon and marathon schedules.
For this week’s schedule, we have:
Tuesday ( extra speedsters) – 8 x 300m (at your 3k pace) [2min rest] Total 2400m. The key is to try to stay as consistent as possible with the reps. It is better to be able to give a little more on your last rep than to have exhausted all of your efforts in your first few.
Thursday (regular speedsters) – 4-5 x {1000m (at your 10k pace) [400m jog]} Total 4-5000m hard, 2000m recovery. Remember, this isn’t 3 or 5k pace! Really target and hone in on your 10k pace and try to keep all of your reps consistent. Really use the 400m jog for recovery so you can tackle each rep.
Saturday (endurance detention) – you have an option this week to do the Tuesday speedier session if you missed it on Saturday or instead focus more on endurance and do 5 x mile repeats with 3 min rest.
And for some last words of wisdom this week, I thought the following quote was quite appropriate:
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
(note: just steer clear of the stoney path along St John’s Way)
Happy Running!
Sarah
