Month: May 2021
Goodbye outdoor rule of six
Posted on May 18th, 2021 by Sarah Funderburk
We are finally here, Chasers! We can run in larger groups again! Just don’t go wild and get a herd of 31 people on the Heath, please. While we can run in larger groups groups now, unfortunately we are still currently limited to two groups of 15 at the track on Thursdays. Please be patient, though, as we are working with Parliament Hill Track and the City of London to try to add another group of 15 on Thursdays. We know the demand is there, and we are doing what we can.
As far as sessions go this week, we are continuing the quest for a faster mile with the Stag Mile schedule. For those looking to do multiple sessions and really work on speed, there was the option today to do 5 x 1600m at your 10k pace with 3 min rest between each rep. This is a good session to practice consistency at a faster pace without exhausting yourself. This session is especially good training for our upcoming summer league 5 mile and 10k races that will require more endurance than the 3k and mile distances.
For Thursday track this week, we have a group favorite, the Paar Lauf. In German, this simply means a paired run. You will pair up with someone who is roughly an equivalent speed to you, and then you will take turns running 400m over 30 minutes. You should be targeting your 5k pace for each 400m, AND each person in a pair should be trying to make each rep as consistent as possible. Speeding up gives your partner less recovery and slowing down gives them more recovery. Since we will likely have an uneven number, we may have some groups of 3’s. We will make sure no one is doing it on their own!
For those attending detention on Saturday, you’ll be doing a descending ladder session:
1200m (10k pace) [2 min rest], 1000 (5k pace) [2 min], 800 (3k pace) [2 min], 600 (1 mile pace) [2min], 400 (1 mile pace) [2min], 200 (1 mile pace) [1min], 100 (1 mile pace) – total 4300m
Whew…that was tiring just typing that. The pacing here will be extremely important. Don’t go out too fast because you’ll need to keep getting faster!
Enjoy the sessions and some bigger group runs…and have a beer inside or outside.
Happy Running!
Sarah
On you mark, get set…GO!
Posted on May 3rd, 2021 by Sarah Funderburk
I hope you’ve had a lovely Bank Holiday, Chasers! The weather wasn’t so bad afterall :), AND we saw some stellar performances from Chloe, Rosie and Lydia at the North Downs 50k. Nice job, ladies!
We are now heading into the all important RACE WEEK for our 3000m races to be held on Saturday. We just have one speed session this week, on Thursday, to help tune you up for the race. If you’re not able to get a spot on Thursday for the session, doing it on Wednesday at the RP cinder track may be an even wiser idea if you feel you may need some extra rest/recovery days ahead of Saturday. This Thursday, the session is similar to what we did ahead of the last 3k in April:
3 x {400m (at your 5k pace) [400m recovery]}, 3 x {200m (at your 3k pace) [200m recovery]} Total: 3600
For this session, it is critical that you keep those 400s to your 5k pace, maybe even a bit slower to be conservative. It’s an exercise of consistency and just ticking your legs over a bit. Then for the 200s, really try to hone in on your target 3k pace, NOT YOUR TARGET 1 MILE PACE! 🙂 You shouldn’t feel exhausted after the session.
Good luck to everyone racing on Saturday. It’s going to be a really fun day!
If you want to get a sneek peek at the upcoming schedule targeting the provisional Stag Mile on July 3rd, Lauren and John have been working on it here.
Happy Running!
Sarah
