Intervals session
April 06, 2020
by Martin Lawrence
Frontpage Article, Headlines, News Specials
Katie (AKA Clean Coach Katie) who is a Redway Runners coach and leads the Need for Speed courses for the club and the Cross Coutry teams for the club has put this intervals session together
Find out more about Clean Coach Katie at: https://cleancoachkatie.com/
———————————-
The idea behind this interval session is to help you build some speed endurance. The format of the session also allows you to complete this close to home so that you don’t have to venture too far. Staying safe and within the guidelines.
Find a road/pathway/circle which is up to around half a mile long and you will be able to use the same bit of path to complete the intervals on. You may even be able to complete this down your road or street.
WARM UP
Make sure to warm up properly before leaving the house by doing some ankle rotations, hip rotations, leg swings and some banded side walks to activate the glutes!
Then complete a 10 minute warm up by gently running at a conversational pace. The idea is to slowly build the heart rate and ensure all of the joints and muscles are ready for the speed session ahead.
DRILLS
The next part of the session is to complete some drills to help improve your running form and ensure your body is really ready for the workout. 10 – 20m or 2 lampposts is a good indication of far you need to use. Complete each exercise and then walk back to your starting point as recovery.
2 x High Knees, 2 x Heel Flicks, 2 x Side Bounds, 2 x High Knee Skips, 2 x Accelerations.
Session
This session is a pyramid style of interval. You will complete 2 rounds of the pyramid allowing you to stay in the same area and safely.
2 x 1min, 2min, 3min, 2min ,1min.
(1,2,3,2,1)
Each part of the interval is in minutes and you will have half time recovery after each fast interval. i.e. 1 minute fast, 30 seconds walk, 2 minutes fast, 1 minute walk, 3 minutes fast, 90 seconds walk etc. Take 3 minutes recovery between each set. On the shorter intervals you can push the pace a little faster, and drop the pace for the longer.
Cool down
It is vital after these workouts to do a sufficient cool down. Ensure to gently jog/run for 10 minutes and at home complete some stretches focusing on the quads, hamstrings and calves.