of maximal oxygenuptakeand beingmore aerobic
nrn
offerslessrisk ofan athleteoverreachins.
Onceyou establishwhichfactorswill bepan of
theworkoutyou areoniy limitedby your imagina-
tion in the number ofworkouts available:6 x 1km
with 1 min rest,4x 1500mwith 90 secrest,3 x 2km
at 5000mracepacearethe obviousworkoutsbut I ve
comeup with plenty of variationsby alter_
ing the speedof
. eitherspecific
' repetitionsor
specificlapsin
: the repetitions
while keepingto a
; volume of between
6km and 8km and
usingrepsofat
least1km in dis-
tance.For example
3 x 2km operating
at 10kmracepace
for laps1,3 and5
wit hlaps 2&4at
3km racepace.Or 7
x lkm with lmin rest
@ 10kmracepace
with the 4th and 6th
repetition 10secfaster
(I find that during this
workout it's the 5th
and 7th repsthat are
really tough afterthe
athletehasgoneto the
well a little in the previ-
ousrepetition).
As I said eariier some athletes need more anaero_
bic work than others so I may introduce this in the
last third ofthe workout. For example 3 x 1600m @
10km race pace with 2 min recoverythen 4 x 300m
with 100m walk @ 800m race pace.
ln the case of an athlete who just needs a small
amount of anaerobic running I may sffucture the
workout as 2 x 1600m @ 10km race pace with 2 min
recovery tien 8 x 400m with I min recovery with
every 2nd 400m @ 5km race pace and the others @
1500m race pace.
56 RUNFoRyouRLIFEFEBRUARY-MARCH
2o1o
Anaerobir threohold
of at least20minutesat
leastonceperweek
Alaerobic thresholdis running at a pacejust
belowwherethe production oflactic acid rapidlv
increases andallowsthe runnerto continueiunning
reasonably comfortablybut at a high aerobicspeed
for over an hour. Another way oflooking at it is the
pacea fit runner would racea halfmarathon. These
runs canbe run to heart ratepre-determinedwith
a testto measureblood lactateasspeedincrease(itb
about3.5-4mmolof lactatein thebloodfor most
people)but most top runnersareableto do these
mns accordingto feel.The key is to struchre these
workoutsso asthey dont becomea time trial and
the athletedoesnot get distractedby trying to run
fasterthan he/shehaspreviouslyover aparticular
course.I tJpicallydo this by settingtheseworkouts
progressivelyrequiring the athleteto focuson the
taskratherthan the time they coverthe overall
distance.For example3 x 9 minutesstartingat 10
beatsbelowyour thresholdheartrateandi-icreasins
theeffortenoughto raiseyour heartrate2-3 beats
every3 minuteswith 1 minute steadyto allow heart
raleto drop backdown to l0 beatsbelowthreshold
heart rateafter each9 minutes.Theseworkoutsalso
improvethe athletetability to concentratewhen
fatiguedwhich canbe very important in the latter
stages ofa 5000mrace.
part of. Ive had situationswhereonemnner in the
Runhillshardonreperweek group is not happy,evenmiserableand that startsto
This could be assimpleaspushinghard on 6 eatawayat the entiretraining group sothat no one
or 7 hills during an hour ru:r with the hills rang- finishesup running well.
ing between1 minuteand3 minutes, runninsit a Ive alsofound that when the wholegroup is
steadypacein betweenhills. happyand enjoyingtraining with eachother,it
Or it could be running repetitionhills for
_ spreadsand almosteveryonefinishesup running
betweenI to 3 minuteswith a jog backrecovery well. Somakesureyou find a group you like run-
Runninghardup hillsis veryeffectivefor improving ning with in a placethat inspiresyou to run.
running mechanicsand strokevolume - the amount Keepit simple- the more exoticthe workout,
ofblood your heart can expelswith eachbeat. the more important you require supervisionfrom
an expertfor suchworkoutsto be effective.And
Enioyyourrunning rememberif you arenot running more than 100km
And finally,just asimpoftant to doing all the per weei<,the simplestway to improveyou 5km rac-
running, is enjoyinga1lthe running. The structureof ing is to start running more. f!
your training group and the placesyou run needto
be somethingyou look forward to and enjoybeing a
IIICBIDTAU