Well, after ‘3 in 30’ and ‘4 in 40’, its time to go a bit longer in our third and final blog of this little series! We wanted to give you plenty of options to mix up your running and keep running with sessions of under an hour. There are plenty of limits on us at the moment and so a short, sharp session is just what the doctor ordered, not only for your physical health but your mental wellbeing as well. As GoRun coaches, Kylie, Sarah, Jason and I hope that these little sessions can keep you running and we would love to hear how you are going with them!
So let’s get stuck in to the 5 in 50 minutes! Keep running!
'Elevator Hills'
Getting those hills in for a bit of strength work, without going totally lactic on the hill. Imagine the elevator starting at the ground floor and then going up to the first floor, then back down.
Start with 10 mins easy running to warm up, then begin the 30 mins hills section of the run.
Follow this pattern for 30 mins:
15 secs medium effort up / easy back down
30 secs medium effort up / easy back down
45 secs medium effort up / easy back down
60 secs medium effort up / easy back down
Finish with 10 minutes cool down run on the flat to finish.
'Later Strides'
Strides are a nice way to get the heart pumping in short bursts. Start with 30 minutes of easy, controlled running, then add in a 80 metre increase in speed every 2 minutes, with easy running between each burst.
30 mins easy running
80m strides every 2 mins until 50 mins with easy running between strides.
'Pacing Practice 50'
The aim of this session is to run at gradually faster paces but have the control to lock those in and not go beyond. It is like moving through the gears of a car, as you gradually get faster. So...pick an easy starting pace and give yourself a 15 second window to work with. Move down in 15 second increments from there. An example could be:
6:30-6:45 min/km
6:15-6:30 min/km
6:00-6:15 min/km
5:45-6:00 min/km
5:30-5:45 min/km
5:15-5:30 min/km
5:00-5:15 min/km
Cool down until 50 mins total is done.
‘Build in 15’s’
Start out with 15 minutes nice and easy to warm up, then build to a medium pace for 15 minutes (this might be your half marathon race pace for example) then go hard for 15 minutes. Push beyond your race pace for these 15 mins.
You should be uncomfortable, puffing and your heart rate should be up. This is a tough set so finish with 5 mins east jog to cool down.
15 mins easy
15 mins medium
15 mins hard
5 mins easy jog
'Race Pace 50'
This run has 10 minute blocks of race pace running with easy recovery between. The aim is to get you gradually used to feeling that race pace. So... Nice and cruisey 10 minutes with controlled heart rate and breathing to start, followed by 10 minutes of race pace running.
If you are training for a half marathon, use that goal pace as your guide. Same thing goes for 5km, 10km or marathon. Repeat these 10 minute blocks, then cool down with a final 10 minutes of easy running.
10 mins easy running
10 mins @ RACE PACE
10 mins easy running
10 mins @ RACE PACE
10 mins easy running