Bideau 5k Training 1

of maximal oxygenuptakeand beingmore aerobic offerslessrisk ofan athleteoverreachins. Onceyou establishwhichfactorswill bepan of theworkoutyou areoniy limitedby your imagination 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 distance.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 previousrepetition). 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 nrn 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.

Runhillshardonreperweek This could be assimpleaspushinghard on 6 or 7 hills during an hour ru:r with the hills ranging between1 minuteand3 minutes, runninsit a steadypacein betweenhills. Or it could be running repetitionhills for _ betweenI to 3 minuteswith a jog backrecovery Runninghardup hillsis veryeffectivefor improving running mechanicsand strokevolume - the amount ofblood your heart can expelswith eachbeat.

Enioyyourrunning And finally,just asimpoftant to doing all the running, is enjoyinga1lthe running. The structureof your training group and the placesyou run needto be somethingyou look forward to and enjoybeing a

part of. Ive had situationswhereonemnner in the group is not happy,evenmiserableand that startsto eatawayat the entiretraining group sothat no one finishesup running well. Ive alsofound that when the wholegroup is happyand enjoyingtraining with eachother,it spreadsand almosteveryonefinishesup running well. Somakesureyou find a group you like running with in a placethat inspiresyou to run. Keepit simple- the more exoticthe workout, the more important you require supervisionfrom an expertfor suchworkoutsto be effective.And rememberif you arenot running more than 100km per weei<,the simplestway to improveyou 5km racing is to start running more. f!

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