Training

New Year / New Training Plan

Along with the new challenges for 2015 I also need to develop a new training plan.

2015 is all about speed and achieving new PBs at the 5k, 10k and Half Marathon distance (as opposed to the long distance running of 2014). Unlike when I was training for a marathon or ultra-marathon, my training this year will be a little less structured due to the [lack of] available free time. The follow therefore are a list of activities I will try to incorporate into my training - time allowing. This should help to increase my running times over the shorter distances:

Kenyan Hills

500m stretch of Andover hill. Zone 5 (max HR) up hill; Zone 4 down hill (45 mins)

Intervals

1km warm up, 1 x 500m Zone 2 and 1 x 500m Zone 5 (repeat 6 times) – 95% MHR

Sub-140 Runs (Recovery Runs)

These will take place after hard runs.

Sub 150 Runs

The majority of my runs will fall into this category.

Negative Splits

Runs with a negative split. Majority will be 10km work lunch runs. 

Threshold Runs

Runs at approx. 85%-90% of MHR. Two routes to be used: David Lambert Special (7.6km hilly) and Tesco-Garden Loop (17.2km hilly). Both to be done once a month to gauge assess fitness levels.

Progression Runs

Up to Half Marathon Pace (13km runs)

Strides

Sub-150 runs with strides. For example a 12km run will incorporate 6 x 300m strides at 85% MHR (approx. every 1.5km do a 300m stride). Number and length of strides to remain the same; only difference will be the distance of the run. So a 21km run will still contain 6 x 300m strides but just spread out over a greater distance.