You know where you’re going…..”
or
Words of Wisdom from the Bear
To gain the most from a Tuesday night training session you obviously have to work hard. The aim is to generate a real physical change in your body. The type of change achieved depends on the structure of the session. So, a session with short recoveries between efforts teaches your body to recover faster, and will help to create a more efficient oxygen exchange system. This gets rid of the lactic acid more quickly and leaves you fresher than rivals when you use that facility to recover from efforts in the middle of races………
Take as an example the session we sometimes do which is 25 x 200 metres with 20 second recoveries. This should
· Strengthen your heart
· Increases the efficiency of your lungs
· Helps you tolerate oxygen debt
· Strengthens arms and shoulders – not just legs
· Builds inner strength, stamina and determination
With this type of session it is important to do the reps as consistently as possible. It is no use starting off slow and then doing the last 7 or 8 much faster. Whilst this will mean a hard session at the time you should be fully recovered within a day or so.
A different type of Tuesday session is the speed-endurance session. This consists of intervals of between 600 metres and one mile. The recoveries can be varied depending on factors like how soon a big race is coming up. These sessions get you used to maintaining speed and they help you develop pace judgment.
We use the trail wherever possible to give your joints a rest from the hard road surfaces. You should try to focus on achieving an efficient running action, especially on the gentle inclines on the front section of the trail. A powerful arm action and a good stride length are important in these sessions, which will get harder as the winter progresses.
Thursday sessions are a longer run at a sustained pace. Just how fast the pace is depends on what race you are doing at the weekend. If you are not racing at the weekend, then Thursday can be as hard as you like. If you do have a race within a few days, then back off a notch.
In addition to the Tuesday and Thursday sessions you should be putting in some more mileage when possible. The more work you do (within reason) the more you will improve. 25 miles per week should be a minimum for all members, and there is no real upper limit. The average weekly mileage for most members of groups 1,2 and 3 is between 40 and 70. You will not improve by watching TV ! If you are looking for encouragement to put in extra miles then don’t forget that there is an informal Sunday run at 9am which is about 10 miles at a more relaxed pace.
Well done to all of you who completed the Club Summer Competition which finished recently with the Langley race. Special congratulations to Mike as first man, and Jane as first lady. Thanks to Graham Taylor for keeping the results up to date in a very professional format. Everyone who completed 5 races will get an award….
Currently we are in a change over phase between road racing and cross country. The men have already started the season with Manchester league races. We shall soon start to focus more on cross country with the Cheshire league starting at Frodsham on December 28th, followed by the Cheshire Championships at Winsford.
But before then we have the Salford 5 mile race for the ladies on November 28th, and the Stockport 10 on December 12th. These are good targets for everyone to test their current fitness.
And finally: don’t forget your reflective and light clothes for running in the dark.
Tony.