BACK TO THE TRACK / THE NEED FOR SPEED

We don't all have this burning desire to take on the Worlds best and win, but if running is in your body it is hard not to want to go faster. If you run races, the clock is always ticking. OK you don't care about your time, but how can you let that "Fat Old Lady" pass you in the final 100m. (If you are the "Fat Old Lady" don't you want to beat the guy with the body of a Greek god?)

If I've caught your attention read on:

I love running sessions, testing myself against the clock, putting my body out there for just one more rep; even if I can feel the fire in my legs, the burn in my lungs and my heart pounding in my chest. If the program says once more, then one more it is...

I'm never going to be a super star athlete, but I can do the sessions of an Olympic Athlete and who knows I might run a half decent time.

So what are these sessions:

• 10 x 1000m at 5km pace with 60-90sec rest
• 25 x 400m at 3km pace with 60sec rest
• 5 x 2km at 5km pace with 90-120sec rest
• 15 x 60sec hills, fast up jog down no other rest
• fast slow 200m's 800m pace half Marathon pace no rest till you can't make it.

Yes you can also do Miles, 800m, Ladders and just about any other distance. I once did a "Fartlek" session of 12min hard 2min easy 10min hard 2min easy right down to 2min hard 24hours dead!!!

Now it is quite important to run these sessions at the right pace, you don't want to be racing and you don't want to be jogging. We also don't want to be resting all afternoon.

I might put on the program 6 x 1000m at 3:25 (me now) rest 90sec, then over the next couple of weeks bring the rest down to 75sec and then 60 sec. Another thing I like to do is start with 6 x 1000m 90sec rest and then add 1 x 1000m over the next couple of weeks keeping the rest at 90sec. All the time I run my 1000m at 3;25 till I have run a race or TT and have a new time for 5km.

You don't need a 5km time, there are many web pages that will convert any time to a 5km time. eg: McMillan's Running Calculator but you might have your our favourite.

Sessions like those are really good for your marathon and half training, but some times you might want that 5km time to come down a bit, or you might want to try your hand at track (no it's not a swear word). In that case we could find ourselves running more 400m's and 200m's. We might still run a couple of 1000m's, but with a longer rest and faster...

Good luck as you take on your next session, just think of your coach standing on the side drinking beer! (I promise I only do that whan I'm not running)