Firstly, thank you to all the kind volunteers who helped during the day.
Also, Helm Hill for making this one of their race series competitions this year and bringing so many runners. Thank you too, to the Ambleside, Kendal, Lancaster and \Morecambe runners who attended- a special thank you to the Keighley and Wrexham runners for supporting this event.
Summer training means interval hill sessions and flat speed sets. We will run similar programs for both the Juniors and Senior groups training on Monday nights, throughout the summer term. The aim is to build your speed, and confidence to push up (and down) a hill!
Hill sessions are recommended once a week, essentially, because it's a way of practising running faster for shorter periods, to improve your speed overall. It's simply about pushing yourself to run that bit faster. And remember, those recovery intervals can still be a brisk walk if you need them to be – it's all simply about taking it at your own pace.
During an interval session, we will always warm up first, with drills and a slow run leading to increased effort, before we start any sprint work. We will then run for a set amount of time (not a set distance to allow everyone to work at their own pace) at a high-intensity level, before jogging or brisk walking for a set amount of recovery time, repeating this until we've finished the session, followed by a very gentle cool-down walk or jog, and some strengthening and stretching exercises to end the session.
How do we judge your pacing? The most important thing to remember is that no one pace fits all. Your pace depends not only on what level you are currently at with your fitness but also on the type of session. Some of the sessions are planned around shorter intervals, running at a higher speed or intensity than longer ones, others may be longer ones which are useful for training for a longer race.
One of the easiest ways to gauge your pace is by using the rate of perceived exertion (RPE) scale – where 1-2 equals very light intensity and 9-10 equals maximum intensity.
When you're first starting out, for short intervals of 30 seconds to one minute, aim for an RPE of 8 or 9 (your recovery intervals should be at a light intensity of around 2 to 3). Aim for an RPE of 6 to 7 for longer intervals of around two minutes.
But what does all this feel like? If you need help to gauge whether you're pushing hard enough (or too hard), do the talk test: try speaking out loud. If you can only say a word or two, that will be your 8 to 9-intensity pace. If you can say three to four words, that's your 6 to 7-intensity pace.
Don't forget The Storth Stampede on June 8th - there will be races for everyone from 6 years old and above. https://www.heronhall.co.uk/copy-of-villege-fete
As always, please contact me for more information and support, if I can help.
Susan Goodfellow