Efforts this Thursday – 800m reps at Eastways

20 September 2016 - By Becky Grimwood

This Thursday we will be tackling the challenging-but-rewarding 800m reps session. Please meet at Witham leisure centre ready for the briefing at 7:30pm.

After a warm up jog and dynamics, 30 minutes of 800m reps will begin. You will run faster than a Tuesday night pace to just past the blue bridge over the rail line. Once there, grab some recovery before running back to the start again. Faster runners will complete approx 6-7 reps, slower around 4-5.

We are developing speed endurance – in order to complete each 800m rep at the same pace each time, there will be a real focus on adequate recovery. A general rule of thumb is to measure a recovery of half the effort time.

More guidance will be given on pace and recovery in the briefing, but as an example and for those who like to set watches –
Athletes running at 8:00 min/mile pace should complete each rep in 4 mins and have 1:45-2:00 standing recovery.
Athletes running at 7:00 min/mile should complete each rep in 3min 30secs and have 1:30-1:45 standing recovery.
Faster/slower paces will adjust recovery time accordingly.

There are several big races coming up at the weekend so our numbers might be a bit thin this week. So…if you haven’t given Thursday sessions a go for a while, or at all, THIS WEEK is the perfect time to give it a go!
Hope to see as many of you there as possible and GOOD LUCK to all those racing at the weekend.

Becky