When? Where? & Why?

17 April 2017 - By Graham Eyre

For everyones information here are the dates and places for the Thursday night training sessions for the next 3 months. 20/4/17 is 400m reps at Eastways: 27/4/17 is hills at Armond Road: 4/5/17 is our first summer 5k from the Angel: 11/5/17 is 800m reps, place TBC: 18/5/17 is hills at the Orchards: 25/5/17 is the track at Rickstones: 1/6/17 is the second Summer 5k from the Angel: 8/6/17 is the River Walk: 15/6/17 is Park Life…you guessed it, it’s in the park: 22/6/17 is the third Summer 5k from the Angel: 29/6/17 is the track at Rickstones: 6/7/17 is Fartlek, place TBC: 13/7/17 is the 5k handicap from the Angel: 20/7/17 is Pyramids at Dancing Dicks:

So thats the when and where but why do we put this sessions on? To run at your best you need to improve on a variety of fronts. There are 6 primary components of fitness and improving any of them can help you run faster. The 5 S’s, which are speed, suppleness, strength, stamina and skill and the 6th which is psychology. Progress in any one of these areas and you will improve your performance. Improve on all of them and you will have a breakthrough. This is why we put the sessions on and why we try and keep them different. We also want to re-emphasise that these sessions are for everyone and not as some members still seem to think only for ‘faster runners’ Below are testimonials from 2 runners who have recently started attending the Thursday night sessions which we hope will encourage others who may be unsure about coming along how much these sessions can benefit everyone.

Hi Graham

  Last year was my first year of competing in some races including my first half-marathon, although my times were good I couldn’t help but think that I could probably do better! So this year, after signing up for my first marathon, I decided that I would have to ‘brace’ the Thursday night efforts sessions! I had always thought that those sessions were for the elite runners so had not attended before as I am a 9:30 per mile runner.

Sue Shippey and I attended our first session at the beginning of February with great trepidation, but we decided that we would do our best and ‘enjoy’ it! And ‘enjoy’ it we did, although, we couldn’t talk or breathe properly for a while afterwards and walking without pain the next day proved to be an issue! 

We have attended every session since then, doing downhill, hills, 400m & 800m reps, pyramids & long pyramids and each one we have hobbled away from with some sound advice from the coaches on the evening on running style, cadence, running upright etc.

We have also noticed that since attending the sessions our running has improved, our pace has increased and we now ‘eat hills for breakfast!’

So while we are not by any means elite runners, we will continue to attend these sessions as it is all about what YOU can get out of it and not whether you are the first to finish or how many laps you complete!

I would highly recommend attending them and it would be great to see more members attend!

Regards,

Karen

 

Hi Graham

I understand you would like some feedback on the Thursday training nights. 
I can honestly say they have boosted my confidence in my running ability. I have found them challenging but enjoyable too. Yourself and the other coaches are all encouraging. We are not judged on how fast we run but as long as we are doing our best to our own ability. I am confident they have helped my speed. I would definitely say to anyone from the club to come along and not feel they have to be a fast runner.
The faster runners are supportive too. 

I have reduced my marathon time from 5 hours to 3 hours!…Sorry got carried away there dreaming!! 

Sue

So the above testimonials are not to try and impress anyone, but to impress upon everyone that these sessions are for the whole club, regardless of the speed you run at. I hope to see some new faces soon at the Thursday night sessions.

I trust that you have all had a great Easter break and I think a ratio of 5 extra miles for every chocolate egg you have eaten should just about cover it 🙂

 

Graham