Speed sessions, week 4, starting 18th of May

Well this week we have a special guest coach, some of you know him as Hard Worker and this is what he is proposing,

Just had a quick look at your week 3 sessions. Can I suggest that once a week, until you finish the 12 weeks, that you do a session of 400's. Bear in mind that everyone is different and it will take a few weeks to see how people differ. Next week do 10 x 400 ( you have already done 6 x 800 so 10 x 400 should be OK ). The first 5 should be at 5K pace and the second 5 at 3K pace. Assuming people are looking for 40 minute 10K's then the 5K pace = 19.30 which equates to 93 seconds per lap. You might think that's slow. However, they should be done in a way that you havn't got hands on knees when you finish as your recovery will be short ( in this case 57 seconds ). Basically it is a 2 minute 30 seconds cycle ( 93 seconds running and 57 seconds recovery ). The second 5 can be quickened to 90 or 91 seconds.Let me know how the group get on as the idea will be to build it up to 14 x 400 and get the cycle down to 2 minutes 15 seconds. Using the ladder system means that you build it up week by week - increase the number and / or reduce the cycle time.

There will be no other options for session 1 and session 2 is 1x15-20 minutes @ 1/2 marathon pace.

Boards AC Membership form now available.

Now that the club is recognised by Athletics Ireland, it's time to get the paperwork in.
Boards AC membership forms are now available for download, thanks to Mark.

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dftkgnn6_7gr4nj9c4

Please complete the form and return it to the address provided along with €30 membership fee for the year 2009.

Onwards and upwards for Boards AC

Speed sessions, week 3, starting 11th of May

I know a few of you are racing at the moment and some have already recorded Pb's so that should help alot with the motivation levels and well done.
This week will be similar to week 1 as we're going to introduce strides again to help with leg turnover and form, so session 1 is 12x100 meters with a comfortable recovery, you do not want to be fatigued doing these as it will defeat the purpose of the session but if you feel good why not consider given the last one a lash.
Session 2 has 2 options again, the first one is from Pfitzinger & Douglas and it's 5x3 mins of a moderately steep hill, recover by slowly jogging back down the hill. The alternative is to repeat the 800 reps of week 1, so 6x800 @ current 5k race pace with either 600 meter recovery or 2:30 . Also aim for consistent pacing, it should be something your body is tuning into now. Best of luck and by next week if you've been following the schedule you should start to see some improvements.

Speed sessions, week 2, starting 4th of May

Well I hope everyone had a good week 1 and learned alot regarding pacing and recovery. There will be two sessions again for next week. The first session will be for improving Vo2 max, again there is a choice. Option 1: 5x600m @ current 5k race pace with an optional recovery time of 400m. Option 2: 6-8x400m @ current 5k race pace with an optional recovery time of 400m. The reason I say optional recovery time is because some of you may have found the recovery time too long. So using last weeks experiences you may want to start using a specific time rather than distance such as a 90 seconds for recovery.
Session 2 is for improving your lactate threshold and again there is two options. Option 1: 2x2 mile @ current 10 mile or half marathon race pace. Option 2: For those new to tempo running you might find the 2x2mile too hard, so for this week you could try 1x15-20 mins @ current half marathon pace. Enjoy.