Craig Batterham writes:
Do you include intervals training into you average week? Is track or Fartlek a regular occurrence for you? Do you run up a hill only to reach the top, run back down and then back up it again far too often?
If you have a target race coming up or just looking to generally improve your strength and form then you should be including one or both of these in your schedule. These sessions are most certainly Type 2 Fun, feels great when you’ve finished but tough during the session. They are there to push us, extend our abilities and comfort zones and help us grow by small increments. As with all running, consistency is key. Make them a regular part of your training and you will see the benefits over time. You will get your PBs, feel stronger on your longer slow or tempo runs and grow confidence in your running ability.
The club run three sessions almost every week of the year pausing only for public holidays and the odd pandemic. During the darker winter months the evening interval training is held at Osterley track which is well lit and hired out for our exclusive use so the individual cost to club members is subsidised. In the brighter, warmer, months these intervals move to Lammas Park which is hugely popular among club members with some of the biggest groups I have seen at a coach led event. Hills training is centred around West Walk in the dark evenings because of the street lights and lack of cars, although you do need to keep an eye out for electric bikes and scooters. Once the seasons change and we don’t need the street lighting anymore the hills training goes on a tour around the parks of Ealing to make use of different hills and provide some different scenery. Then there are the daytime sessions on Mondays at 10am which mix up the locations and types of training available so you need to keep your eye on the Facebook group to see what’s coming up.
All of these sessions are coach led by one of licensed leaders or coaches the club has. These individuals have given up their time to sit the courses, pass the exam, complete a video or in person assessment, ideally be first aid trained and have a DBS check. Make use of this resource if you can, going along to these sessions will only help improve your running and gives you that extra bit of motivation to get out the door and get it done.
So, that’s the sales pitch out the way (not that it’s really needed seeing the recent numbers at these sessions) how do I apply this in my current training plan and have I seen a measurable difference?
Jenny sets my intervals and hills in Training Peaks now and I purposely asked for them to be on different days to when the Eagles run their sessions for two reasons. When I joined track and ran my own session I was distracted by everyone else running and lost focus on the paces I should be hitting so prefer to go when it’s very quiet or even empty, and the other is that it leaves my diary free on those days to lead the session. These set sessions by Jenny have been much more varied than what I was likely to have come up with myself with fartlek sessions of varying durations or distances, some shorter 400 or 800 meter reps and those 1k and 1 mile reps which I tend to take to a park to run. Hills are harder to vary I guess, run up - run down. Change the duration of the reps and the rest and the angle of the hill is really the limit but Jenny is still able to set sessions that are varied enough that I don’t feel like I am repeating myself on the same old slog. I actually look forward to the hills session! 🤪
Can I see a difference? Yes, a very clear difference. In a previous blog I wrote about a 5k PB attempt I made and missed. It was at Battersea in December, known as a flat, fast course. I ran that in 26 minutes, the fastest I’d run 5k all year but still a swing and a miss. This last weekend I ran the 5k around the Velopark, three laps of a 1 mile twisty loop with some short sharp hills that test the leg strength and provide very little recovery on the downhill. I just went out to run it comfortably hard with no goals or targets, it’s not the course for a PB. I really enjoy this course because of the hills. With hills having been a consistent part of my running over the last year I am able to maintain good cadence and pace. It’s one of the few places in a race where I can overtake others easily. Only to get passed on the down hill!
I didn’t check the watch at all, no need, I wasn’t trying to hit a pace. I was just having a bit of fun. The timing chip didn’t work so I don’t have an accurate time but after I’d finished I checked my time and Garmin reckons it was 25:32 and the clock in the photo of me crossing the line has 25:59 on it so it’s somewhere in between I think. Not a personal best but certainly a course best by over a minute and the best run on any course in 13 months.
I think I can safely say that the intervals and hills training is working. 😁
