Introduction
Have you completed the club beginners’ programme or are otherwise able to run 5k?
Want to maintain your running or even to run further and faster?
Improvers aims to progress Eagles from running 5.5k to running 10k (or to keep running at around 5 to 7k) and to provide an introduction to hills and speed work.
The list of club training options is precisely that – so don’t try to do everything
· choose from the available list
· or do your own thing, on your own or with other people.
Regular sessions appropriate to people at the 6k level are:
· Club runs on Mondays and Wednesdays at 7.30pm
· Thursday Go for a Run – for most of the coming term, this is likely to be self-led with some people arranging runs to accommodate the beginners’ 10am sessions and others doing their own thing
· Coached / led sessions on Mondays at 10am, Tuesdays (track) and Thursdays (hills) at 7.30pm
Daytime runners can do Mon 10am, Thu morning (exact arrangements depending on whether or not you want to be involved with beginners) and parkrun.
Thursday beginner graduates can also do Mon or Tue 7.30pm, Thu 10am (or thereabouts) and parkrun (new Improvers are probably not yet ready to run on two consecutive days so can’t do both Wed evening and Thu morning)
Evening runners can do Mon 7.30pm, parkrun and ONE of Wed evening (exact arrangements depending on whether or not you want to be involved with beginners) OR Thursday 7.30pm (new Improvers are probably not yet ready to run on two consecutive days so Wed 7.30pm run cannot be combined with Tuesday track or Thursday hills)
Wednesday 7.30pm sessions specifically aimed at Improvers will be offered on 16 October (hill strides), 30 October (hill strides) and 13 November (hills). We will also encourage Improvers to go together to a 7.30pm track session on Tuesday 5 November (if you have not already tried track) so that you can keep each other company.
Coached / led sessions on Mondays at 10am have always been aimed at Improvers though they are now designed to be suitable for mixed abilities and will incorporate a variety of speed work and hills.
If you want to stay at 5 to 7k level
Do try to go out once or twice a week, perhaps to parkrun or the Mon / Wed 7.30pm club runs or go for a run on Thursday mornings.
Any of the coached sessions staying in one place (hills or intervals / speed work / track) would also be good experience though do continue to have a rest day in between sessions.
You might also like to try
Ealing Mile in Lammas Park 12.30pm on the first Friday of the month – 4 October, 1 November, 6 December - You know you can run 5k and more at a conversational pace, so perhaps you can run one mile a bit faster (the Monday 10am sessions on the Monday before each Friday Ealing Mile will focus on the mile)
If you want to progress to 10k
Training basics
· Start where you are and increase the amount / intensity of the running gradually.
· Listen to your body - if you are tired or have a niggle, then rest or reduce the amount of running
· Rest days are as important as running days to allow your body to recover from the stress of the training days and so heal stronger to increase your fitness
· Long run *** at conversational pace *** to build up endurance
o evening progression using club runs is 6k, 7.5k and then, perhaps 5miles and then 10k at the weekend (a more gradual progression is possible if you live within 1k or so of Ealing Green and can run there or back)
o daytime progression using runs around the beginners session on Thursdays at 10am has more flexibility to do a gradual increase
o progressions are also possible making use of parkrun on Saturdays and running before or after
· Hills or intervals – the club will be offering sessions on Monday mornings and Tuesday and Thursday evenings
· If time, another continuous run, normally shorter than long run, at a slightly faster pace – perhaps parkrun
· Other runs and / or cross-training as appropriate - try to include some strength work - squats, lunges etc - or other cross-training to reduce the risk of injury – this will be included in the Monday 10am sessions for daytime Improvers
· "Drop-down" weeks in which you reduce the amount of running are a good idea.
· If you are following a training plan, always do your sessions at a pace / intensity ** so that you can do the next session ** - there is no point in running your long run so fast that you are too tired to do the other sessions in the week
· If you’ve already done a few short club runs or parkruns and are free on Wednesday evenings or Thursday mornings, then the combination of beginners and a club or daytime run can also help to extend your distance
Osterley 10k on Saturday 7 December
Training will start in October with workshops on
· Wednesday 2 October at 8.30pm after club run and
· Monday 30 September at 11am after a session at 10am.
Both workshops will help you to choose training sessions offered by the club so that you can progress to 10k by 7 December.
In particular, we are planning to offer a 10k training run on Saturday 23 November 2019 at 10.30am to enable evening Improvers to try out the distance and everyone to work out fueling for a 10.30am race.
If you are training for the race, please remember to enter
Perivale 5 (ie 5miles or 8.05k) on Sunday 1 December
This race is good race preparation for Osterley 10k the following week. In addition, it’s also a good stand-alone local race in which many Eagles will take part. If you want to train for this race, please follow the advice for Osterley 10k above.
The link to enter the race is here
Club champs 2019-20 still has races at distances 5k, 5mile, 10k and cross country if you want to go to races with other Eagles without going over 10k .
If you are on facebook and want a forum to discuss topics at a suitable level for you, from training plans to diet, from strategy to the best clothing and also to arrange training runs with others, please join the Improvers facebook group