As part of the preparation for the Great South Run we worked on Energy systems and fitness levels this evening.
It was a great turn out especially as no-one really knew what to expect until they got there. It was great to see a few people back, Juliette was back from a month away and Kat was back after her holiday. Also there this evening was Charles, Alistair, Greg, Mike, Jo, Sandy, Mags, Jodi, Sharon and Mandy. There was also a new boy there, he looked a little like Sat Nav but without the headband and a lot faster!!
The first part of the session involved the speed ladder. Several combination to work the running muscles, developing strength, power and speed. It was also a lot of fun as some of the combinations showed who had dancing feet and who had 2 left feet!! It certainly got the heart rates going well.
The second section of the evening focused on the anaerobic threshold. Pushing this threshold up will drive fitness levels up allowing you to run harder for longer. Find out more about Anaerobic Threshold
To work this well we split in to pairs and undertook repeated sprint races up the hill. For Me, paired with Mike, it meant a full out sprint to keep up with him with a peak speed of 3m 32s per mile (if only I could do that for a mile!!). As many of you know my heart rate isn’t the fastest and it reached a personal high of 167 this evening!! For many of the runners their heart rates would also peak quite high, making their Cardio-respiratory system more efficient over time. There were some great races in pairs as well. Greg and Sharon were well matched with 3 very close finishes. Sat Nav and Charles had a great run, with Charles employing some interesting tactics on the way up the hill. Well done to all the runners/Sprinters this evening as everyone put 100% in to this evenings sessions, and although some may be a little stiff in the legs tomorrow it will all be worth it for a slightly quicker time round the Great South Run.
Next week we start work on Speed with a flat-ish route!! We also have the the Victory 10k next Sunday, I will be sending out an itinery at some point tomorrow. If you are running and dont receive the e-mail please chase me! If you haven’t enrolled yet, I believe there are still spaces available at http://portsmouthathletic.co.uk/victory-10k/
