Skip to main content
 

Club Training

Thursdays @ 18:30

April 2018 Training

Session Aims

April sees the start of the spring/summer racing season, with two road and one hill GP event and, of course, various marathons and ultras coming up. The aim of the training this month is therefore to consolidate on the extensive endurance and, more recently, aerobic capacity sessions we’ve been doing over the winter months.

In addition, there will be some shorter, faster repetitions and pyramids which we know some of you like! Furthermore, we think that bringing in a couple of hill sessions at the Glen (Pittencrieff Park) will help mix things up a bit – there should always be room in peoples’ schedules for regular hill work, strength and conditioning.

We will also be offering the option of evening off-road runs and a couple of Sunday social runs, which may also feature trails as it is good to run on different surfaces.

Tuesday Sessions

With the advent of lighter evenings, we will return to the Glen on Tuesdays where we will be introducing a new, mixed pace session as well as hill repetitions.

The sessions will start at 6.05 pm or 6.50 pm prompt at the Peacock Café corner of the Glen Pavilion. If planning to run up from Pitreavie Sport and Soccer Centre, it’s approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) so aim to leave from there at either 5.45pm or 6.30 pm for an easy run up. If going direct to the session start point, allow time to warm up before the session start times.

Thursday Sessions

On Thursdays we will either head down to the path at Camdean for mixed pace pyramids or across to Duloch Park for some shorter, faster repetitions.

For the sessions at Camdean, meet at Pitreavie at 6.30pm for the run down.

For the sessions at Duloch Park, we start at the entrance to the Park, nearest to the shops, on Greenshank Drive. This is approximately 1.75 miles (2.8 km) from Pitreavie Sport & Soccer Centre (PSSC). Leave from Pitreavie at 6:30pm for an easy run up or meet at the starting point at 6:50pm already warmed up.

As we know some of you do not like running on hard surfaces, as an alternative on Thursdays, we will also be trialling off-road sessions. These will be suitable for all levels of runner and will comprise either a steady paced run with regular stops to re-group, or circuits for a pre-determined length of time or number of repetitions. We will monitor the level of interest to decide if, and how frequently, to continue these sessions throughout the summer months. The proposed sessions for April are as follows:

Thursday 5th April – Dean Plantation run (approx. 5.5 miles)

Meet at 6.30 pm at the Glen (Pittencrieff Park) car park opposite Glen Tavern. The run out to the start of the forest trail is about a mile and a half and we will stop at regular intervals to re-group to ensure no-one is left behind. The tracks will be muddy in places so trail shoes are recommended.

Thursday 12th April – Craigluscar Community Woodland

Meet at Craigluscar Community Woodland Car Park at 6.45 pm (or at Queen Anne High School at 6.30 pm to car share). The Craigluscar Community Woodland car park is beyond the Fishery Car Park and turning left at the Y junction. Map reference:  http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=305982&y=690748&z=120&sv=305982,690748&st=4&ar=y&mapp=map.srf&searchp=ids.srf&dn=790&ax=305982&ay=690748&lm=0

Please remember to close gate behind you! If you are late in arriving, head to the top of the hill and join in where you can.

The route is a compact 1.5 mile figure of 8 type circuit with plenty of undulations and climbs and is suitable for runners of all abilities. There will be an easy recce of the route, followed by 2 or 3 faster loops of the hill depending on pace/ability and how much individual members want to do.

Thursday 19th April – session details to be confirmed nearer the time

Supporting Information

A key aspect of race preparation is the need to taper, and this applies for 5k and 10k too, not just marathons. Admittedly the taper for a 10k does not need to be as long as for a marathon, but bear in mind that the benefit you’ll get from training very hard the week before a 10k race will be minimal. However, some intensity and volume is not a problem and I (Paul) personally have found that some 200/400m repetitions can ‘wake the legs up’ in the days before a shorter race. Ultimately, listen to your body and if in doubt ask for opinions (and this goes for experienced members too, none of us know everything!).

The pacing tables are shown on the last page for three types of quality training; threshold, VO2max and repetition. You can benchmark your current form and check your VDOT number here:

https://runsmartproject.com/calculator/

Training Sub-Group

A reminder that there’s the training sub-group consisting of the following individuals:

  • Paul Kieran
  • Barry Davie
  • Jonathan Millar
  • Kevin Davie
  • Lesley Halstead
  • Val Macaulay

If you have questions or feedback regarding any of the sessions, please contact Paul Kieran or Val Macaulay, or speak with one of the sub-group or general committee who will pass them on.