Target Numbers

I am a big believer that race day always feels easier than training and I know the numbers I hit in training indicate a faster race. That said, it's good for those paces to feel comfortable in training to give you that confidence!

I know the following paces / sessions should be my target to approach over the coming months...

Longer reps - 5/mm

I think 4-6 mins of effort at 5/mm for 20-25 mins would indicate a very high probability of going under 16 mins. I am currently more like 5.20 I would say but this is a hard peaking type session and with races approaching it's unlikely I would push that hard right now. It's currently fairly close to 1500m effort so hopefully if I can get below 4.30 shape then I am in the right ball park.

Tempo Efforts - 5.20/mm

3-4 miles at low 5.20s I would say is exactly where it should be to be able to hit the above session. Tough solo but will likely be a Park Run when I am really fit and keeping the HR to max of 167 so just north of threshold. I'm a way off that right now. I'd say just under 5.40 right now but I'd expect the HR to slightly edge over.

Shorter Reps - 69 per 400m (300/400/600)

Getting cruisy at sub 70 pace would indicate that I am starting to shift. This is the real pay dirt right now as that's exactly where my focus is for the next block of racing. I have plenty coming up over the next 4-6 weeks depending on how many indoor races I do after Nationals. It'll be mile, 3000m, 1500m, 800m for sure but may add in another 1500m and 3000m depending on how things go. This is probably the most critical area for getting to all my targets (800 - 5k). I'll move up the distances at typical sessions in a block. Running 69 without much fuss is really where I need to be. Right now I would estimate 74 as leg speed and strength is low.

200s - 30 / 300s - 45

I need to up my speed reserve. Doing long recovery work at 100% with encourage relaxation at pace. This is real cherry on the top of the cake but there is big pay off if you don't get injured. Currenly I would estimate 32 & 50 but I would struggle to hold pace. I am probably 100% at 30 dead for 200m but that needs to be mid 27 which feels a million miles off right now. Off that I could push close to 2.05 maybe.

So the above is my gold standard training paces. These are what I need to be hitting to really start to challenge as a V45. Crazy right now, the limiting factor is my leg turnover is so slow but the advantage is I have decent economy and I am starting to cruise at better paces.

From next week my focus is to target indoors so there will be 2 x sessions per week (e.g 10 x 400m and 8 x 200m). The races are coming quite rapidly at first so once Nationals is over I will most likely switch out to a tempo or long rep session and shorter / speed each week. Once indoors is over I'll take a recovery week and then drop to 1 session per week and move back up as my longer term target is Mid Cheshire 5k at the end of April. 

The above sessions also all play off each other. If I get quicker max leg speed (200s) then my shorter reps (400s) will become easier and that pushes up all the way to tempos. 

Next week I plan to back off the training volume and aim to start to feel fresher. I have not decided which session I will focus on but it'll just be a single session plus a race as that will give me a solid benchmark.

23rd - 29th Jan

It'll either be volume reps OR shorter reps on track plus 5k race.

30th - 5th Feb

Shorter reps (8 x 300m) and Speed (4 x 300, 4 x 200 target mile pace)

6th - 12th

Mile race & 3000m race. No other sessions but add in strides Mon and Fri

13th - 20th

8 x 400m and 8 x 200 plus Nationals 1500m end of week.

Depending how that goes I'll see if I want to continue. I have an 800m early March which I'll either switch to 5k focus or target and there is National 3000m the weekend after.