It's race week! This means, it’s time to taper.
The aim of the taper is to freshen up, reduce the volume of training and adjust to the intensity so the legs feel fresh and ready for race day at the Santos NTCity2Surf.
Tip: Get some early nights filled with good sleep. Aim for an early night on Friday so you can arrive early on race day, with enough time for a short warm up and last-minute toilet stops.
Eat something light at least one hour prior to the race. A piece of toast with honey is a good choice. Try to avoid anything that will be hard to digest.
Beginner
Try for three sessions this week.
|
Type of run |
Length of run |
Tips or comments |
|
Easy run |
up to 40 mins |
Add 3 x 1min surges to stretch the legs out. |
|
Speed session |
30 to 40 mins |
4 x 80m accelerations a.k.a strideouts (run up to 80m gradually increasing the pace run back to the start easy as a recovery)
4 x 400m at a firm pace (slightly faster then your goal race pace) run 100m easy recovery between reps
2 x 200m at a firm pace run 100m easy recovery between reps
4 x 100m at hard pace with 30 secs standing recovery between these reps |
|
Long run |
70 mins |
Run the first 45mins easy, then the last 25 minutes is practice at a race pace. |
|
Warm down with about 5 mins of easy running or walking and finish with stretching. |
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Intermediate and Advanced
Intermediates: try four runs this week.
Advanced: five runs this week.
|
Type of run |
Length of session |
Details |
|
Easy run |
45 min |
10 min warm up Add a few 200m surges during your run to help with leg speed |
|
Tempo run |
Up to 60 min |
10 min warm up Run at a pace slightly slower than your race pace Pick a flat course and work on rhythm and form |
|
Speed work |
20 min |
10 min warm up 4 x 80m strideouts or accelation runs to warm up your legs Run these efforts at a slightly faster than race pace and then repeat at a slower pace in between each rep 2 x 90sec 4 x 60sec 4 x 30sec 4 x 15sec |
|
Long run |
70 min |
10 min warm up Run the first 45 mins easy and then run the last 25 mins at race pace |
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Tip: Stretch after each session and hydrate well by learning to drink before, during and after training. |
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