Author: Yamuna Thiru
This week is all about consolidating your fitness and being in the best shape that you can on race day.
Now is not the time to try and make up for any missed training sessions. You have nothing to gain and more to lose at this stage.
This week at club:
- We keep in some interval training and easy miles but overall, we reduce the volume.
- Tuesday’s session is 10 minutes at your target 10-mile race pace. 3 minutes recovery. This is followed by 5 x 1 minute at 10k pace, with 60s recoveries to get the legs turning over.
- Thursday is a 20-minute easy run. Finish with some strides- 4 x 15 seconds.
Not racing on Sunday? Try running the 10 minutes at 10k pace and the 1 min efforts at 5k pace. Move up a group for the easy run and push yourself while everyone else is chatting away.
Final few days: Depending on how much you usually run each week, do a few easy miles (3-4) on Friday and then rest on Saturday. If you like to park run before a race- go ahead but make sure it’s at a super easy pace. Don’t try anything new, exercise or dietary wise.
Race day:
- Be on time for the coach/transport.
- Before the race, do a gentle warm up, some drills, strides, and make that final toilet stop.
- Remind yourself of all the hard work you’ve put in to get to the start line.
- Stick to your race plan and enjoy the opportunity to test yourself.
It’s going to be a great day!!
You can apply the above principles in the lead up to most races. The key factor is to maintain some intensity (think intervals/speed work) but reduce the overall volume.
Good luck!
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