Some general tips for the sessions
Hard sessions should be hard, easy sessions should be easy. It sounds obvious but too many will treat each training session as a race, save the racing for race day. Whilst training, your PBs should be “I did better than last time I did this session” and that might not be faster, but shorter recovery, more repeats, felt better at the end, didn’t have as much aches and stiffness the next day etc.
If you want to programme the session into your watch use the website rather than the app or the watch – it’s easier and you can save a library of sessions that you can pick from later.
It’s ok to move the sessions around as you need to but don’t feel you need to do all of them. If you miss a planned session then miss it, don’t feel you have to catch-up because you’re increasing the training stress when maybe your body needs a rest.
Always warm-up and down properly. Include some dynamic stretches and a gentle jog to warm-up and stretch-out at the end.
Refuel at the end of your session. This should be appropriate to the session and to you personally. There is a window of opportunity to absorb protein and carbohydrate after a session – try to eat and drink within 20 mins of finishing. I’ll do a separate post on this later.
Hydrate! If you need to take water on your run, do so. When you’re doing repeats you might want to take water with you, leave it somewhere & top up during recovery parts of the session. It’s especially important in warm weather.
Mix things up. Don’t keep doing the same route for the same session. It can be tempting to keep running the same 8k route because you know it’s exactly 8k but it can hamper your efforts if it becomes too repetitive. So have a variety of routes in your arsenal and mix it up if you’re feeling like you need a change.
Plan your plan. It will become easy to lose your focus over the weeks and even things like ironing and painting the bathroom can become attractive options. Make a plan when you’re going to train and do your best to stick to it. That said, don’t feel guilty if you miss a session, life happens, just get back on track asap.
Injuries or niggles. Only you will know if it’s a niggle and can train or if it’s something more serious. If you’re not sure then change the session to something simpler that you can stop if you need to. If an injury needs rest then rest it.