Pyramid Session

Track Training……..

Hi All,

Now I know you’re probably sitting there think of several hundred reasons why you won’t be able to make it but have a read of what I intend to do below and then make your mind up! I’ve tried to make it so you don’t require a PhD in Sports Science to understand it and it will hopefully dispel the rumours and apprehensions of what can be a very beneficial part of training….

Firstly the benefits of Track training…..

• At last we can all train together, in the same area but work at different intensity levels and speeds!
• It’s progressive, so you can see improvements
• It’s tailored to the individual
• There’s no pressure on you to keep running that extra 2 miles to get back home!
• You can’t possibly get lost!

What do you need for track training?

• Your normal trainers
• A watch with a stop watch on it
• A desire to improve your running times

What will we be doing?

• A thorough warm up and pre stretch
• A session lasting 40 minutes that is structured to the individual
• A cool down and post stretch

Structured session??? What’s that?

• To start with you need either estimate (if you have never timed yourself before) or look back at what is your best 5 mile time in the last 12 months.
• Now you have to realistically pick what time you would like to get down to.
• Look at the chart below and see what ‘split’ 400 meter times you need to achieve
• After warm up you run 400 meters in your chosen time.
• You then walk or jog for that same amount of time, the distance covered in this time is irrelevant
• Make a mental note of where you are starting on the track and run another 400 meters in the same time
• Back to the walk or jog and so on.
• The ultimate goal is to do this run/jog 10 times!!! Therefore covering 5 miles with half of it faster than your goal time
• Eventually we will progress to 800 meters splits and beyond.

Confused? Here’s an example!

Mr A has previously run a 37:01 - 5 miles but his standard that he’s desperate to get is 36 mins. So looking down the table we see that his 400 meter time is 93 seconds. So after group warm up he does his first 400 meters as close to 93 seconds as he can. He then gets to jog/walk for 93 seconds. Remembering where he is starting on the track he runs another 400 meters in 93 seconds and so on!

The aim is to do the run then jog 10 times or until your knackered! How easy is that?? :O)

What’s my 400 meter time then?

TIME	400/secs	TIME	400/secs	TIME	400/secs	TIME	400/secs
29	76	38	98	47	121	56	143
30	79	39	101	48	123	57	145
31	81	40	103	49	126	58	147
32	84	41	106	50	128	59	150
33	86	42	108	51	130	60	152
34	88	43	111	52	133
35	91	44	113	53	135
36	93	45	116	54	138
37	96	46	118	55	140

So what next?

TURN UP ON WEDNESDAY AND HAVE A GO!!!!!!

Interesting fact about a track……….

There are 8 lanes on a 400 meter track but only the inside one, lane 1 is 400 meters!! The rest are as follows:

Lane 2 – 408

Lane 3 – 416

Lane 4 – 424

Lane 5 – 431

Lane 6 – 439

Lane 7 – 447

Lane 8 – 455

So be aware of this on your faster 400 meter runs!

Karl Mills