Summer Running

Town Moor, Newcastle

This is definitely the time to get the speed work in and encourage the legs to turn over more quickly. It's so much easier to do it when the weather is warm. You don't need to warm up for as long and you don't need to layer up. It's easier to run fast without this extra weight. Once you start the training session you can give yourself nice long recoveries between efforts without feeling the need to keep running, just to stay warm. By taking a long recovery the effort can be fast. So why not put in a few true speed sessions and see how it feels to pick your knees up and increase your cadence? Below are a few of my favourites for this time of year:

Wind Sprints

6 - 8 X 150 metres fast running with a walk back recovery. If you can find a grass suface and run them with the wind behind you this will encourage a faster leg turn over. Alternatively you could find a very slight downhill gradient and this will do the same thing.

Back to Backs (or turnarounds)

3 sets of 6 X 20 seconds fast with 10 seconds recovery. 5 minutes recovery between the 2 sets. You have to run these 'back to back' because the recovery is so short. You don't have time to go back to the start only to turn around before you have to start running quickly again.

Oregon Circuit

The session gets it's name from the University of Oregon in the USA where it was first invented. It involves fast running interspersed with circuit type activities like press ups, sit ups and squat thrusts. If you have a 'trim trail' that would be the perfect place as you could sprint between the stations where you perform the exercies. Alternatively sprint between 2 points approximately 20 seconds apart and perform exercises for around 20 seconds after each sprint. It is a good idea to sort the exercises into upper body, core and legs and perform one of each in order, for example, press ups, sit ups, squat thrusts, tri dips, back extensions, step ups...

Fartlek

A 30 minute run, preferably through woods and fields, where you sprint or stride out whenever you feel the urge to surge. It may be that you come to a section with a smooth surface and so stride out along it or you may decide to sprint through a line of trees in slalom fashion!

So go out and enjoy the light mornings and nights, balmy evenings and fresh mornings. With all that speed in your legs you may want to let yourself go over a short race. Don't forget the parkruns every Saturday morning or there are lots of 5kms on weekday evenings....Dunham 5km this Friday night for those around the Manchester area.