Thursday Track Sessions at Battersea
Sessions to help build speed endurance for 10 mile to marathon and triathlon
Beate Vogt, Nicola Barberis and a team of coaches lead the sessions preparing athletes for race distances of 10k, 10 miles , half marathon, marathon and triathlons. The sessions are geared around building speed endurance and are open to anyone aiming for a long race, although you should be running several times a week before adding speed sessions to your training plan.
Between January and April, our session will aim to work mainly on longer and slower reps to build the base for the coming season. We will run sessions at lactate threshold pace, some ad-hoc marathon sessions for those training for a spring marathon and move to faster reps later in the period. Our sessions will help you to improve your speed and to prepare you for your races. Each week we start with a warm-up jog followed by a set of warm-up exercises and some drills to improve running technique and efficiency. The session normally ends with a cool-down jog and some stretching exercises.
Sessions vary every week and include interval sessions at paces which can vary from 3-5K to lactate threshold. For track sessions we meet at the start/finish line, for sessions in the park we meet at the front entrance to the track, in either case we start at 7:00. For sessions in the park you do not need to pay for the track, if you need the changing rooms you can pay just to use them. Please store bags in the lockers in the changing rooms or make alternative arrangements, the coaches are not able to guard them during the session. Also, don't forget your stopwatch and to wear bright running gear, especially when the session is in the park.
(In the IAAF Standard Representation of Training Sessions, paces are in round brackets, rest times in square brackets. LT denotes lactate threshold pace.)
| Date | Session | Objective | Track or Park |
| 15 Jan | 4-6x 6:30minutes @LT [60sec] | Lactate Threshold session | Park |
| 22 Jan | 3-4 x small lap of Park (LT Pace), 60 sec recovery; 3-5 x 400m at 10k pace | Lactate Threshold session followed by short spurts | Park |
| 29 Jan | 4 x 400m at 3k pace, 1 min recovery; 2 miles at marathon pace, 1 min recovery; 4 x 400m at 3k pace, 1 min recovery | Pace Judgement, marathon pace running | Track |
| 5 Feb | 4-5 x 2k (1k @LT pace, 1k @marathon pace), 60 sec rec | Varied pace session, marathon preparation | Park |
| 12 Feb | 3-5x 8min @LT (60-90sec recovery) | Lactate Threshold pace session (progression from previous weeks) | Park |
| 19 Feb | 4 x 400m at 3k pace, 1 min recovery; 2 miles at marathon pace, 1 min recovery; 4 x 400m at 3k pace, 1 min recovery | Pace Judgement, marathon pace running | Track |
| 26 Feb | 2-4x 10min @LT (60-90sec recovery) | Lactate Threshold pace session (progression from previous weeks) | Park |
| 5 Mar | 3-4 x small lap of Park (LT Pace), 60 sec recovery; 3-5 x 400m at 10k pace | Lactate Threshold session followed by short spurts | Park |
| 12 Mar | 4-5 x(600m (10k), 400m (5k), 200m (3k)); 90 sec rec | Pace judgement and acceleration followed by M pace for those training for a marathon | Track/Park |
| 19 Mar | Balke Test: (Warm up then 15 minute time trial to help measure VO2 max and improvements throughout the season) | Test your fitness pre Spring Marathon/Triathlon season | Track |
| 26 Mar | 5-6 x 1k at 10k/5k pace, 60-90 sec rec | Speed endurance | Park |
| 2 Apr | 400m [60s], 800m [60s], 1200m [90s], 1600m [90s], 1200m [90s], 800m [60s], 400m (10k pace throughout) | Pyramid session followed by M pace for those training for a marathon | Track/Park |
| 9 Apr | Relays | 5k pace session: work in groups with teams of 2 or 3 | Track |
| 16 Apr | Triathletes and others: 6 mins at T pace (60 secs) 4-5 x 800 at 3/5k pace (60 secs) 6 mins at T pace | Varied Pace depending on your focus with specific session for those doing London | Park |
| 23 Apr | Fartlek session 2-3-4-5-6-5-4-3-2minutes fast with 90sec easy in-between) | Fartlek session | Track/Park |
| 30 Apr | 400m [60s], 800m [60s], 1200m [90s], 1600m [90s], 1200m [90s], 800m [60s], 400m (10k pace throughout) | Pyramid session | Track |
| 7 May | 5-6 x 1k at 10k/5k pace, 60-90 sec rec | Speed endurance | Park |
Sessions are subject to change