Monday's session is a continuation of the hill rep session. I think that it is too dark to do this session at Langlands. Therefore we will do the session at Avondale; not such a steep hill but good enough and close to the club. The session is 10 x 45 seconds fast (5k pace) with a jog down recovery. This session builds strength and develops running efficiency. The warm-up is relatively short and is down Churchill Avenue from the NEL roundabout, around Lidl and up onto Avondale. The reps start on the wide pavement on the far side of the first junction off on Avondale.
The Winter is all about building endurance and strength. Our cross-country races play a big part in that, supplemented with off-road sessions. To that end, our Brancumhall cross-country sessions begin on Monday 15th September and continue at fortnightly intervals to the week before the National Cross Country. How do these sessions build strength? Because, unless the ground is very dry and hard, running on soft ground requires most of the forward propulsion to come from muscle strength with very little coming from muscle (and shoe) elasticity as it does when running on a hard surface. The soft ground absorbs the load that would usually stretch the muscles and tendons elastically and reduces the spring that comes from those stretched fibres. However, when moving back into the road racing (or track or trail) season, the strength built over the winter in this way supplements the elastic propulsion, making us faster, more efficient and also stronger to handle hilly courses. So cross-country is an important part of our training.
Alan
No comments:
Post a Comment