I’m sure every athlete and coach has their favourite or ‘go-to’ workout for different distances. Most are borrowed, or personally tried and tested.

I wish they guaranteed a fast time, but there is always more to it, than just one session. But, if you’re looking for some hand me down sessions, here’s a couple of my mine you can have. Pass them on if you like!

My belief is that to have confidence in your race day pacing plan… you need to train at goal pace. The way to best do this is through interval sessions, with breaking down the race distance.

Here are a couple of simple session suggestions for 5km and 10km distance.

Saucony UK and James Thie coached athlete Tom Marshall literally flying to a finish line. Photo: Robert Gale (@awv)

5km:

Session 1: 4 to 5 day before race day: 5 x 1km aim @ 3 to 5 seconds under goal pace.

• 16min aim or under: 2mins rest after each 1km.

• 16 to 20min aim:  2.5mins rest after each 1km.

• 20min plus aim:  3mins rest after each 1km.

Session 2: To sharpen for important track 5km race, 5 to 7 days before race day: 3 sets of 1200m (@2sec per 400m faster than goal 5km pace)  then 400m @1500m/mile pace.

• 16mins or under aim: 1min rest after 1200m & 4mins after 400m.

• 16 to 20mins aim: 90secs rest after 1200m & 5mins after 400m.

• 20mins plus aim: 2min rest after 1200m & 5mins after 400m.

Going a little longer

10km:

Session 1: 12-14 days before race day: 10 x 1km @ your goal race pace.

• 33mins or under aim: 60secs rest after each 1km.

• 34 to 40mins aim: 75secs rest after each 1km.

• 40mins plus aim: 90secs rest after each 1km.

Session 2: 9-12 days before race day:

• 33mins or under aim: 7 x 4mins with 90secs rest after each rep.

• 34 to 40mins aim:  6 x 5mins with 2mins rest after each rep.

• 40mins plus aim: 5 x 6mins with 3mins rest after each rep.

For more 10km chat… join me on the 9th June @7pm for a Welsh Athletics Webinar. Aimed at all athletes and coaches looking to grow their knowledge of art of 10k training and racing.

The webinar won’t just be about single sessions but cover a much wider look at the 10k distance. This will include:

• Explore the physical and mental components required to run a 10k.

• Discuss training for a 10k including session examples and training block planning.

• Explore 10k race preparation.

• Dissect the executing the race.

Saucony UK ambassador James Thie is supporting the launch of the Endorphin Pro. He is also hosting home-based circuit training sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays at 6pm. You can find the sessions here. 

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post James Thie’s go-to 5 & 10k sessions appeared first on Fast Running.

The crowd lean over the barriers and Bud Baldaro’s recognisable tones informs everyone that the winning team is on the final climb to the finish. It is the blue, red and white of Cardiff AAC and the athlete with this honour is Christian Stephenson.

Anyone in the know of the 1990s running scene has respect for Chris or ‘Snappy’ as he’s known to his teammates. These teammates are going wild on the side-lines and Christian does his best ‘airplane’ impression for most of the final 200m! His time is 16:28 and is the fastest of the day, this is a moment of enjoyment, but still ‘what if’ or ‘how fast’ he could have run if he had to!

Back: Christian Stephenson, Nat Lane, Nicky Commerford & Scott Olson. Front: James Thie, Richard Gardiner & Andres Jones.

Fast forward 20 years and 3 days and we are back together as a team. We are minus a few, some are unable to make it, but a great chance to catch-up, chat and remember some funny stories from the past. This got me thinking about that amazing day, but also what we ended up achieving in running and where we are now.

The one thing that stands out straight away is how much we wanted to win that day, and how much we talked about it in the months before. This was not luck or chance but a planned, calculated attempt at doing something our club had not done before, and we did it … but how … ?

The reunion, Nat, Chris, James, Richie & Scott

How it played out leg by leg

Leg 1) James Thie

Myself playing the youngster! Well, in the team, I was by comparison aged only 21, and felt privileged and pressured that they trusted me the first leg. That summer, I was 5th in the British senior 1500m World Trials after taking bronze indoors, so I was used to producing on the big day, plus I had a bit of speed to be in the mix if needed.

The aim was to be as close to the top 10 as possible on the always ‘loaded’ first leg and hopefully within 20-30 seconds of the lead. I don’t remember much of the race, but I knew I was around the big teams that would be in the final mix as I out kicked Paul Freary (Belgrave) and was closing in on Ian Pierce (Tipton) to cross in 14th place, with 17:20, 32secs off Birchfield’s Matt Clarkson in pole position.

Leg 2) Andres Jones

Andres Jones is a cracking athlete to have on the 2nd leg, as he was just a few months away from a massive breakthrough in the summer of 2000 when he runs an incredible 90 second personal best to hit the Olympic 10000m standard with 28.00.

He also won the 5000m trials, in a real purple path that season. 17:11 on this stage cuts through 10 places into 4th and only four seconds off the black vests of Birchfield. It was a great run by Andres who now resides in North Wales as a driving instructor which doesn’t surprise me. He was always calm and cool and I’m sure he still is! Unfortunately he was not able to make the reunion.

Leg 3) Richie Gardner

Richie ‘Dickie’ Gardner is now a high ranking policeman and doing great things alongside his wife at his local athletics club, Aberdare AC. He has a 2:18 marathon best and gold at the Commonwealth trial running championships (with today’s teammate Nat Lane in Silver), but say’s eight minute miles are tough at 45 years young, but he is still racing, as I am sure he always will!

So on the third leg he was right in the mix of the race taking over in 4th place and battling to a 17:35 leg split with just Tipton’s Matt Smith edging past. But up front, Darrius Burrows, another 90’s ‘super talent’, cracks round in 16:51 and extends the stage lead at the half way point.

Leg 4) Nicky Commerford

Next up, one of those people in life who is fascinating to know … an enigma ‘on’ and ‘off’ the track (but he is away in Vienna during the reunion – keeping his mystery alive!). Nicky Commerford is an art teacher who on that day helped to create the canvas for the Cardiff AAC masterpiece!

This is no surprise to those in the know as Nicky is a 3:42 1500m athlete who went on to represent Great Britain in major international cross-country championships and is equally strong on the road. A 17:02 leg took us back past Tipton’s Mick Hill and up to 2nd place but still 22 second behind Birchfield…there was still work to be done.

Leg 5) Nat Lane

Nat Lane is the brains and the hard worker who got us all together for the reunion. A super smart guy who works in law, and is one of the nicest people you could hope to meet. Nice off the track, but ruthless when a shift is needed on it, and will still make himself available for relays.

Going into this leg he had personal bests of 13:58 for 5km and 29:01 for 10km, so a huge runner to have on the penultimate stage of the race. Nat runs 17:10 and goes past Birchfield but it’s the super human leg of 16:44 by Nick Jones of Tipton that keeps Cardiff off the top spot. The green and white hooped vests had a 26 second on us….but was that enough?

Leg 6) Christian Stephenson

Christian ‘Snappy’ Stephenson takes over, his nickname not given as some think for his often bluntness (he always said what he thought!) but for his stature when younger when it was thought he may ‘snap’ in the wind! He is not going to snap now…he is a flanker in his local rugby side and loving his work as a school caretaker, a great job for someone I always knew as super reliable and practical.

This athlete in 1999 was strong and one Britain’s best on any surface. As UK steeplechase champion he was to front run that summer 8:25 in the Solihull BMC to earn his Olympic berth. To have him as your friend and training partner (twice a day, almost every day for 2 years) is the best apprenticeship I could ever have wished for. He had everything, speed 22/23’s 200’s at the end of sessions, and strength where he could float over the grass and uphill like few I’ve seen since.

The past and present

At the reunion, I remind him of the one time I managed to drop him, when we ran up the big hill to my university halls of residence. He stormed in my room, grabbed his stuff without eye contact and said ‘same place, same time tomorrow’…what had I done!

The next day Chris says nothing, and we set off on the same run, but this time we are shifting in pace from the start. Faster, faster and a bit more and we hit a similar hill … bang he goes, and flies up. He stands there waiting at the top until I finally reach him.

He looks me in the eye and says ‘never try and drop me again, as if you do, it will come back 10 times’! He was right, it was a vital lesson and I still remind myself of that when I see athletes racing in training.

The speed I witnessed up that hill had the same intensity and powerful strides that I could see flying towards me, just 50m from the National 6 stage finishing line. The team sprint to the finishing line enjoying the moment together as a real team…we did it, and we won it!

The results from 1999

Scott Olson was willing to travel as reserve that day and even though he was not needed he was a young athlete that was inspired to take on a US scholarship and continue his athletic development. Now a well-respected electrician in Cardiff, he remembers fondly being part of that team.

We did think that day that we would or could rule for a number of years. But as every club knows in relation to 6 and 12 stage relays, getting your best team out rarely happens and if it does, you must celebrate. The next year the same team was ready a week out, but Andres was sadly involved in a car crash, and the team had to wait until 2001 to pick up bronze medals. A few near 12 stage misses with medals but no titles and the original super 6 are gone and replaced.

Tom Marshall anchors gold in 2016

I do though feel proud that I coached many of the next generation of Cardiff runners to take back the title in 2016, including Tom Marshall and his ‘milers’ sprint finish that day. A leg of the B team for myself, was a footnote in another great day for the club.

Then and up to present year and the 2019 relays, and leg 5, sees Cardiff phenomenon Jake Smith flying up the hill towards the line, in the lead! The last leg runner…yes yours truly, but this time there are no fairy tales, I’m the only guy available and even with a World masters gold in March, combined with Snowdon marathon training, there is not enough magic left in the old legs to hold on.

4th is our finishing placing, and I feel it is a fitting time to unofficially retire from the 6 stage, as hopefully I’m never needed or wanted again in the A team!

Jake Smith in background and coach Thie in 2019.

But as we sink our beers and eat poppadums’ at the reunion, I’m happy and content and not sad it’s over. I just feel privileged to have been part of that top team in ‘99!

Author James Thie, who went on to make World, European and Commonwealth games finals, is now Director of Athletics at Cardiff Met and a respected endurance coach.

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The post Class of ’99 – the great Cardiff AAC 6-stage team 20 years on appeared first on Fast Running.

65 years ago Sir Roger Bannister became the first runner to clock a mile inside the magic four-minute barrier. Over the past month the running forums buzzed as 53-year-old US runner Brad Barton ran inside 4:20 for a world age best. Back in May over 11,500 entered this year’s Westminster road miles in London. The mile is as popular as ever and there is still an interest across the globe in the 1609m distance!

As a self-coached athlete, I had the delight of going ‘sub four’ myself on a cold and windy San Francisco morning back in September 2002. It was only a few weeks ago that I revisited the same track for the first time in 17 years. There was a strange sense of nostalgia and emotion as I stood in the place that I ran three minutes and 58.24 seconds.

It gave me a better understanding as to why I have been so proud to coach three sub four milers (3:56/58/59) and another four athletes running the 1500m equivalent (3:36/38/43/43). The mile has provided me with many chances for trial and error and putting many training theories into practice.

Wider benefits

The mile, with all its history can massively benefit runners of all distances including the marathon. Record holders such as Eliud Kipchoge and Paula Radcliffe have sped to fast 1500m/mile times. Haile Gebrselassie and Sir Mo Farah have showed that speed is a vital component of their development and training.

My belief as a coach is that every one of all abilities and standards can benefit from mile training and races. You might just find that missing piece of your 5km to marathon training jigsaw.

The perfect blend of speed and endurance

The physiological breakdown of any event is important to fully understanding the demands on the body. Dependant on who you reference it believed to be in the range of 77% to 83% an aerobic (using oxygen) and 23% to 17% anaerobic (working without oxygen), so make sure your training represents this.

Keeping it simple for those who use heart rate or RPE anything over 80% of your maximum could be considered more anaerobic. Anything below that more aerobic. A such a weekly mile programme cannot just be either speed or running slowly. You need a mix and balance between all extremes. It was getting the blend right that led Steve Scott (most sub miles in history – 137!) to highlight how fun, but also challenging training for the mile can be.

Thie’s recipe for succes

An ability to run at your goal mile pace is of course key. However remember that it is critical to also run faster for a shorter distance and then longer for further than a mile.

I was always a fan of Frank Horwill and Peter Coe’s multi pace system. This uses interval training to access these paces (run a distance or time and taking recovery after each repetition to continue). I have though learned that you can combine different paces in the same sessions where previously they had been on separate days. For example one to three sessions per week with a combination of the example interval sessions below. These can be done on track, road, grass and as time or distance.

The list below gives and idea of the different volumes and recovery times you’ll need for different paces;

• 400m pace: 4-8 x 150m (4 mins recovery)
• 800m pace: 4-6 x 300m (2-3mins recovery)
• 1500m pace: 2 x 4-5 x 400m (1 min recovery between reps & 3mins between sets)
• 3000m pace: 5-8 x 800m (2 mins recovery)
• 5000m pace: 5-6 x 1km (2 mins recovery)
• 10,000m pace: 3-6 x mile (90 secs recovery)

Stronger, faster

As well as these types of interval sessions, I’m a firm believer in conditioning. Similar to Anthony Whiteman (first V40 outdoor sub four miler), a big fan of the circuit session. Using a mix of exercises with just body weight acting as the resistance and benefits include speed, power and endurance.

An example might be starting of with one set of 20 seconds per exercise with 10 seconds rest and building up to three sets of 30 seconds with 15 seconds rest. Mix the demands of the next exercise – so never the same body area twice i.e. move from arms to legs to core to back and repeat!

Examples of circuit exercises:

Breaking it down

Lord Seb Coe described the mile race as ‘a play with 4 acts’. This is a great analogy for the need to break the race down – mentally and physically.

Start to 400m: Getting out into your goal pace should feel comfortable, you’ve trained at this pace! You have take care to not over cook it.

400 to 800m: You can’t be struggling to half way. Stay relaxed and in a rhythm, with an eye on the clock.

800 to 1200m: The key here is to think about running ‘strong’. Milers must master the dreaded third lap as many good times and races have been lost in this vortex. Much of this third lap falls back on the interval training. Those quick reps and circuit sessions that made you believe that you are physically strong enough.

1200m to the finish: You must control this last part of the race. It’s fundamental to holding your form and maintaining technique to the line. The extra speed you have worked on may also help you hit that goal time or pip that club runner you dreamed of beating.

Test yourself

Do not be scared of the track mile. Many meetings now have graded heats and embrace the track environment and the four laps of drama. Road miles are super popular, the Westminster mile is going from strength to strength. Perhaps even travel further afield to great venues like New York for the Fifth Avenue road mile.

There are also some up and downhill miles that offer different tests but both are fun! So find a mile race or even a time trial in training, get some sessions in the legs and feel the nice classic burn of distance on the lungs.

To paraphrase Rudyard Kipling’s ‘If’: ‘If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, yours is the earth and everything that’s in it! Remember your own training in that last 60 seconds of your mile, regardless of whether it’s 200m, 300m or even the magic ¼-mile to go! Good luck and hope your miles keep getting better!

James Thie is Head Performance Coach for Endurance at Cardiff Met University and has a successful group of current & alumni athletes.

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The post Miles Better: breaking down the classic distance appeared first on Fast Running.