Alan's Running Program - week 4
Coach Alan has worked on a running program for the CHALKBOX members. It’s a great time to take up some running and improve your speed.
The Running Program
If you’ve been thinking about grabbing your trainers and improving your ability to run, then there’s no better time to start than now. In conjunction with all the awesome home workouts, you can really take your conditioning to a new level.
You may have had some bad experiences before with running but usually, these come down to either going too fast or too far early in your training, leading to you either quitting because it’s too hard or an early injury hindering your progress.
This program is designed for beginner or intermediate level runners only. It is broken into three days a week of which ideally, you’ll complete 2 sessions. It will increase in volume by 10% a week which is the maximum rate of progress anyone should safely make.
Guidelines
In terms of the pacing that we’ll be using for these runs, it’ll be broken into 2 categories:
Slow pace: At this pace, you should ideally be able to breathe out of your nose or hold a conversation quite comfortably if necessary. It might seem horrendously slow for some of you, and at times you may have to walk if you hit an incline, but I can assure you that it will be most beneficial in the long run.
Fast pace: For those that are intermediate, this pace will be your race pace or your fastest maintainable pace. What this means is your breathing will become laboured but sustainable for periods up to 6-10 mins. It will never be so fast that you’re gasping for air and your legs are burning up.
Week 1
All sessions this week will last for 20 mins in total
Day 1
Beginners: Alternate between 1 min walk and 1 min jog.
Intermediate: 20 min slow pace run
Day 2
Beginners: Alternate between 1 min walk and 1 min jog.
Intermediate: Alternate between 4 mins slow/1 min fast pace.
Day 3
Beginners: Alternate between 1 min walk and 1 min jog.
Intermediate: Alternate between 2.5mins slow/2.5mins fast.
Week 2
All sessions this week will last for 22 mins in total
Day 1
Beginners: Alternate between 1 min walk and 2 min jog.
Intermediate: 22 min slow pace run
Day 2
Beginners: Alternate between 1 min walk and 2 min jog.
Intermediate: Alternate between 4 mins slow/1.5 min fast pace.
Day 3
Beginners: Alternate between 1 min walk and 2 min jog.
Intermediate: Alternate between 2mins slow/3mins fast.
Week 3
All sessions this week will last for 25 mins in total
Day 1
Beginners: Alternate between 2.5 min walk and 2.5 min jog.
Intermediate: 25 min slow pace run
Day 2
Beginners: Alternate between 2 min walk and 2.5 min jog.
Intermediate: Alternate between 4 mins slow/2 min fast pace.
Day 3
Beginners: Alternate between 1.5 min walk and 2.5 min jog.
Intermediate: Alternate between 3 mins slow/4 mins fast.
Week 4
All sessions this week will last for 27.5 mins in total
Day 1
Beginners: Alternate between 2.5 min walk and 3 min jog.
Intermediate: 27.5 min slow pace run
Day 2
Beginners: Alternate between 2 min walk and 3 min jog.
Intermediate: Alternate between 4 mins slow/2.5 min fast pace.
Day 3
Beginners: Alternate between 1.5 min walk and 3 min jog.
Intermediate: Alternate between 3 mins slow/5 mins fast.
**Be disciplined with the timeframe. You need to allow time for the tissues in your legs to become accustomed to what you’re doing. Failure to do so only leads to niggles and injuries down the road and then your progress will be lost. If for whatever reason the calves/feet are feeling a little more beaten up than usual, take another days rest to allow for further recovery.**
Coach Alan