Uncover your inner athlete!

Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be eaten.. Each morning in Africa a lion awakes - it knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve.


No matter if you are the lion or the gazelle, when the sun comes up you had better be running!



Tuesday, January 15, 2013

The 5K time trial


The time trial and in particular the 5KM time trial is something that is severely overlooked by many in their training programs as a tool to measure how they are tracking.

So many folks (myself included at the start of running) like to think that they can set a new PB each time they complete the time trial distance. The objective of these trials though are not to make them into races. They are there to help us to test pace and see how we are tracking. If they become easier to complete at the same amount of effort then we know that we are on the right track with them.

Racing each and every time will only ensure that your legs are tired and that you won’t be able to complete any more of the designated sessions that are allocated for the week. By maintaining a constant pace and pushing hard but not too hard you will get the best value from these sessions.

The time trials also act as a guidance mechanism to show us when we are ready to increase our training intensity. This is great for those that don’t get to race regularly. They are best done with company but should form an essential part of any training program as a safe way of testing oneself.

Are you doing 5K time trials and if so what is your experience?

Running together (while using 5KM time trials to test the fitness), stride for stride on a life changing ride! – Sean Muller

2 comments:

  1. Do you ever do parkrun Sean? Best way to incorporate a 5k time trial into your running schedule each week!

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    1. Very Occasionally I run a Parkrun. Good concept, but my squad has so many quality runners in it that I often don't feel the need. We do 8 or 10K tempo runs each weekend at half marathon pace and this is better for me I find.

      We do the 5KM every 3 weeks and this indicates how you are tracking, but week to week is good to if you enjoy it.

      To be honest Parkrun is only the old club Time Trial except people are hesitant to support clubs, yet they will rock up to a park to run a timed run. Go figure.

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