I needed to develop a short, intense session for an athlete due to the position they have found themselves in due to changes in COVID-19 restrictions where they live. This session targets VO2 max intensity with very limited Rest Intervals (RI). This session is great to build your top-end intensity. This is a great session for all runners and triathletes with limited time to train especially those running events between 5km & half marathon.
Each week I will be posting the Friday Fartlek Run Sessions that you can do to enhance your running. Fartlek is a Swedish term that is often used by runners and it means speed-play. See a previous post about training intensity (levels) to know how hard to work.
With the recent change to the COVID-19 Lockdown levels in New Zealand, I received a number of messages from my athletes, particularly around access to swimming pools. Gareth who is based in Auckland, all of a sudden found himself having to juggle training, family commitments, and working from home. He no longer had the freedom to fit his training in as he liked and asked me if I could limit his training to about 30 minutes. This is the session I put together for him today. Hopefully, the COVID outbreak in Auckland has been caught by going hard early and this lockdown gets lifted later this afternoon.
Gareth’s 30min Lockdown Speed Session
- 10min WU Level II;
- 6x 1min Level V, 30sec Level II RI;
- 10min CD Level II;
- 10min Stretching
Start the workout with a Warm Up (WU) of ten minutes of easy jogging at Level II.
The Main Set involves running six, one-minute reps at Level V, with only 30 seconds of Rest Interval (RI) at Level II between reps.
The Cool Down (CD) is at a low intensity, jogging (Level II) for a minimum of ten minutes.
Finish with 10 minutes of stretching to assist with the recovery.
I am the Head Coach & Director of Qwik Kiwi – Endurance Sports Consultant.
I specialise in assisting first-timers and recreational athletes to achieve their sporting goals. I can be contacted at coachray@coachray.nz and 021 348 729.
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