Her Trails 100km

WEEK 3

OBJECTIVE

Your objective this week is to understand and work with your training levels - also described as a perceived exertion scale. Moving forward we will reference Training Levels (TL)/Perceived Exertion (PE) as we understand each of you may connect to a different term. TL/PE is our brain’s perception of how hard we are working. We encourage you to train using TL/PE in this program as it prioritises - (i) how you feel and (ii) your effort, over the result. Using TL/PE means you are tuning to your body which will take the focus from pushing too hard and hit a number. This is especially important during this stage of your training, which is all about time on feet and conditioning. In this program, we work with a TL/PE scale with levels from 1 - 10. You start to understand your TL by using the talk test below: 1 to 3: You can tell a story 4 to 6: You can have a comfortable conversation 7: You can speak 2 to 3 sentences 8 to 9: You can speak a 5 to 7-word sentence 10: You can speak a single, monosyllabic word Make sure you know what your TL/PE goal is before you start each run and self check as you go using a method like the talk test, or whatever you find works for you.

TRAINING LEVEL CHART

Reference this training level chart to help you understand your efforts for each training session.

LEVEL 1- 3

EASY RUNS/RECOVERY

LEVEL 4-5

MODERATE

LEVEL 6

GOAL RACE EFFORT
[aka HALF MARATHON PACE]

LEVEL 7-8

THRESHOLD
[aka 5KM/10KM PACE]

LEVEL 9-10

STRONG SPEED
[AKA 1 MILE – 400M PACE]

DAY ONE

Base Mile Run

30 min Level 1-3

Intention: Breath

Just as we looked at breath in week 1 we are doing it again. Running is a breathing exercise! How we breathe when we run can impact our efficiency, comfort and performance. A common problem for runners is shallow chest breathing. Breathing in this way can lead to sub-optimal oxygen uptake and fatigue and it can feel pretty uncomfortable. So this run is all about deep breaths. The first this we would like you to do is notice your breath, and then see if you can start to practice some deep belly breathing (diaphragmatic breathing). To do this, think about extending your inhalation (preferably through your nose) to take your breath down into your belly and then focus on exhaling intentionally. Exhaling deeply and consciously will automatically lead you to inhale deeply and will helps improve your oxygen uptake (VO2 Max).

DAY TWO

DAY 2 - WEEK 1 STENGTH PHOTO (LANDSCAPE)

Strength

This practice is all about learning your body language. Coach Bec will take you through exercises that make you work all three planes of motion, challenge your stability and teach you how to activate your muscles.

DAY THREE

Base Mile Run

20 min Level 1-3

Your intention today is to focus on your form, specifically your shoulders.

CUE: we want you to focus on relaxing your chest, and letting your shoulders drop down and forward a little. Continue to check in with your body throughout the run. It is very common for our shoulders to hold tension, and as fatigue builds in your body you might notice them hiking up closer and closer to your ears. If you notice this, just think of the cue, ‘relax my shoulders’ and reset.

DAY FOUR

Yoga with Coach Jo

DAY FIVE

Active Recovery

20 min Level 1-3

You can substitute this run for cycling, swimming, rowing or elliptical machines. We just want your body moving at a low intensity for an active recovery session.

NOTES: Active recovery sessions are great after strenuous workouts. In fact they are often considered more beneficial than inactivity, resting completely, or sitting. The purposes is to keep blood flowing throughout the body that allows the muscles to recover and therefore rebuild from intense physical activity. We preference complete rest over an active recovery session if you are injured or are in a lot of pain.

DAY SIX

LONG RUN

70 min Level 1-3

Adventure out to an undulating trail.

DAY SEVEN

REST DAY

Priorities and relish in your Rest Days. This is where we recovery, recuperate and consolidate the efforts of the previous days sessions. If you skip this session you are not allowing your body time to adapt to the strain of running and strength.