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Week 9 Newsletter

We are getting close!

Stick to the programme

We are now in our silly season, that time in the programme where people lose focus. Every time we have a RaceTeam programme running we find that people lose focus in the last couple of weeks leading up to the race. Remember that this time is just about important as any other time in the programme.
 

We know that's it tempting to drop sessions because your longest run is over, but it's your job to keep to the programme 100%. It's all about being the best athlete you can be and the taper is a part of doing this. 

Week 9 Sessions

MORNING GROUP

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EVENING GROUP

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BOTH GROUPS

                        

70min Run:                                         
30mins Easy (turn 15mins) Course 1

30mins at Race Pace (turn 15mins) Course 2
10mins at 10km pace* (turn 5mins) Course 1

*Beginners do this last set Easy running
 

Course 1 Description:

  • Start by running along the pathway leading out of Avonhead Park. Turn right. 

  • Run along Hawthornden Road to Kedleston Drive. Turn right.

  • Run around Kedleston Drive coming out onto Apsley Drive, turn right. 

  • Run along Apsley Drive to Woodbury Street. There is a roundabout here, follow our cones that will lead you to run up Woodbury St to Withells Road. Turn left. 

  • Run up Withells Road all the way to Avonhead Road.

  • At your turnaround time, reverse the course and start the next set straight away on Course 2…
    As you start Course 2, don't come back into Avonhead Park, start Course 2 by running straight past the entrance driveway and along Hawthornden Road.
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Course 2 Description:

  • Continue straight along Hawthornden Road, crossing over where we indicate with cones. Run up Hawthornden Road to Avonhead Road. Turn right. 

  • Continue along Avonhead Road, crossing carefully over Withells Road. 

  • Continue along Avonhead Road to Maidstone Road. Turn right. 

  • Once back at the start, start your last set on Course 1

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Course 1:
Click on image to enlarge

Course 2:
Click on image to enlarge

What Next?
Thinking about what to do after RaceTeam?

This is our last RaceTeam for 2023 and what a year it has been!

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If you would like to keep running with the Extra Mile Runners team following RaceTeam, we will have sessions on our Session Timetable that will continue up to and right through Christmas and New Year until our next group programmes start in January 2024.


We will have our 2024 RaceTeam schedule in the final newsletter you will get for this RaceTeam. 


Members: 6mth or 12mth Memberships

Check when your membership expiry date is, and come to unlimited sessions each week during your membership term, just book in to the sessions on the timetable!

Non Members:
You can buy single Drop In Sessions that can be used at any of our sessions on the Session Timetable. They are valid for 1 month from date of purchase, so you can purchase and book in to any session you want to come to. 

Education

The Taper

The hardest part of this stage in the programme is the mental challenge of doing less training in your tapering period.
 

We want to share with you some words of wisdom from one of the world's most legendary endurance athletes, 6 times Ironman World Champ Mark Allen: 
 

"By race day you should be so bored with sitting around that you are bursting at the seams to get out there and be with the other people racing! The final touches to any training programme come during the taper. This is the period leading up to a key race when you allow your body to absorb all of the hard work you did during your base building and your speed phases. Doing the right kind of taper is an art unto itself."

A taper is tricky because of what is happening internally when our bodies try to recover. When athletes start to give themselves rest, the system in the body that responds to stress (which is the system that allows you to get up for big workouts) starts to shut down. It is like working on the engine of your car. You cannot have the engine running at the same time that you are giving it an overhaul. You have to shut the engine off.

The same is true for our bodies. You have to shut the "engine" off for it to recover and charge up in the way that it needs to be ready for the big race. And when you do this, you will probably feel like you are out of energy, sluggish, and getting out of shape. THIS IS NORMAL.

Give yourself the luxury of this less-than-stellar feeling. It is just a signal that your body is repairing itself and getting ready for a big effort in a few weeks. We do this naturally each night when we sleep. We get a mini-taper. You sleep and you recover. You are not working out when you are sleeping.

But during the taper, a lot of the recovery is going to happen in the day when you are used to working out. This will require a readjustment of mindset. Allow yourself to feel lousy, out of energy, and sluggish. This is what a taper is for.  Resist the temptation to go out and test your fitness just to make sure you are not losing it.

 

As best as you can stick to the planned reduction in volume and overall intensity. This is the toughest part of a taper - the rest.

Other News

  • Stick to the programme team. Now is a good time to make sure you have all your gear for the race; nutrition, warm clothes/wet weather clothes..write a list and check it twice!

This week's quick tip: 

'Stick to your programme and enjoy the taper..it will pay off on race day.'
- Sam

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