Just 6 weeks ago, Laura Jones’ lifetime 5km PB was 31 minutes 14 seconds, a time she had achieved when she was at the peak of her fitness last year. With her usual weekly routine of gym classes and dancing thrown into chaos by lockdown, Laura, like many, was no longer at the peak of her fitness! She decided to join Wirksworth Running Club and she asked for a plan to break the 30-minute barrier.
The club gave Laura a 6-week training plan to follow, which involved three runs per week:
1. Speed work – things like 8*400m, 4*4 minutes, all the sorts of things that the club does on a Monday night.
2. A stamina run – anywhere between 6km and 10km (Laura had never run further than 5km before).
3. A recovery run – 3-5km at a comfortable pace, with strict instructions NOT to push herself or perform a sprint finish.
Laura followed the plan in an extremely disciplined way, inspite of some unusually challenging summer weather, and today ran the Long Eaton parkrun course in 29 minutes 10 seconds, totally oblitertating her 30-minute target. Well done, Laura!
Wirksworth running club is always looking to help its members achieve their goals, in or out of lockdown! So, if you’re inspired by Laura, why not ask WRC’s training officer for some help putting together a plan?