Week Commencing: 6 July 26

Choose Day👇

I still need to tweak a couple of your gym sessions, but you know what you are doing, so ignore my list for now. The 60 mins hills allows you to cross over that zone 2 HR without worrying about over workings as it’s factored into the training, but for the 2 hours, low HR is what we are looking for. I’ve put a bit of speed in the plan but want to introduce you to it gradually. Again you can do these purely to HR if you want. Any problems, shout. Go get em Anna.

Coach Simon🍊

121 POINTS TARGET

121 Points

MONDAY

gym-workout

Anna Legs/Core

8 PTS

Strong sporty woman in white sportswear warm up training running on a treadmill climber stairs machine in gym indoors.

20 Mins Stairs

9 PTS

  • Z2
Great! 20 min stairs at HR 144 feels a lot harder than running at same HR! Good though. Exercises all good- I also did 50 x glute bridges (25kg weight) and 3 x 12 abdominal crunches. Loving my current regime! 😁🧡
Smashing it. Yeah stairs the RPE feels much harder at that HR. But means you can get a really good workout in 20 mins. Awesome work with the strength too. Glute Bridges and Ab Crunches both excellent exercises to include. Great way to start the week.

Coach Simon 🍊
18 Points

TUESDAY

me-1-post

30 Min Tempo (HM)

24 PTS

  • Z4
Ended up enjoying this, but a few things to tweak or learn from! … Maybe because I was running trails (though I avoided the big hills) or maybe because I’m used to moving slowy, it was definitely more than 6 RPE to get my HR over 155- I was working pretty hard! Obviously fine if that’s the plan, but not sure tempo should feel tough like that! Didn’t help that sports bra over chest strap was squeezing my lungs! Think sea front might be better for tempo run next week! – you might have already suggested that actually …🤔 Also, I had to move through zone 1 to get to zone 2 for warm up- zone 2 is actually quite a brisk pace on the flat by my standards(!) and I tend to spend the first 5 mins pretty slow and creaky!
Yeah for a tempo run the seafront would be the best option and just finding a consistent pace/heart rate is what we are looking for. What you will generally find is that it feels tough early on but actually doesn’t get any harder, so once you start to settle in it’s not awful, so long as you stick with a consistent heart rate. You’ll always find a lag in the heart rate and can sometimes take 10 mins of a tempo run to reach where you want it to be. So if you have a 30 mins tempo, doing the first 10 to pace whilst you wait for HR to catch up isn’t a bad idea. Hopefully you can find the solution with the sports bra. I imagines it’s just about getting the right bra that sits on top of the monitor and holds it in place. But well done for working hard here.

Coach Simon 🍊
24 Points

WEDNESDAY

gym-workout

Anna Legs/Arms

8 PTS

Beautiful young brunette working out in an elliptical trainer and smiling

20 Mins Elliptical

6 PTS

  • Z2
Good workout! I was working solidly for 1 hour 20 mins. I also did vertical chest press and glute bridges.
Nice. You’re like a fitness machine these days. Excited to see where it takes you 💪 If I don’t recognise you next time we cross paths I can only apologise.

Coach Simon 🍊
15 Points

THURSDAY

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sunrise

60 Mins Easy (Hills)

24 PTS

  • Z2
  • Z3
I loved this run, weirdly! Hills plus heat… but actually it was totally fine! Mostly my HR was belowabout 156 even on the biggest holls… don’t know if this is sign of good fitness or I sign I should be pushing harder! 😁 Upped my pace between hills to be firmly in zone 2, not just plodding in zone 1!
See I love this. You are really embracing this. And now if you do push that pace, but are still in Zone 2 you going to get maximum benefit from the 60 minute run, where as before, perhaps not so much. That’s the idea really, understanding how to execute each session as it’s intended and get the right benefit from it. Sometimes that means running a bit faster, sometimes a bit slower, but I really feel it’s the way forward. So pleased you loved it too. In terms of HR up the hill, I imagine it’s something you’re used to, so perhaps able to stay quite low 🤷‍♂️

Coach Simon 🍊
24 Points

FRIDAY

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rest-day

Rest Day

0 PTS

SATURDAY

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gym-workout

Anna Arms/Core

4 PTS

Poor energy today, didn’t sleep well plus possibly hormones… but I did it! All except pec flys… tried them for third time today but I only feel them in my upper arms (ie not pecs!) so clearly doing them wrong! Leg is twinging a bit after hill run on Thursday so I’ll take it easy on my long run tomorrow!
Sorry to hear that Anna, but really well done with the session. Yeah let’s keep an eye on the leg, hills will definitely cause more stress and strain on the leg.

Coach Simon 🍊
4 Points

SUNDAY

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su-sparkes

120 Mins

36 PTS

  • Z2
Really chuffed about this, because my knee/leg was twinging yesterday and I was so worried I’d be back off running again… was expecting not to be able to run today… but it felt much better this morning so I gave it a go… first hour I took very easy so pace isn’t great, but about half way through I realised my leg actually felt okay, so I pushed slightly harder in second hour. I put my HR on strava (is this unnecessary or helpful??) and you can see it doesn’t dip as low in second half of the run. So, overall, not my best run, but such a relief to be okay to run!
So pleased this went well. To be honest, don’t be surprised if the leg does niggle, as there’s probably a weakness there somewhere, and it’s potentially going to take as long as 6-12 months to build that fitness in the gym that will give the knee the support it needs. I’m still experienced twinges in my knee, but they are quite light. Of course every niggle is different, and should be treated with caution, but I think as long as we continue to build strength in those key muscles around the knee, the issues should continue to improve. Average HR on here is fine. The main reason is just to get you thinking about the run. Rather than just doing the time and potentially running in the wrong zones.

Coach Simon 🍊