Week Commencing: 29 June 26

Choose Day👇

Hopefully not too demanding a first week back. I’ve gone all easy runs. And I think this notion that walking the hills is strategic, not failure could make you an even better ultra runner, don’t be afraid to do that on easy runs, to keep them easy. The risk of injury by stubbornly pushing on up hills, probably outweighs the benefit we gain from running them. There is a time and a place to challenge ourselves on the hills, and easy runs are not always it. That’s not to say walk every hill, far from it, but choose your battles. If this feels too much this week, just let me know and if the leg plays up at all, just ditch one of the runs.

Coach Simon🍊

119 POINTS TARGET

119 Points

MONDAY

gym-workout

Gym Legs/Core Session

6 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
Lots of feedback today as it’s a new plan and I have my routines in gym and want your opinions! I won’t always bombard you with all this!!… So I did what you said on stair climber… tried to keep in zone 2 (I’m 46 so max hr comes out as 174… so I tried to keep it around 120 today (174 x 0.7)… Normally on cros trainer I’m mostly zone 4 or even 5 (hr up and down between 130 and 162)… I thought this was better as it’s only 20 mins… But I will stick to zone 2 if you say I should! I then did this: Hip adduction 2 x 12 @ 52kg plus 1 x 12@45kg Hip abduction 2 x 12 @ 52kg plus 1 x 12@45kg Prone leg curl 3 x 12 @ 45kg Calf press 40 lifts@ 52kg Leg extension 3x 12 @ 45kg Leg press 3 x 12 @ 45kg Sit ups on steep slope x 50 2 x 20 Russian twists with 7 kg 3 x 10 goblet squats with 12 kg Back extension bends x 40 Which is my usual leg work plus core work. I’m happy with it but will tweak if you want me to. I think it’s worth more points lol!!! I will do almost anything to not plank. Lovely to be back on a plan! X
Thanks Anna, that is a really good workout. Keep doing that. I’ve updated it on the dashboard and it’s worth a few extra pts. Let me know what you do in the other sessions and I will tweak them too. I have added HR stats to the dashboard. You can go as high as 137 and stay in Zone 2. So on the stairs it might take 5 mins to get into zone 2, but you should find you can work pretty hard and still stay under that cap. So it’s a decent workout. Zone 2 on the stairs feels much harder to me than Zone 2 running. But a great way to start the new plan.

Coach Simon 🍊
15 Points

TUESDAY

pett-xc

60 Mins Run

18 PTS

  • Z2
Absolutely joyful. Beautiful weather and lovely easy run. So good to feel strong. Thanks for heart rate stats on dashboard! Useful! My average HR on this run was 131- I kep it easy- but mt watch seemed to think I was mainly in zone 1… Not sure if I need to be running harder on easy runs or if it’s just right!
So your Garmin Zones will differ from those on the dashboard. My approach right now, is to run at the top end of Zone 2 (on the dashboard) without ever going over. Like never. So for you the cap is 137, you’d want to potentially max out at 135 on an easy run just to have a bit of cushion. The theory is we can run in Zone 2 forever, so long as our legs hold up, but zone 3 we can only run at a limited time for. So for your 100k you probably never want to go out of Zone 2, and that’s why walking the hills is such a good strategy, because you can do that all day. It’s a different approach, something to consider. But happy to discuss in more detail if you wanted. So pleased this went so well though. Great job Anna

Coach Simon 🍊
18 Points

WEDNESDAY

Beautiful young brunette working out in an elliptical trainer and smiling

20 Mins Elliptical

6 PTS

  • Z2
Great… very interested in this thing of keeping within zone 2… what’s the theory behind never raising heart rate beyond that? Gym was good- I did elliptical in zone 2 (I just use legs for this- tell me if I should use arms too!) Ran out of time to do all my arm stuff as I did so much legs- but tried to target different arm muscles. Hip adduction 2 x 12 @ 52kg plus 1 x 12@45kg Hip abduction 2 x 12 @ 52kg plus 1 x 12@45kg Prone leg curl 3 x 12 @ 45kg Calf press 50 lifts@ 52kg Leg extension 3x 12 @ 45kg Leg press 3 x 12 @ 45kg Goblet squats 3 x 12 @ 12kg Glute bridge x 50 with 25kg Tricep extension 50 x 50kg Lat pull down 3 x 12 @ 25kg Bench press 3 x 10@ 30kg inc bar
Well done Anna, drop me a message with the other arm exercises you normally do and I will put that into a “Anna Legs/Arms session”. In terms of HR, the harder we work the more stresses it puts on our body and therefore the less work we can do. So the more you stay in Zone 2, the more time you can spend on your feet without risking burnout. At the lower intensity our body will use fat as the fuel source which is much better than using glycogen as we have a limited supply of that. Also we will recover quicker from an easy session, reducing that risk of missing sessions or picking up niggles. I’ve seen it quite often with the team when I look at niggles, it’s often they’ve gone to do an easy run and ended up smashing out loads of hills with a HR in Zone 4 or 5. So working way too hard. They then don’t recover and there next run is Tuesday efforts or worse a race and they start that fatigued, and inevitably underperform and pick up a niggle. You’re still getting lots of physiological benefits in Zone 2 without the increase demand on your body. The main one being the increase of mitochondria which are key for us runners. The reason I’ve never really encouraged it before is due to poor data, not enough of the team will get accurate enough HR from their watches, so you do need that. But I’m finding it’s helping me massively with my own running and excited for what I can achieve working to HR going forward.

Coach Simon 🍊
15 Points

THURSDAY

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pett-xc

60 Mins Run

18 PTS

  • Z2
Hmm well this was interesting… On the one hand it was pretty idyllic… very easy running through rye nature reserve in the sun, after a sy at work… The only thing was, I had to slow myself down to a point that felt odd at times, in order to keep my HR below 135. I definitely could run that pace forever- I barely even sweated!- but if that was on total flat I’m not sure how I’ll be able to run in the country park at all without going over 135… and if I have to walk every slight slope won’t I lose a lot of fitness?
It raises a few questions and I’m glad you asked them. You are right, yes if suddenly every 60 min run we started doing like this, rather than previously where you had been running up hills and working hard, inevitably that would be a step backwards. But then it raises the questions, why have you picked up lots of injuries down the years? Perhaps that is because you have done those “easy runs” too hard all the time? HR training is one way of approaching your running. You don’t have to do it that way. If we do adopt that approach then getting a chest or arm strap is crucial as your data may even have been wrong here and you should find you can run quicker at Zone 2. Your dashboard says 6:12-6:33 per km for example. When I got a chest strap I could run faster that using my watch, so shows the data was inaccurate. As you discovered the benefit of this approach is you can do more, but, and it’s a big but, if you don’t have time to do more, it’s therefore not beneficial. From my experience at first when I did it, I was having to run slowly 6:00+ per km. But now, especially with the chest strap, I’m can hit speeds of around 5:15 per km at points and still be in Zone 2. So it’s quickly improved. But yes, going up hills does quickly spike my HR and I need to slow down. But if I was going to take on a 100K ultra, hopefully one day I will, I think I would walk pretty much every single hill anyway, that would be my strategy to get to the end. And what I did and will do again, at the Amble this year. Have a think, decide which way you want to go, we can always experiment for a bit more. In terms of HR straps I’ve got a coospa which only cost £20 so they are cheap.

Coach Simon 🍊
18 Points

FRIDAY

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andy-alice

40 Mins Run

12 PTS

  • Z2
Gym was good- boring run down: Tricep extension 50 x 50kg Lat pull down 3 x 12 @ 25kg Bench press 3 x 10@ 30kg inc bar Vertical chest press 10 @ 20 kg plus 20 @10kg Seated row 30 @ 32kg inc machine resistance Pec fly 3 x 10 @ 18kg Sit ups on steep slope x 50 2 x 20 Russian twists with 7 kg Back extension bends x 40 Abdominal crunch 40 @ 41kg Run was beautiful- lush summer evening, SO much better with HR max at 144!
So much better with the run. Shows you can go pretty quick and stay in Z2. Well done in the gym too. A really good day of training. Awesome work Anna

Coach Simon 🍊
17 Points

SATURDAY

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rest-day

Rest Day

0 PTS

SUNDAY

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su-sparkes

120 Mins

36 PTS

  • Z2
I loved this! Trying to keep heart rate below 144 meant the hills weren’t daunting at all, which made it more fun! The only annoying thing was that I couldn’t even march up them , I had to walk fairly slowly on the steep ones… but I know that that’s part of it with this approach. It was hard not to go over 144 as gradients change constantly in the country park and HR would suddenly creep up on me! I will get better at pre-empting this though. What was really cool- but tell me if I’m doing this wrong!- was that it worked the other way too, so on flat or downhill stretches that I usually trudge, I picked up the pace to bring my HR UP nearer to 144. Consequently my overall pace is possibly FASTER despite dawdling on the hills!
You’ve nailed it with that explanation. I think you’ll find your times in ultras will improve with this pace and hopefully you’ll feel better too as you’re not burning all your energy up the hills. You’ll soon start to know when HR is creeping up and I wouldn’t worry if you nudge over from time to time. I did a run the other week which incorporated Beaney’s Lane. I was 7:07 per km pace up the hill, and probably snuck into Zone 3. But then when I hit the downhill on the road I was going 5:05 pace and feeling strong. I think picking your route carefully, so perhaps you only do 1 super hilly one per week is wise, that way you can get more consistent running in. I’m not saying avoid the trails, far from it, but there are some flatter trails out there too. But great work Anna. A brilliant first week back on plan.

Coach Simon 🍊
36 Points