| MONDAY | rest |
| TUESDAY | 5 x 800m @ 5km pace, 3min recovery (inc 10min warm up & 10min cool down) Approx 9km |
| WEDNESDAY | Off, cross-train (XT), or easy 30-45minutes Approx 8km |
| THURSDAY | Tempo Run 8km |
| FRIDAY | Easy 30 – 45minutes Approx 8km |
| SATURDAY | 2 x 5min 2 x 3min 6 x 1min Equal recoveries (inc 10min warm up & cool down) Approx 8km |
| SUNDAY | Easy run, 60 -70 minutes Approx 13km |
| TOTALS | Approx 54km |
Notes for Week 6
This is your last full week of training before the race! It is important that you keep intensity in your quality sessions, even if you are inclined to start resting up. Volume can be decreased if you are feeling particularly fatigued, but ensure intensity doesn’t drop off yet – you will have the opportunity next week to freshen up for the race.
Every session you do now you will probably find yourself wondering how it will impact your performance on race day. I always allow time in my weeks leading up to a race to visual how I want the race to go. This allows me to develop mental strategies that I may need to draw upon during the race.
Visualising the race is a good habit to get into – how you expect to feel at the start line, after the first kilometre, half way and in the final few kilometres of the race. If you are new to racing this may be difficult to do, but if you are a seasoned competitor, you will have experienced the highs and lows that come and go throughout a race. Try and remember that you can experience ‘bad patches’ during a race but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the race is going badly. Many people confuse fatigue and discomfort as ‘hitting the wall’ or thinking that “Its all over, I can’t possibly finish,” or “I’ve gone out too fast and now I’ve blown up!”
Expect to feel uncomfortable, after all you are possibly asking your body to run faster and/or further than ever before! Remember some of the quality sessions you did in training and the discomfort you would have felt then – these sessions should have equipt you with the confidence that the discomfort doesn’t last forever. I often break the race down into more ‘manageable’ sections. For example in a half marathon 4 x 5km with a 1.1km sprint at the end. When I get to halfway I always get a little buzz and that I’m on my way home!
