Get in Gear
- A great session for hitting a range of paces
- Works endurance, acceleration and speed
- Works well on the running track, on the road and in parks
Get in Gear is a great session for getting used to different paces while also getting in a good workout.
The Session
Find a section of road, grass or track about 600m - 800m in length and note the following gears:
- Gear 1: Jogging (taking it nice and easy).
- Gear 2: Moderate Running (about the pace you could maintain for 45 minutes to an hour in a race).
- Gear 3: Hard Running (about the pace you could maintain for 15-20 minutes in a race).
- Gear 4: Fast Running (about the pace you could maintain for a minute or two in a race).
Start running in gear 1 and at roughly regular intervals progress to the next gear. When you get to the end take a two-minute recovery and then repeat.
Try and include 4-6 sets of these, with a two-minute recovery between each.
To mix things up a bit, vary the order of the gears after the first couple of reps. For example, you could start with gear 3, then slow right down to gear one before blasting out a section in gear 4 then staying strong in gear 2 until the end.
The session is best performed on a loop so you can start, finish and rest at the same point.
For even more variety and speed try adding a five-second sprint (a fifth gear) to the very end of each section.