I’ve just received my May copy of Runner’s World. Amongst the running coaching articles is one entitled ‘Secrets to a Stronger Finish’ One of the suggestions it contains is to use plyometrics - jumping and bounding exercises. This is an excellent way to improve speed and running performance but, what the article fails to mention, is that it carries a very high risk of injury if the athlete is not fit enough. So, while there are benefits to be had, plyometrics represents very much the icing on the cake.

So, what alternatives are there to boost performance at the end of a race?

In my track days, I mainly raced 400m hurdles. To gain strength, I often trained with a group of 800m runners on the Oxford University track – the track where Roger Bannister ran the first four minute mile. The group was coached by Mac – a retired fire fighter – who devised one of my favourite sessions.

We would run 200m at a fast float (running fast but not flat out sprinting – around race pace) then walk 50m and then sprint 150m. A session consisted of 4 repetitions with 3 minute recoveries.

When I began coaching road runners, I looked to adapt the session so that it followed the same principles but at paces and distances that were more appropriate to road runners.
We ran 550m @ 5k pace, walk 50m, 150m fast finish.
3 minute recovery.
4 reps.

The session is excellent for a runner sharpening before a race. The 5k pace is at 100% VO2 max and boosts that; the fast finish replicates finishing a race fast and will also generate some lactic acid. By the time the third and fourth reps come around, the body will be struggling to clear the lactic acid in the 3 minutes and so the runner is forced to run fast while there is a lactic acid accumulation in the legs – just like the end of a 5k or 10k race. This is a great fun session to do in a group on a good grass surface.

At this weekend’s London Grand Prix, Mo Farah was aiming to break Dave Moorcroft’s long-held British 5000m record. Moorcroft had a successful background in middle distance running, winning the 1500m at the Commonwealth Games. However, the British abundance of talent in these events in the early 80s led him to move up to 5000m. On a balmy night in Oslo in 1982, Moorcroft smashed the world record and almost ran the first sub 13 minute 5000m.

And he still holds the British record 27 years later – why?

To run a world class 5k, you need speed. At world record pace, the runners are almost running at 4 minute mile pace – for over 3 miles!! To enable them to maintain such a pace, they also have to be capable of running very economically and to have a very high lactate threshold speed.

So how does this relate to training for club athletes?

For most club runners, the 5k is at the short end of their range of distances. In order to prepare to race, you need to include sessions at current and goal 5k pace. If you haven’t recently run a 5k, you could convert another recent race time over a longer distance to give you an idea of goal time. However, many road runners’ times do not convert particularly well over shorter distances so an ideal session to gain an idea of your likely race time is one devised by Babineau and Leger, two Canadians. When rested and following a thorough warm up, run 3 x 1600m intervals at the fastest consistent speed you can manage throughout the three. You take one minute recovery between each interval. The average time of the three intervals will be your pace for the 5k.

Another session that Babineau and Leger experimented with was 12 x 400m with 15 seconds rest. They found that the average speed during this session was 3.7% faster than 5k speed. The lactate levels generated with this session were much the same as in a 5k race and as the pace is slightly faster than race pace, it is a great session for improving race speed.

The great thing about 5k racing is that you do not need the recovery time of longer races. After building up your endurance through training and racing a marathon, spending a month training for 5k races will enable you to build speed and maximise the endurance gains you’ve made.

Train SMART!