In the early days of Valley Striders, the Tuesday training run was generally a fartlek session which generally turned into an eyeballs-out session about half way round.
In winter the route was Alwoodley Lane, Wigton Lane, then either Roundhay Park Lane and Park Lane (the 9 mile route) or Shadwell Lane and Street Lane (the 11 mile route), merging on Princes Avenue, then Gledhow Lane, St Gemmas and back up King Lane.
In summer, across the fields, round the Res, through Eccup, Black Moor Lane, Kings Road, Otley Road and Stairfoot Lane.
Some years ago we realised
Our slower runners became rather discouraged by being left behind only 2 miles into the session(!)
Our faster runners were not getting enough variety
So we set up a cycle of training
16 times 400 metres
traditional fartlek
5 times 1 mile
6 or 8 times up a hill
We were still leaving the slower runners behind at the fartlek so in October 2004, our coach Max Jones devised a new session, which we call the 10-minute session.
Runners position themselves fastest first
Run for 5 minutes, turn round, run back for 5 minutes
All should arrive back together
Wait 2 and a half minutes, repeat 2 further times
Runners should aim to get to the same turn point each time and be back at the start point as near as possible to the 5 mins
In Spring 2005: what could be done to improve the other sessions?
5 times 1 mile became 5 times 7 minutes with 2 minutes rest ("Peter's miles")
faster runners can run further (or, but not recommended, can run the mile and take more rest)
slower runners can run less far (or, but not recommended, can run the mile and take less rest)
6 or 8 times up a hill became rolling 8 hills ("Mivvy's hills")
fastest runners start at the front
as soon as the first runner gets to the top (or an agreed point), all turn round
all runners reach the bottom around the same time
and all immediately start back up the hill
a different fast runner may reach the top first
continue 8 times (but with a 2 minute break half way)
16 times 400 metres has always been run as 8 pairs of 400m, out and back, so there has always been the feature for the slower runners to run less distance
And what about new runners?
The jog of nearly 2 miles to the start may leave them behind
We have two options (for the summer)
Jog up The Avenue to the start (1 1/4 mile)
Drive to Wigton Lane (only 1/4 mile)
So, in Summer 2005, we had a cycle of training
1st Tuesday in month - 3 times 10 minutes with 2min30sec rest between each
2nd Tuesday in month - 16 times 75 seconds with 45 seconds rest between each
3rd Tuesday in month - 5 times 7 minutes with 2mins rest between each
4th Tuesday in month - rolling hills (8 times), 2 mins rest at half-time
For Winter 2005, the sessions changed to run on well-lit roads with minimum road crossings
1st Tuesday in month - 3 times 10 minutes with 2min30sec rest between each on High Ashes off Wigton Lane
2nd Tuesday in month - 16 times 75 seconds with 45 seconds rest between each on Otley Road near Bodington Hall
3rd Tuesday in month - 5 times 7 minutes with 2mins rest between each on High Ashes off Wigton Lane
4th Tuesday in month - rolling hills (6 times), 2 mins rest at half-time on Church Lane Meanwood
There are no short-cuts to the start of these sessions, but newcomers still had the option to drive to the start or near to the start of each session. Maps of the locations of these sessions are in the Training Section of the Valley Striders website homepage.
In Spring 2006, we decided to change the "mile" sessions, as slower runners were still not having enough time to recover. The 10 minute session was proving very popular, and we changed the "miles" to be similar, being 5 runs of 6 minutes.
This is 3 minutes out 3 minutes back with 1min 30sec rest between each.
So the Summer 2006 cycle reads
1st Tuesday in month - 3 times 10 minutes with 2min30sec rest between each
2nd Tuesday in month - 16 times 75 seconds with 45 seconds rest between each
3rd Tuesday in month - 5 times 6 minutes with 1min30sec rest between each
4th Tuesday in month - rolling hills (8 times), 2 mins rest at half-time
To get to the session, runners have the option
Run across fields - 2 miles
Run up The Avenue - 1.5 miles
Drive to Alwoodley Lane
In Autumn 2007, the 400 metres / 75 seconds on Otley Road were becoming very overcrowded, and numbers of students getting on and off buses was causing a risk to them and us.
We contacted Leeds Met and arranged a trial track session at the track (formerly known as Beckett Park). This proved very popular, and this has continued through Winter 2007/8 and into Summer 2008.
Our winter and summer sessions are now
1st Tuesday in month - 3 times 10 minutes with 2min30sec rest between each (winter High Ashes, summer Eccup Res)
2nd Tuesday in month - track at Leeds Met Beckett Park
3rd Tuesday in month - 5 times 6 minutes with 1min30sec rest between each (winter High Ashes, summer Eccup Res)
4th Tuesday in month - rolling hills (winter 6 times, summer 8 times), 2 mins rest at half-time (winter Church Lane, summer Eccup Res)