Performance Physique founder Arj Thiruchelvam, who supports novices up to Team GB Olympians, will be speaking about how to incorporate speed work into your training when he returns to The Running Skills Theatre at 11am on Sunday 26th January.
Arj, who’s helped more than 2,000 runners smash their personal bests, has shared his advice on how to plan a training programme as we look towards 2025:
“When reflecting on this year’s running journey, hopefully most of us revelled in the sheer joy of running, with some basking in the triumphs of successful races. Others faced setbacks – events that didn’t go as planned because of a lack of effective training, life’s interruptions or injuries that derailed our progress just when we felt we were hitting our stride.
Running is like most things in life and business; having a target with a structured plan really does make a difference.
Not only does a set programme keep you ‘honest’ by improving your adherence to training, but it allows you to mindfully build in volume and intensity with a clear route to success.
Focus
No matter your running event or distance, stay focused on your goal. Work on endurance for Half-Marathons and above, for 5-10k’s build your speed and lactate threshold and, for any shorter distance, focus on speed and strength. This year I’ve witnessed more and more people taking a scattergun approach to their training. This always leads to mixed results and failing to reach your potential in races after inconsistent training.
Event planning
Identify your main event of the year and shape your entire year around it. For example, if you’re training for an Autumn marathon, this gives you perfect time to incorporate some half-marathons in late summer as part of your training. You can also fit in some early year speed and threshold work with 5k’s and 10k’s.
Strength
View your resistance training as developing resilience, bulletproofing your body for running those miles. I like to build my strength sessions around big compound movements like the squat, deadlift, bent-over row and bench. I compliment these with plyometrics like bunny hops, skipping, jumping and then my specific exercises which include calf raises and an-tib raises. Just like your running sessions, your gym work can also be developed in phases. First, build muscular strength for a foundation and then develop more power and thus running technique efficiency.
Stretch
Aim to do some static stretching 3 times per week, NEVER before your activity but always afterwards, when your body is already warm.
Volume OR intensity
Choose whether it’s your running volume or intensity you want to increase, never both at once or your chance of injury goes up. My approach for an endurance runner is to focus on your volume for 6-8 weeks, then consider changing your paces at that point. Refer back to my talk at the National Running Show 2024 to learn the specifics about increasing your running volume, but there’s no one-rule-for-all. However, you should never increase your weekly mileage by leaps and bounds, instead be conservative and focus on consistency. A popular principle is to increase your mileage by 10% each week because it’s simple and straightforward but remember, never volume and intensity at the same time!
Rest
Recovery is when your body adapts, grows and improves, therefore don’t think more running is always better. Instead create a training week of two days on and one day off, and not all training days are running days. You should be incorporating 1-2 running specific strength and conditioning sessions per week. A rest can be mobility work, so heading to a yoga class or going on a social walk still counts and contributes.
A training programme may be 12, 18 or 24 weeks and you need to think about breaks in that period. After about 6 weeks have an easier week, so fewer, less intense sessions or doing some fun alternative activities like tennis or swimming. This principle applies to both the gym and the running elements of your training. You’ll come back psychologically and physically ready to push for your next hard stint of training!
Overview
Your training week should be a blend of mostly easy and consistent running with the odd bit of harder, faster work. When it’s time to push, make sure you really challenge yourself. The rest of the time, just accumulate your miles without overdoing it. Most runners spend too long in the middle, and that means we don’t make the progress we deserve from all the effort we apply.
If you’re training for a 5k or 10k, I’d also encourage you to work at hard, fast paces with little rest in between intervals. Get used to the burn and the discomfort because when race time comes around, you’ll be prepared to push towards that personal best.
For the marathoners out there, follow the principles above to build a plan but don’t forget the marathon is unforgiving – it will find out if you miss a strength session, or if you don’t practice your race pace. When a bad week happens, that’s OK, but try and work out why and make sure you don’t repeat the same mistakes.” To get in touch with Arj Thiruchelvam, please visit www.performancephysique.co.uk, Facebook @Performancephysique or Instagram @performance_physique