Jessica Trengove, 28, from South Australia is an Olympic marathon runner and is heading to the Rio Games in August.
“A typical training week* for me includes two interval sessions, a third fartlek or threshold session and sometimes a light recovery jog on these days. I do a long run twice weekly and light to steady running twice a week, followed by a gym session. The focus of my gym session is to condition the stabilising muscles specific to running, achieve functional mobility and reinforce optimal movement patterns for injury prevention,” says Trengove. Here are 4 examples of Jess’s sessions:
SESSION 1
Fartlek; Mona Fartlek. Continuous running. 20 mins in total: 2×90 sec on with 90 sec float / 4×60 sec with 60 sec float / 4×30 sec with 30 sec float / 4×15 sec with 15 sec float.
SESSION 2
Repetitions; 8x1km at 10km race pace. 60-90 seconds recovery.
SESSION 3
Tempo/Threshold; 20 mins at steady pace / 20 mins at tempo pace (i.e. a pace that I could sustain for 69 mins if I had to).
SESSION 4
Gym/Conditioning; Single leg sit to stand on with weight-bearing foot on an air-filled disc or piece of foam. 3×10 each side (works quads, foot stabilising muscles and balance/proprioception). Lunge with a 5-8kg dumb bell in each hand. 3×8 each side (works quads, glutes and abdominal stabilising muscles).Fit ball single leg hamstring curls. 3×10 each side (eccentric hamstring control and gluteal/abdominal stabilising muscles).
*This content accompanies Trengove’s 42.2K tips in our July 2016 Runner’s World edition, page 21.