Preparing for ultra x jordan
You may remember back in May Ultra X partnered up with the National Running Show, InnerFight, Tobias Mews and MyRaceKit to offer two lucky people the prize of a lifetime — Ultra X entry to Jordan, training and much more!
Last weekend we caught up with Max to find out a little more about how training was going and what he had been up to.
Q) What your goals are for Ultra X Jordan?
A) I stupidly told Rob [One of the coaches from InnerFight] I wanted to win my age group. That will no doubt be something he reminds me of regularly! It is also most probably going to be the most competitive group! I want to do well and learn to run a multi-stage without making any obvious mistakes. I see this as an opportunity to become a better and faster ultra-runner.
Q) What has InnerFight got you doing and how you are finding it?
A) Rob is focusing on making me run faster. We are doing tempo runs and pyramid runs. My normal pace is 5.50 (m/km) but Rob has me doing sessions at 4.20. I can already feel the benefit and cannot wait to run with my old training partners in London. Rob also has me doing core and glute workouts as he says these are vital to multi-stage success. We train 6 to 7 days a week, with a focus at the moment on improving VO2 max and my lactic acid threshold. Both are quite low I think!! I have one advantage in that I have a strong aerobic base because of all of the long slow runs I have done over the past 10 years.
This week is a good example of my training plan at present:
Monday
Warm up:
15 mins easy running around 5:00/km pace.
Main set:
4 mins at 4:20/km
2 mins easy 5:40/km pace
Repeat for 6 sets
Cool down:
A further 10 mins steady running bringing the heart rate back down to 150 for most of this.
Tuesday
Warm up — 5–10 minutes minimum easy running, followed by 5 minutes of dynamic exercises to mobilise the joints and muscles and increase range of motion, followed by 4–6 x50m runs building up to 80% max intensity each time.
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Main Set: 2 x 3200m as follows:
200 at 5k pace, 15s rest
400 at 5k pace, 30s rest
600 at 5k pace, 45s rest
800 at 5k pace, 60s rest
600 at 5k pace, 45s rest
400 at 5k pace, 30s rest
200 at 5k pace
5 minutes recovery between sets
What I want max is consistency here. 4.25/km for each of the reps.
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Warm Down: Easy running until you feel relaxed and comfortable. Conduct some easy mobility or stretching exercises and refuel.
Wednesday
A Kenyan style run here, split into 3 x 25 minute blocks:
1. 25 minutes building, start easy and build up to a nice steady endurance pace. After 15 minute or so do 3 x 15 second ‘pick ups’ with 45 seconds easy
2. 25 minutes as 5 x (3 minutes @ 4.35/km pace/2 minute easy recovery)
3. 25 minutes strong endurance pace, faster than your first 25 minute block
Thursday
Core and glutes — 45 minutes workout
Friday
A very simple session. Find a start point/route that will give you around 25 minutes of easy running before you find an incline (hill/bridge) that would take at least 1 minute to run up it at a strong (4.30/km ish) pace)
Spend 25 minutes on the ‘hill’ running 1–2 minutes up at 4.30/km, with a very easy walk/jog back down
Nice and easy run home
Saturday
Long run. Not easy, but not hard. A good long steady run — something around 5.30/k gives you 21k
Q) What you have been doing since winning the competition?
A) Bragging to all who will listen about how much faster I now run. I am trying to persuade a mate of mine to sign up but he is ex-army and hates training! Speaking with myRaceKit about what I need in terms of equipment. My two concerns are foot care and enough calories. They have so much experience that I want to tap into.
Ultra X Jordan 2019 is now sold out, however you are able to grab a place on the waiting list here.
If you enjoyed this article you may be interested to read about some of the training that the 2018 Jordan finishers did.
