Training with the Hogweed Trotters

We meet at Chipping Sodbury Football Club, The Ridings, Chipping Sodbury, BS37 6BQ, off the Wickwar Road all year round.

The club house is usually open for about quarter of an hour before the advertised time. Most people arrive dressed in running kit.

We meet three times a week and cater for a range of abilities.

It is a great way to make new friends whilst improving or building upon your fitness levels.

Our regular training sessions are:

Wednesdays at 6:45pm and Fridays at 6:00pm

Sundays at 8.30 am (Summer) / 9.00 am (Winter)

Our group of coaches are more than willing to help you out with advice on training programmes and other tips.

Club Coach – Rich Finch

Team Coaches – Sonia Cross, William Lee, John and Pat Curtis

For more details contact:

coach@hogweedtrotters.co.uk

Hogweed Trotters Coached Sessions

At Hogweed Trotters, we provide the following coached sessions:

• First Wednesday of each month: Out and Back (see below)
• Third Wednesday of each month: coached session – activities vary – check Hogweed News and the Calendar on the homepage for updates.

All our sessions are for mixed abilities, and everyone is welcome. If you have any questions,
please ask one of the coaching team.

Track training sessions

If you are looking to improve your speed and speed endurance you can join Hogweeds at the track.

If you haven’t tried any Track Sessions before why not give it a go? Track Sessions can benefit runners of all abilities. It is fully inclusive, and everyone is welcome.

If you want more details of what is involved, please do Rich Finch know -> coach@hogweedtrotters.co.uk

EXPLANATIONS OF COACHING ACTIVITIES:

OUT AND BACK

At Hogweeds, we use the Out and Back to measure our progress – can we get further out than the week before? These sessions usually take place on the first Wednesday of each month with the summer route out across Chipping Sodbury Common and the Winter route along St Johns Way and round towards Yate Town Centre.

FARTLEK

Fartlek is Swedish for “speed play” and that is exactly what it’s all about. Unlike tempo and interval work, fartlek is unstructured and alternates moderate-to-hard efforts with easy throughout. After a warmup, you play with speed by running at faster efforts for short periods of time (to that tree, to the sign) followed by easy-effort running to recover.

It’s fun in a group setting as you can alternate the leader and mix up the pace and time. And in doing so, you reap the mental benefits of being pushed by your buddies through an unpredictable workout. The goal is to keep it free-flowing so you’re untethered to the watch or a plan, and to run at harder efforts but not a specific pace.

HILLS

A workout that includes sprinting uphill fast, jogging downhill at an easy pace to recover, and then repeating the sequence. It’s thought to be an efficient way to build leg strength, speed, and aerobic capacity. Hill repeats reduce your injury risk because it limits fast-running time and because the incline of a hill shortens the distance your feet have to fall,
reducing the impact of each step.

INTERVALS

Interval training, also known as interval workouts or interval runs, are short, intense efforts followed by equal or slightly longer recovery time. For example, after a warmup, run two minutes at a hard effort, followed by two to three minutes of easy jogging or walking to catch your breath.

Unlike tempo workouts, you’re running above your red line and at an effort where you are reaching hard for air and counting the seconds until you can stop – a controlled fast effort followed by a truly easy jog. The secret is in the recovery as patience and discipline while you’re running easy allows you to run the next interval strong and finish the entire workout fatigued but not completely spent.

Just like rest, your body adapts and gets stronger in the recovery mode.

Benefits of Interval Training:

> Improved running form and economy

> Endurance, mind-body coordination

> Motivation, and fat-burning

A course that entails running out to a turnaround spot, then running back to the starting point. Out-and-backs are a convenient way to get in runs in unfamiliar locales. They’re also a good option when you’re trying to run a little farther than you have before, because you don’t have the option of cutting the run short.

USEFUL TERMS TO KNOW:

Pace: How fast you’re running, usually expressed in terms of minutes per mile. Your running pace at a given effort level will vary greatly from day to day, depending on the weather, your fatigue level, and numerous other factors.

While it’s good to have a general idea of how fast you’re running, it’s best not to base your running around hitting certain paces all the time. Doing so usually leads to working too hard, and can drain much of the enjoyment from your running.

As you gain fitness, you’ll naturally speed up. Need help calculating your pace? Check out these pace calculators: https://www.runnersworld.com/pace-calculators

Ten percent rule: Don’t increase mileage or intensity by more than 10 percent from one week to another. This is a classic injury-prevention rule meant to prevent a runner from doing too much, too soon, and getting injured.

Track: Most tracks are 400 meters long. Four laps, or 1600 meters, is approximately equivalent to 1 mile. Many runners use the term “track” to refer to a speed session done on a track. Track sessions are available at Yate & District Athletics Club.

Trail running: Doing some or all of a run off road. Trail running has become increasingly popular in part because running in the woods or mountains is usually more appealing than sharing the road with distracted drivers. Trails’ softer surfaces are also a nice change from asphalt. Expect to run slower than usual on trails.

Sheep Dogging: All of our runs are inclusive no matter what your running ability happens to be. From beginners to race veterans – no one is left behind. We have a policy where the faster runners within a group will run back to the last runners, to ensure they are safely accounted for and are comfortable with the pace that has been set; based on feedback they will adjust the pace to ensure everyone within the group is happy with the run.

References:

10k Training Tips
Runners World