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The Hatch End Triathlon 10th May 2009

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Running

Most people think that running is very simple, after all walking is just about putting one foot in front of the other and running is just about doing it faster- isn't it?

Well, that's not quite correct, running form and style is very important if you want to run distance with minimum fatigue coupled with low chance of injury. On the right you can see Andrea Whitcombe with two other competitors running uphill - and because they are doing that it forces them to adopt an efficient forward lean and to drive off the back foot. If they weren't running uphill the lean wouldn't be pronounced and they wouldn't be forced to drive so hard off the rear foot.

The various distances for runs in triathlon are as follows:

Age or Type of Triathlon Distance Special Conditions
Tristar Start (8yrs) 600m (max) Must be Grass or Closed Roads
Tristar 1 (9/10) 1.2km (max) Must be Grass or Closed Roads
Tristar 2 (11/12) 1.8km (max) Must be Grass or Closed Roads
Tristar 3 (13/14) 3km (max) Must be Grass or Closed Roads
Youth (15/16) 5km (max)
Sprint 5km
Standard 10km
Middle 21km
Long 42km
These are British Triathlon Distances - International Triathlon Union and Ironman distances differ
Running is an impact sport, with each stride the ankles, knees, hips and spine have to take and control the full falling weight an athlete, who is effectively falling onto his or her foot. Consequently, the young athlete should not train more than about twice a week up to the age of 12 and should do most of their training if possible on grass, to lessen the impact. An important part of any training session for the young (and a good idea for the older athlete) is to include specific running drills, designed to isolate and practice specific elements of "Good Running".
Run training is done for 2 main purposes:
  1. To develop running form and skills for pacing, climbing, descending and sprinting ....... and
  2. Building the strength to run for distance at even pace and at speed, when racing.
Here are our current run sessions club members can attend:
Mondays & Thursdays Specific sessions for skill and endurance taken for our younger members.
The links below show examples of how sessions might be structured. All have a warm up followed by specific drills, then a main aim of the day followed by a warm down and stretches.
Aim

Sessions Name & Link

Hill Repeats for Speed & Endurance

Hill Repeat Set