Who is this plan for?
This plan is specifically designed for 'beginner' level athletes wanting to build their aerobic fitness and endurance in a general way.
We'd expect these athletes to 2-3x 3-5km runs per week over the last 6 weeks. This plan aims to transition these athletes to an 'improver' level, where runners are comfortable with running 4-5 hours per week, with longer runs up to 1-hour, and capable of performing higher-intensity sessions safely and consistently.
What does this plan do?
This plan seeks to build the key aspects of aerobic fitness and skills that are relevant to trail and fell running. These include:
- Improved muscular strength.
- Improved resistance to fatigue.
- Improved fat oxidation and 'first lactate/ventilatory threshold', which are key determinants of performance in long-distance events. For more on these see here.
- Improved pace at the lactate threshold/anaerobic threshold.
- Opportunities to practice off-road technique, including descending skills.
Plan Key Features
We believe our plans stand our from the crowd. We’ve done our very best to provide an experience that’s as close as possible to having on-hand coach support, with ample guidance on how to get the most out of our plans, and clear information on what we’re trying to achieve both session-by-session and week-by-week to keep you motivated. Our plans are grounded in science and supported by over a decade of full-time coaching experience. Key features include:
- A comprehensive PDF user guide to help you individualise your plan, and make adjustments as needed to suit your unique physiology and circumstances.
- Guidance on how to integrate club runs within your plan.
- Each workout’s purpose and key adaptations clearly communicated, including references to scientific papers where relevant.
- Weekly notes explaining how training progresses from week-to-week.
- Structured sessions, meaning all sessions can be automatically exported to your Garmin or other running watch.
- Home-based strength training, which can be upgraded to gym-based program for free.
- Sessions that are directly geared towards trail, fell and mountain runners, with close appreciation of the unique skills and fitness required for these disciplines.
With nearly 15 years’ of collective coaching experience and a solid scientific basis, we create resources and offer guidance to help you optimise your fell, trail and ultra-running training and performance.
We provide a variety of options to suit your budget and support needs, ranging from pre-built plans, to consultations and 1-2-1 coaching. We always strive to provide the highest level of service, with a high attention to detail and customer service.