April 2021 Training

Please note, unless or until otherwise notified via Facebook or the club’s website, club-night training commences at 6.30pm, meeting at the locations specified below.

In the interests of personal safety, all runners are reminded of the importance of wearing at least one item of bright, fluorescent or reflective clothing when running on public roads and footpaths.

This schedule effectively bring us full circle to where we started last year. Club training over the winter was so disrupted by the restrictions rightly placed on us by the Executive and Athletics NI that, from my viewpoint, (i.e., I don’t know to what extent each member has been training since we last met up) it makes sense to start afresh. It is reasonable to assume that some members will be fitter than others but hopefully, now that we are back training as a club rather than as individuals or in pairs, it won’t be too long before everyone is at least back to their pre-lockdown level of fitness.

Tuesday, 13 April – meet at Larne Tennis & Bowling Club, Glenarm Road

  • Group 1: warm up; 3 sets of 4x400m/quarter miles on Coast Rd, 1 minute recoveries and 3-minute slow jog between sets; cool down. Note, if distance markings have faded or been erased this session should be 3 sets of 4×1½ minutes with recoveries unchanged.
  • Group 2: warm up; 3 sets of 3x400m/quarter miles on Promenade, 1½ minute recoveries and 3 minutes between sets; cool down. Note, if the distance markings have faded or been erased this sessions should be 3 sets of 3×1¾ minutes with recoveries unchanged.

If, to comply with Athletics NI guidance, it is necessary to establish a third group, the runners in this new group should do one of the speed work sessions set out above depending on which group they would normally join. This session should be done on the Coast Rd where there is sufficient space to ensure that this group does not interact with Group 1.

Thursday, 15 April – meet at Larne Tennis & Bowling Club, Glenarm Road

  • Group 1: warm up; 3 sets of 4 combined flat/climb repetitions on the Promenade with slow jog back recoveries between climbs and walk back recovery between sets; cool down.
  • Group 2: warm up; 2 sets of 4 climbs of Princes Gardens, from junction of Princes Gdns and Glenarm Rd to Victoria Rd, with slow down hill recoveries and a steady recovery lap of Main Street/Agnew Street/Victoria Road/Princes Gardens circuit between each set; cool down.

If the establishment of a third group is once again necessary, runners in this group should do their climbs on the Tower Rd, the number of climbs being dependent on which group they would normally join.

Tuesday, 20 April – meet at Ballygally Car Park – see note below

  • Group 1: warm up; 3 sets of 4x400m/quarter miles, with 1 minute recoveries and 3-minute slow jog between sets; cool down.
  • Group 2: warm up; 3 sets of 3x400m/quarter miles, with 1½ minute recoveries and 3 minutes between sets; cool down.

Thursday, 22 April – meet at Ballygally Car Park

  • Group 1: warm up; 2 sets of 4x600m, with 1½ minute recoveries and 3-minute slow jog between sets; cool down.
  • Group 2: warm up: 2 sets of 3x600m, with 2 minute recoveries and 4-minute slow jog between sets; cool down.

Tuesday, 27 April – meet at Ballygally Car Park

  • Group 1: Steady run of approximately six miles from car park up the Croft Rd before turning right through Mill Vale, across the Old Glenarm Rd and onto School Hill. Turn left at the end of School Hill onto the Brustin Brae Rd and head towards Larne before turning right onto the Ballytober Rd. At the end of the Ballytober Rd turn right onto the Ballymullock Rd then take first right down the Croft Rd. Turn left along the Brustin Brae Rd to Cairncastle then turn down the Weyburn Rd to the Croft Rd and back to the car park.
  • Group 2: Steady run of approximately five miles from the car park up the Cairncastle Rd before turning right onto the Weyburn Rd. At the end of the Weyburn Rd, turn right up the Croft Rd, then turn right again along the Brustin Brae Rd. Before Cairncastle, turn left onto the Ballymullock Rd and continue until the top of the Croft Rd, then turn left and return to the car park via the Croft Rd.

Thursday, 29 April – meet at Ballygally Car Park

  • Group 1: warm up; 2 sets of 4x600m, with 1½ minute recoveries and 3 minutes between sets; cool down.
  • Group 2: warm up: 2 sets of 3x600m, with 2 minute recoveries and 4 minutes between sets; cool down.

Note: When meeting at Ballygally, groups (including any new groups) will trains on different stretches of the Coast Road to ensure compliance with Athletics NI guidance on group sizes