Thursday Track Sessions at Battersea
10 mile to marathon sessions
Beate Vogt and a team of coaches lead the sessions preparing athletes for race distances of 10 mile, half marathon, marathon and triathlons. The sessions are geared around building speed endurance and are open to anyone aiming for a long race, although you should be running several times a week before adding speed sessions. 
Sessions include dynamic warm up, technical drills, sessions run at 5K to tempo pace and cool down. They take place either on the track or in the park, check our weekly e-mail or see below to check where we will be. For track sessions we meet at the start/finish line, for sessions in the park we meet at the front entrance to the track, in either case we start at 7:00. If the session is in the park you do not need to pay for the track, if you need the changing rooms you can pay just to use them. Please store bags in the lockers in the changing rooms or make alternative arrangements, the coaches are not able to guard them during the session.
If you have a major goal race this spring that you are sharpening towards, "peak" versions of sessions are sometimes used alongside the normal (or "base”) ones. Peak sessions are for athletes who are well trained for endurance racing and are in the 8-12 weeks before they taper to their goal race. A few examples of races you might use a session to peak towards are listed. If you have not yet done sufficient endurance training or are well away from your goal race, the “base” session will be more beneficial for you. If in doubt, talk to the coaches at the start of the session.
(In the IAAF Standard Representation of Training Sessions, paces are in round brackets, rest times in square brackets.)
| Date | Session description | Location | Notes |
| Feb 11 |
Flat Pyramid Session - 400m, 800m (5K), 1200m, 1200m (10K), 800m, 400m (5K) [1 min throughout] Peak: 5K pace throughout | Track | Half marathon prep |
| Feb 18 |
Acceleration - 4-6x {600m (10K), 400m (5K), 200m (3K) [2 min]} |
Track | Brighton/Wokingham 1/2M |
| Feb 25 |
Tempo pace running - Tempo run (2x lap around park [90s]) with 2x 800m (3K) | Park | Half marathon preparation, Base 10K, Peak 5K pace |
| Mar4 | Endurance - 4-6x 1km (10K) [60-90s] |
Park | Bath/MK/Paris Half |
| Mar 11 |
Fast finish - 4x 400m (mile), 1-2x 1600m (10K), 4x 400m (mile) [1 min thorughout] |
Track | Fleet/Brentwood/Lisbon Half |
| Mar 18 |
Descending ladder - 1200m, 1000m, 800m, 600m, 400m, 200m (10K/5K) 200m jog recovery after each interval | Track | |
| Mar 25 |
Tempo pace running - Tempo run (2x lap around park [90s]) with 2x 800m (3K) | Park | |
| Apr 1 |
Acceleration - 4-6x {600m (10K), 400m (5K), 200m (3K) [90s] Marathon Sharpening - 6x (50m, 100m) [2 min] |
Track | |
|
Apr 8 |
Flat Pyramid Session - 400m, 800m (5K), 1200m, 1200m (10K), 800m, 400m (5K) [1 min throughout] Peak: 5K pace throughout Marathon Sharpening - 6x (50m, 100m) [2 min] |
Track | Paris Marathon |
| Apr 15 |
Fast finish - 4x 400m (mile), 1-2x 1600m (10K), 4x 400m (mile) [1 min thorughout] Marathon Sharpening - 6x (50m, 100m) [2 min] |
Track | Brighton Marathon |
| Apr 22 |
Endurance - 4-6x 1km (10K) [60-90s] | Park | London Marathon |
| Apr 29 |
Kenyan Hills - 10-12x hll with down jog recovery |
Park | |
| May 6 |
Descending ladder - 1200m, 1000m, 800m, 600m, 400m, 200m (10K/5K) 200m jog recovery after each interval | Track | |
| May 13 |
Tempo pace running - Tempo run (2x lap around park [90s]) with 2x 800m (3K) | Park | |
| May 20 |
Fartlek - 8-10x (3x 30s) First part easy, second part fast, third part full out. 2 min walk recovery |
Park | Various speed |
| May 27 |
Kenyan Hills - 10-12x hll with down jog recovery | Park | Little Beaver/Crystal Palace tri |
| Jun 3 |
Fast finish - 4x 400m (mile), 1-2x 1600m (10K), 4x 400m (mile) [1 min thorughout] | Track | |
| Jun 10 |
Descending ladder - 1200m, 1000m, 800m, 600m, 400m, 200m (10K/5K) 200m jog recovery after each interval | Track | |
| Jun 17 |
Tempo pace running - Tempo run (2x lap around park [90s]) with 2x 800m (3K) | Park | |
| Jun 24 |
Kenyan Hills - 10-12x hll with down jog recovery | Park | |
| Jul 1 |
Fartlek - 8-10x (3x 30s) First part easy, second part fast, third part full out. 2 min walk recovery | Park | Various speed |
Sessions are subject to change