(Lactate) Threshold training – Thursdays @ Battersea Park

What is Threshold running? A threshold run is completed at an intensity just below the point where lactate builds up in the bloodstream causing your running to slow down. The point at which this occurs is known as our lactate threshold and is dependent on an individual’s current fitness level. This pace should feel hard but still comfortable over long periods of time. This helps your body to improve efficiency at clearing lactate.

Expected effort: comfortably hard. Run just below the threshold level. RPE = 7-8

Conversational pace? Only during the warm-ups and cool-downs. During the threshold effort – only one-word answers should be possible.

Benefits. Improves the body’s efficiency at clearing lactate and builds endurance.

Meeting Location. The meeting location is just outside the Millennium Arena (Battersea Track), by the park’s map. The Google Maps location is available here.

Facilities. Lockers and showers are available at the Millenium Arena for a fee of £4.60 at reception. There is no need to pre-book this; just come to their reception and pay with a card as you go. The lockers are operated via a token which can be purchased in reception (£0.50) and reused. The bike lockers are available in front of the Millennium Arena.

Health & Safety tips. The Battersea Park can be busy (even in the dark evenings) with cyclists, dog walkers, joggers and other park users. We recommend all attendees wear reflective running gear and choose bright colours to increase their visibility during the training. We ask all participants to be extremely cautious on the corners of the park as there might be limited visibility there. We ask all participants to give the way to other park users rather than expect them to do the same.

Layout of the session. We ask all members to click the I’m In!! button above to indicate their planned attendance. It helps the Lead Team with the planning of the session and the managing of the numbers. For the warm-up, we will use the 400m path from the Millennium Arena to the Bandstand and we will jog it at a social pace. We will then use the remaining 400m (from the Bandstand to the other side of the park) for the dynamic stretches, drills and strides. We ask that the participants with any injury inform the member of the Lead Team before the session by speaking to them face-to-face or emailing us beforehand at technical@serpentine.org.uk Due to the nature of the Threshold sessions, we strongly recommend that all runners participate in the warm-up, drills and strides to ensure that the body is ready for the high effort session. To get the most out of the group session, we recommend that each session is followed by a cool-down jog and light stretches in the groups afterwards.

Autumn sessions  – it’s time to build endurance and strength or peak for October-December races for distances from 10km to marathon. Sessions include Lactate Threshold (LT) and 10km paces with options for increasing or reducing the challenge for each session according to goals and current fitness.