An analogue stopwatch

Time Chaser

  • A great session for hitting a range of speeds
  • Helps develop keen pacing
  • Works well on the running track, on the road and in parks

Time Chaser is an excellent way to perfect your pacing while also working progressively harder and hitting a range of speeds and intensities.

The Session

Find a section of road, grass or track 400m - 800m in length.

Jog the lap at a nice easy pace and record your time.

Take a minute recovery and then run another lap, this time five seconds faster than your jogging effort.

After another minute's recovery run another lap, five seconds faster than your previous time.

Continue in a like manner, reducing your goal time by five seconds with each rep, until you miss your target.

Variations

Extra Volume

If the session ends up feeling a bit short then a good trick is to alternate the time-chasing laps with jogging laps. This also provides opportunity for a little more recovery.

Going Short

The session can work well for shorter distances, but in this case it's best to reduce each rep by a smaller increment (1-2 seconds) otherwise you will max-out fairly quickly and don't end up performing many reps.

Tips

The session is best performed on a loop so you can start, finish and rest at the same point.

Danger

Since the session includes some pretty speedy running it's important to warm up well. Including a few strides at the end of your warm up is a good idea. And remember to cool down afterwards