Every Thursday night at 6.30pm, we will be offering free run sessions.
These are suitable for all abilities and are generally ‘intervals’ based . People are seeded into groups of like ability, ranging from the 5 minute milers to the 11 minute milers. The faster lot do more repetitions, and the slower people do less. The coach will always tailor the recoveries to take into account the athlete’s fitness level. Often, the older runners will miss a rep. The ethos with the Thursday sessions is that we all train together and nobody goes home thinking they’ll never come back again. It will be challenging, otherwise it becomes pointless, but it will never be so hard that you feel it is unachievable.
We used to use the pavements around Paignton Green, but as the club has grown, the area has become unsuitable. We now privately hire Torbay Velopark, situated right next to Torbay Leisure Centre. Although we have to pay to use the facility, we are still managing to put this session on at no cost to you. The Velopark is a 1500m closed road circuit of smooth tarmac. It has gaps around the 1500m course, that are conveniently located at distances that essentially provide 3 separate running circuits of 400, 500 and 600m, allowing us to do intervals in various permutations.
The Thursday sessions will always be advertised in advance on the club’s public Facebook page.
If you would like any further information or details not covered by the Q & A’s below then please contact one of our BTF coaches, Graeme Kay, Jon Parkinson, Tony Hodge, Holly Mei Jones, Nick Cull, or Ian and Linda Dabbs
Q & A
Where and when will the running take place?
Since 2018, Torbay Leisure Centre has become the home of Torbay Tri Club and run sessions will generally meet from here on Tuesday night at 6.30pm – please check on our Facebook page for any updates and details of the sessions planned.
Is there a cost for the run sessions and do I have to be a member of Torbay Tri Club to join them?
These run sessions are free to Torbay Tri Club members. If you are new to the club, our sport, the area or just down here on holiday then there’s no commitment to join immediately. The BTF guidelines allow for a maximum of 3 ‘taster sessions’ before there is a need to join the club and be covered by our insurance.
What running kit do I need?
Running shoes, drink, watch (optional but highly recommended), appropriate clothing (shorts, leggings, shirt, vest, hat), emergency contact details. Our BTF coach will be leading each session so can keep an eye on kit at start/finish point but if you have anything valuable please leave at home or in car as we cannot be responsible for this.
Do I need to be of a certain ability to run with the group?
No, and we welcome all abilities. On the Tuesday sessions, we would expect the majority of people to be able to run 5k without stopping though, but we have members who will do 5k in 33 minutes, and others who are nearer to 16 minutes. The groups are seeded to ability and the emphasis is on running at a chatty pace.
There is also a group who have self titled themselves as ‘The Shufflers’. They are people who aspire to run 5k without stopping. Their needs are generally catered for by two coaches, one who will take out the people who can now run for a while without needing to get their breath back, but not yet able to do 5k, and the other coach will take people who run/walk and are building up their stamina.
On the Thursday sessions, the main group do a chatty mile warm up, and the slower people do a shorter warm up. The furthest interval the fast runners complete is 1 mile, and at the same time, the slower runners will do a much shorter interval. You won’t be expected to run beyond your own ability, although it will be challenging.
As a Triathlon club, we recognise that some people are training for endurance events, and others for the faster sprint events. It is pointless expecting an Ironman athlete to hurtle around a 500m rep at the same intensity as someone training for shorter distances. What is important though, is that the person runs faster than their goal race pace, and this is always easier to achieve when you’re running in a group!
What can I expect at the run sessions?
Quite often there are people who can’t make, or don’t want to do two sessions per week. The bulk of the people who run on Tuesday evenings do so at a conversational pace. There is a faster group who will do more focused training, but they will wait for the slowest person after each effort, or run back to get them. This group is really for the sub 42 minute 10k people.
The other groups also have some sub 42 minute people within them, but as they tend to come to the Thursday session as well, they use Tuesday’s session to just enjoy the run and chat. There will be regrouping stops as necessary.
The Tuesday runs are either led by UKA Run Leader or by one of the club’s BTA Coaches.
The Thursday session, being more technical, is led by a Level 2 BTA Coach.
How long will the run sessions be?
You will need to allow yourself an hour from the 6.30pm start times.
Please allowed for added time if you have paid to park somewhere.
