To give you an idea of what to expect at one of our sessions or, if you want to try something similar on your own, below are a few of our regular session plans. Don’t be fooled by how short each session is! Most of them involve no more than 10-20 minutes of actual running, but they can be quite intense, and it’s important to warm up and cool down with 5-10 minutes of easy running before and after. The circuit of Telegraph Hill Lower park is perfect for these, but any short, steepish hill will do – the only requirement is that it should be long enough that a 60-90 second sprint is entirely uphill.

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Sprint intervals

Great for building strength in the all important muscle groups of the glutes, hamstrings and knees, as well as encouraging good running form.

3 x (2 x 60 / 4 x 30)
2 x 60 seconds then 4 x 30 seconds hard uphill with gentle run down recovery after each
60-90 seconds rest between sets

4 x 90 / 4 x 60 / 4 x 30 / 4 x 30
4 x 90 seconds hard uphill with gentle run down recovery after each
90-120 seconds rest
4 x 60 seconds hard uphill with gentle run down recovery after each
90-120 seconds rest
4 x 30 seconds hard uphill with gentle run down recovery after each
90-120 seconds rest
4 x 30 seconds hard uphill with gentle run down recovery after each

10 x 60
10 x 60 seconds hard uphill with gentle run down recovery after each
You can do these all in one go, but it’s a good idea to break this into sets of 4, 3 and 3 with a 90-120 seconds rest between each set to ensure you can maintain the intensity for the full session.

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Tempo intervals

Good for building aerobic endurance, these should be run at a ‘comfortably hard’ pace (hard enough that you can manage to say a few words without too much difficulty but not have a full conversation!). Ideally these are best on a hilly loop where you can push hard uphill and use the downhills to recover.

2 x 10 mins
Run continuously for 10 minutes, 2 minutes rest then repeat.

4 x 5 mins
Run continuously for 5 minutes, 2 minutes rest then repeat x 3.

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Mixed pace intervals

As well as getting the benefits of both sprints and tempo running, mixing up the paces is great for getting a feel for different levels of effort/intensity, which can be really useful when it comes to effective pacing in a race.

Pyramid session – 10 mins / 5 mins / 2 mins / 1 min / 0.5 min
Start with 10 minutes at tempo pace, followed by a 90 second rest, then gradually increase your pace for each interval. If done correctly the final 30 seconds should be an all out sprint, but should feel like you’re flying!

4 x 30 / 4 x 60 / 5 mins / 4 x 60 / 4 x 30
4 x 30 seconds hard uphill with gentle run down recovery after each
90-120 seconds rest
4 x 60 seconds hard uphill with gentle run down recovery after each
90-120 seconds rest
5 mins tempo
90-120 seconds rest
4 x 60 seconds hard uphill with gentle run down recovery after each
90-120 seconds rest
4 x 30 seconds hard uphill with gentle run down recovery after each