Our Modern Athlete Brand Ambassador ’ s Blog
KALMER ’ S
CORNER kalmer ’ s corner by RENÉ KALMER
Track Tuesday
My goal for 2022 is getting my speed and strength back before going for the longer distances again . Therefore , you will not see me on the start line at the Two Oceans Ultra or Comrades Marathon this year . Instead , my focus will be 10km and 21km races , especially with the return of most of my favourite road races to the calendar . And that means I am hitting the track again .
Images : Courtesy René Kalmer
My baby boy , Ivan , joined his sister Karli at kindergarten this year , and the only crying was mom balling her eyes out on the first day . This is a win-win for mom and Ivan , though . He loves all the friends and school activities , and I get to focus more on structured training , including regular track sessions , without having to organise a babysitter before every quality workout .
Coming from a track background , I love my weekly track sessions , because the track doesn ’ t lie . Track workouts help to build speed , strength , running economy and stamina . Therefore , Tuesday track sessions are an important ritual for me and many other runners , and I suppose that is where the # tracktuesday social media hashtag comes from .
However , being a working mom for the past five years , I have learnt to be adaptable and to listen to my body . Some weeks I only do my track workout on a Saturday . There is no use doing a quality session on little ( or no ) sleep , as this only leads to injuries . Another big no-no is comparing my workouts to the days when I was still a professional athlete .
Hitting the Track
One of my all-time favourite track workouts is doing 200m repeats . The session normally consists of 15 to 20 repeats with a 100m jog for recovery in between each repeat . Here are some other track workouts you can try :
• 10 x 400m , with 1min to 400m jog rest , depending on the goal of the session .
• 4-6 x 1000m with 3min rest .
• 100m fast , 100m jog – repeat for 2km to 4km .
It is very important to pace yourself in track workouts , as your first interval should ideally be as fast as your last one .
Advice for Beginners
I know it can be intimidating when you are a newbie runner planning to go to your local track to do some “ speedwork ” for the first time . Here is some basic track etiquette that will be helpful .
• Always run counter-clockwise when doing a workout on the track . ( I normally do my warm-up and cool-down running clockwise in the outside lanes .)
• The lanes of the track are like a highway , with the inside lane ( or lane 1 ) for the fastest runners , or the runners doing a serious workout . Staying in Lane 1 is the easiest way to run the exact distance of a standard track , which is 400m – and when doing a speed workout , every metre counts !
• Leave your headphones at home , as it is essential to be aware of your surroundings when you are on the track . Should another runner want to pass you , you may hear “ T-R-AAAAAAAAAA-C-K !!!! This is not them being rude , but just warning you to get out of the way in order to avoid a collision .
• Avoid standing on the track , especially with your back towards approaching runners , and always look both ways before stepping on and off the track .
• Do not run side-by-side , blocking more than two lanes for runners that want to pass .
• Turn off your GPS when doing a track workout , because all standard tracks are 400m long and are marked every 100m . Wandisile Nongodlwana made this mistake once by stopping 30m short of the finish line while joining Christine and myself for 400m intervals . Christine quickly reprimanded him , “ Wandi , the finish line is here !”
I believe there are two types of runners , those who love running on the track and those who hate running endless circles around a 400m loop . Which one are you ?
No Track Required
If you are hitting a plateau on the road , I can highly recommend incorporating some speed work into your training , but if a track session sounds intimidating , you can always start by adding a fartlek session to your weekly programme . Fartlek means to play with speed , and it challenges your body to adapt to various speeds , conditioning you to become faster over longer distances . Some of my favourite fartlek sessions are doing sets of 3min , 2min , and 1min hard with the same rest , or doing anything from 10 to 20 repeats of 1min hard , 1min jog . You can also alternate fartlek with short hill repeats that focus on both strength and speed .
René says her first track session for 2022 was a bit crabby …
About the Author
René Kalmer is a two-time Olympian , having represented SA in the 1500m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and in the marathon at the 2012 London Games . She has also won more than 40 SA titles in track , road and cross country at youth , junior and senior level , in distances from 800m to the half marathon .
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