As I announced at the start of the year, I’ll be publishing a reoccurring article for my chosen ‘athlete of the month’. For April the athlete of the month is… David Philips
At the beginning of the year, David had to battle though constant niggles throughout January, February and March, in particular calf issues.
A combination of his constant persistence and the way we were smart in going about his return to running, by reducing the speed work in the beginning, really seemed to pay off.
At the start of April he was able to train pain free and to his full potential. His training peaks is greener than the Amazon Jungle, having consistently hit all his sessions this month. This consistency has paid off and is evident in the way he has performed over the past few weeks.
When starting his plan we had a short term goal of sub 20 minutes for 5k. From there we’d look to build the strength and stamina that’s required to progress this base work into the half marathon distance.
With races being cancelled/postponed, the half marathon plan has been delayed. Having said that, it has given us more time to focus on 5k and improving speed. Things have clicked recently and over the past two weeks he has smashed his original target paces of sub 4 minute kms.
He has done a solo 5km time trial over the past few weeks and is showing signs of great progression. His last 4 weeks have been as follows;
– Week 1: 5km in 20:01 (4:00 per km)
– Week 2: 5km in 20:45 (4:09 per km)
– Week 3: 4km in 15:20 (3:50 per km)
– Last week: 5kms in 19:35 (3:55 per km)
Is sub 19 minutes for 5k on the cards over the next few weeks? Who knows, but at that progression I’m backing David 100%.
Great bounce back from injury. Been a pleasure working with you so far and a very rewarding as a coach to see the way you have improved.
Who will be the athlete of the month for May?
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