LACTATE TESTING CASE STUDY
51 year-old Superveteran distance runner Tracey Lasan
PART 2
The Reading Half-Marathon
TraceyÂs longest distance event of the Lactate Testing cycle came on March 29th 2009 at the Reading Half-Marathon.
The Reading Half-Marathon is one of the largest Half-Marathon events in the country featuring a field of 17,000 runners and is the only event of itÂs kind in the UK to feature a major stadium finish with the participants cheered to the finish in the Reading Football club stadium.
Tracey performed in scintillating manner to leave her rivals in her wake with a stunning win in the WomenÂs Senior Veteran (50+) category.
She romped home in a new personal-best time of 1 hour 31 minutes and 33 seconds to win the coveted Senior-VeteranÂs title a whole four minutes ahead of her nearest rival - from the field of 17,000 runners!
Indeed her success came in just her second Half-Marathon to date, beating her previous personal best by an enormous 17 minutes and placing her in the elite-ranks of UK Senior-Veteran distance running for the first time ever!
PHASE 4
Phase 4 of the Lactate Testing cycle needed to bring Tracey into peak competitive shape for her final two months of the Lactate Testing cycle  she was scheduled to perform a series of 5K and 10K road races in her main competitive racing season in April and May 2009.
'Anaerobic capacity' was again a priority for these shorter 5K and 10K events and phase 4 therefore included the following training criteria:
- Maintenance of base 'aerobic' conditioning at 'long-slow distance' or Âzone 1Â training speeds.
- Increased volume of interval repeats at 'medium distance' (half-marathon specific Âzone 2 speeds) and Ârace speed (Âzone 3 speeds).
- Relatively high volume of overspeed repeats over 400m to improve Âleg-speedÂ, Âanaerobic capacity and the technical efficiency needed for the 5K and 10K events.
- Maintenance ÂCorrective Strength and Conditioning training.
The Competitive Racing Season
Tracey produced a series of stunning performances in her 10K and 5K road races throughout April and May 2009.
She returned four consecutive personal-best times in the 10K and 5K events - commensurate with the considerable improvements seen from the Lactate Testing results!
Her winning performances came in the Windsor Asthma 10K, Dorney Lake Charity 5K, Cardiff Blackweir 5K and the ÂBattle of Tri-Nations vs UKÂ Windsor 10K Â claiming the fastest senior-veteran femaleÂs time and placing in the top-three females across all age categories in each race!
Indeed Tracey smashed the veteranÂs course record at the Cardiff 5K with a swift performance of 19 minutes and 23 seconds!
She also dipped under the elusive 40-minute mark for her first time ever at the ÂBattle of Tri-Nations vs UKÂ 10K on May 2nd - with a well-earned time of 39 minutes and 59 seconds.
Her fast performances placed her in the UK-Elite ÂTopÂTen rankings for senior-veteran (50+) 10K and 5K runners for the first time ever - signaling a jump of more than 100 ranking places since she began training with Kinetic Personal Training!
The Future !
A well-earned Âoff-season rest period beckoned for Tracey following her extremely successful first complete Lactate Testing cycle.
The next exciting phase of her training thus awaits her!
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