Running skill drills

Setup: 30m of flat ground.

1. 1. A-skips 30m: tall posture, drive the knee, snap the foot down.
2. 2. B-skips 30m: same, but paw the ground back underneath you.
3. 3. High knees, then heel flicks, 30m each. Walk back to recover.

Volume: 2 rounds of the sequence, before every run

Coaching point: Tall and relaxed. These are posture drills — doing them tense teaches you nothing.

Make it harder: Add a 30m stride-out after each drill to carry the position into running.

Matters most for: 5k/10k, Half marathon, Marathon

Setup: A watch or metronome and an easy route.

1. 1. Run 5 minutes at your normal cadence and count your steps.
2. 2. Run 5 minutes at roughly 5% more, taking shorter steps at the same pace.
3. 3. Alternate for the session.

Volume: 6 × 5 minutes, alternating

Coaching point: Shorter steps, not faster running. Overstriding is braking with every step.

Make it harder: Hold the higher cadence for longer blocks until it stops feeling deliberate.

Matters most for: Sprinter, 5k/10k, 800m/1500m

Setup: A hill of 8–10% for 60m.

1. 1. Uphill: shorten the stride, drive the arms, lean from the ankles not the waist.
2. 2. Walk down to recover fully.
3. 3. Focus on posture over speed — this is a technique session.

Volume: 8 × 60m, walk-down recovery

Coaching point: Lean from the ankles. Bending at the waist closes your hips and shortens your stride.

Make it harder: Add reps before adding gradient, and keep the last one as fast as the first.

Matters most for: Sprinter, 800m/1500m

Setup: Anywhere you can stand.

1. 1. Stand tall and drive the arms as if sprinting, elbows at about 90°.
2. 2. Hands travel from hip pocket to cheek, not across the body.
3. 3. Build to maximum speed for the last five seconds.

Volume: 5 × 15 seconds

Coaching point: The legs follow the arms. Arms crossing your midline turns into a rotating torso and wasted stride.

Make it harder: Do it seated so the legs can't help, then standing again.

Matters most for: 5k/10k, Half marathon, Marathon

Setup: A gentle 4–6% descent, 100m long.

1. 1. Lean very slightly forward from the ankles, not the waist.
2. 2. Increase your cadence rather than reaching with your stride.
3. 3. Land underneath yourself, quiet feet.

Volume: 6 × 100m, jog back

Coaching point: Reaching downhill brakes on every step. That's what wrecks quads late in a race.

Make it harder: Slightly steeper, or hold the control for longer descents.

Matters most for: Sprinter, 800m/1500m, 5k/10k, Half marathon, Marathon

Setup: 80–100m of flat ground, after an easy run.

1. 1. Build smoothly to about 95% over the first 40m.
2. 2. Hold relaxed at that speed for 20m — face loose, shoulders down.
3. 3. Decelerate gradually over the last stretch. Walk back.

Volume: 6 × 80m, walk-back recovery

Coaching point: Fast and relaxed, not fast and straining. Clenching your jaw slows you down.

Make it harder: Add a stride or two, or put them on a slight downhill for overspeed.

Matters most for: Sprinter, 800m/1500m

Setup: A flat 30m stretch. Blocks if you have them.

1. 1. Set: front knee at 90°, hips slightly above shoulders, weight forward on the hand.
2. 2. Drive out low with a long first step — you should feel like you are falling and catching it.
3. 3. Stay low for five steps, then rise gradually over the next ten.

Volume: 8 × 20m, walk back recovery, full rest

Coaching point: Popping up on the first step costs more than any other error in a sprint. Push BACK, not down.

Make it harder: Extend to 30m, or start on a partner's call rather than your own.

Matters most for: 800m/1500m, 5k/10k

Setup: A track or a measured flat stretch, at the end of a session.

1. 1. After your main set, run 4 × 200m at faster than race pace.
2. 2. Focus on turnover and arm drive rather than stride length.
3. 3. Full recovery between — this is quality, not more volume.

Volume: 4 × 200m, 3 minutes between

Coaching point: You are teaching your legs to change gear when they do not want to. That is the only place a kick comes from.

Make it harder: Extend to 300m, or take the recovery down to 90 seconds.

Matters most for: 800m/1500m, 5k/10k, Half marathon, Marathon

Setup: A track or a measured route, and a watch.

1. 1. Run 400m at marathon pace, then 400m at half pace, then 400m at 10k pace.
2. 2. Check the watch only at the end of each rep, not during it.
3. 3. Note how far off you were — that gap is the skill.

Volume: 3 rounds, 90 seconds between

Coaching point: Pacing is a feel you build, not a number you read. Guess first, verify after.

Make it harder: Cover the watch entirely and estimate each split before looking.

Matters most for: Marathon, Half marathon

Setup: Your long run, and exactly the gels or drink you plan to race with.

1. 1. Take on fuel at the same intervals you will use on race day — set a timer, do not go by feel.
2. 2. Practise opening and taking it at pace, without stopping.
3. 3. Note what your stomach does in the last 30 minutes.

Volume: Every long run over 90 minutes

Coaching point: The gut is trainable and race day is the wrong day to find out yours is not. Nothing new on the day, ever.

Make it harder: Move to race-pace efforts within the long run while still fuelling to schedule.

Matters most for: 800m/1500m, 5k/10k, Half marathon, Marathon

Setup: An easy run.

1. 1. Settle into breathing in for three steps and out for two.
2. 2. Hold that pattern for five minutes, then switch to two-in two-out at a harder effort.
3. 3. Return to easy and re-establish the three-two.

Volume: 3 × 5 minutes

Coaching point: An odd-numbered pattern alternates which foot you exhale on, so one side doesn't take every impact at full exhale.

Make it harder: Hold the rhythm at progressively harder efforts.