Distance coaching
Since the club as a mature student in 1998, and now being our distance coach since September 2023, Sammy really is a key part of the club. He is a Level 2 athletics coach specialising in endurance and he uses his knowledge from his own running background to help everyone who joins become the best athlete they can be. From supporting beginners in running their first 5km to coaching athletes chasing shiny new PBs and standout BUCS performances, Sammy really does make everyone feel welcome and supported. Rain or shine he is leading the session with a smile on his face, and travelling all over the country to encourage athletes in distances ranging from 800m up to marathons. His commitment to the club is incredible and Sammy was awarded 2024 University of Sheffield Coach of the Year - nobody deserves it more!
Get to know Sammy!
Welcome to everyone new to Sheffield and welcome back to those returning!
Before I became Distance Coach in September 2023. I obtained Run Leader and coaching qualifications, took track sessions and led group runs for the club and also ran about 15 couch to 5k courses (mainly for staff).
I have represented the University at BUSA (now BUCS) championships on the track (both indoor and outdoor) and cross country. I also competed in the South Yorkshire Cross Country League as a student and as a member of staff until injury curtailed my running career just before the pandemic. I regularly competed in distances ranging from 3000m to marathons over track, cross county and road. The older I became, the distances I preferred got longer!
This note is meant to give you a flavour of what to expect this coming year.
Sessions
The club will run sessions most days of the week. I will take interval sessions on a Monday at Western Park at 5.30pm (road) and on Wednesday at Sheffield Hallam Athletics Stadium at 5.45pm (track). For weekends where there are no races there will be a hill session on a Saturday morning at *Bingham Park at 9.30am* (grass). So we will mix the terrain so as not to do too much running on just one type of surface.
The Monday and Wednesday sessions are meant to complement each other, we tend to do longer reps on a Monday and will usually do shorter ones on a Wednesday. I will create a spreadsheet with the planned sessions for Mon, Weds and Sat in 4 week blocks, which I will share with you.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays there are group runs meeting at Goodwin at 6pm which should be used as recovery runs for those doing the intervals.
In each session I will always ask you to jog to warm-up, do some drills, do the session and then a warm down jog and suggest that you stretch when you get home!
If you haven't done this type of training before then it can take a long time to get used to. There is nothing wrong with missing a rep if you need some extra recovery. The aim is to run them all hard but at a similar pace. As the semester goes on, we will aim to slowly increase the number of reps/intensity over the course of the term as we are aiming at building towards BUCS cross country in February.
If anyone is interested in also doing 800m/1500m as well as cross country, we have a different schedule for a Wednesday but everything else will be suitable. I will also suggest sessions for when people are back home during the holidays, although athletes that belong to a running club at home may choose to train back there during this time.
Everyone will have differing reasons for coming to training and will have differing plans as to their goals and limits on the number of times they can train in a week. It is definitely not compulsory to come to every session.
Recovery
As an athlete, my philosophy was to have a relatively easy day on the day after a hard interval session/hard run/race. So, if I were doing both the Mon and Weds sessions, I would use the Tuesday and Thursday group runs just as recovery and take it relatively easy. The body needs to recover after a hard session of any kind. Similarly, I would never personally do a hard session on a Mon after racing on a Sunday. All of you will need to think of other training you are doing in a week too (whether it be long or short easy runs or a hard long run). If you are someone who runs most days (or every day), I would always suggest having at least one rest day in the week.
Sensible diet is important too. I would also make sure that you stretch after any exercises and get a massage regularly or at least invest in a foam roller so you can self-massage. I also used to make sure I did some kind of resistance training (e.g. a weights session or a circuit session once a week) and also a weekly yoga or a Pilates class. All of this aims to minimise the risk of injury. I would never run hard with a niggle as it could lead to more serious problems. Wearing the right running shoes which are not too old also is essential to prevent injury. I am happy to talk to you about any of this.
Races
As a club we enter a lot of cross country races, with a lot of opportunity to have a go if you are new to it. For cross country, the South Yorkshire League is a good way of trying it out as it is fairly relaxed/low key. It is a series of 3 races in different parks in South Yorkshire. The university relays in Manchester and Leeds are short 1-2 miles per leg and always good fun with the team, and there is the opportunity of a night out in these cities afterwards. The biggest event of the year is BUCS Cross Country which we encourage everyone to get involved in. There is also a Varsity 5k road race and track competition between us and Sheffield Hallam University. We usually go to the Isle of Man at Easter for a 3 days running festival (3 races in 3 days and a lot of partying) where we are joined by alumni and grow but again we encourage as many people as possible to have a go at all of these.
You will also have the chance to take part in track races. Indoors there are usually 3 events that the Uni take part in, Steel Cup (usually around late Jan early Feb) BUCS (mid Feb) and Varsity (around Easter), all in Sheffield. Outdoors there is BUCS over the 3 days of the first Bank Holiday weekend of May. For those inclined there is a separate 10,000m track championships usually a week or so before BUCS. There are also a lot of general/open indoor and outdoor meetings throughout the academic year and beyond in various locations.
I personally found track racing the most enjoyable part of being an athlete and I would encourage anyone to give it a go. Varsity is an ideal opportunity as we always try to have as many people as possible competing in whatever they want to try (even field events).
Going Forward
I am happy to talk to individuals about their goals and plans or answer any questions. The sessions in the first semester are tailored for people to get ready for BUCS Cross country but whatever your goals, I am hoping the sessions will help improve your running and fitness in general no matter what your aims and background. For those who have other race goals, I am happy to create an individual training plan for you.
I know it will take me a few weeks to learn everyone's names so please be patient with me!
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