Hi there,
I am a fairly new runner at the age of 48, and before now, have used all easy running for base training for at least 12 weeks before adding short intervals, then long intervals, then race-specific pacing leading up to my first half marathon, in the style taught by Zach Bitter. HIIT is a new approach for me (now training first for 10K in 18 weeks followed by another HM 8 weeks after that). I am excited but keen to avoid injury (perhaps as a physiotherapist I see injuries at every turn! But I am also perimenopausal and need to take care to prioritise recovery and control the musculoskeletal load). I can see the first HIIT session coming up in a couple of weeks and am a bit daunted - quite a few strides followed by a ton of hill sprints. Last season I never did both on the same day and was very cautious, doing only about 4 hill sprints per session. This season I will only have been base training for 4 weeks before this first HIIT session, which is relatively big in the context of my experience.
I am thinking it would make sense to introduce this more gradually to control the neuromuscular impact. Is it a fair call to add a few strides at the end if one easy run (“Aerobic Development”) per week in the next couple of weeks to make it less of a drastic jump to this first HIIT session? I am thinking that Athletica didn’t necessarily have relatively inexperienced middle-aged runners in mind when developing this plan
yes, start preparing your body for harder efforts by doing a few 2-3 strides (grass, gravel, uphill) at the end of aerobic sessions. You can slowly increase frequency of those. Remember strides you essentially pick pace / effort up gradually over 10-15s so they are not full on all out sprints, but momentarily reach fast muscle contraction at the end.
uphill sprint lessen the neuromuscular load so hopefully you can find an uphill - even grass is good.
4x30/30 is a good starting point. Don’t be afraid to alter if needed.
you can always crank out a 30/30s session on bike, elliptical, swim, assault bike, rower to lessen the neuromuscular load even more yet get the benefits of VO2max session.
As a perimenopausal athlete I am not going to stop doing these sessions. In contrast to true sprinting (6-10s as fast as possible and then long full recovery of 2-4mins) the 30/30s are super effective way to enhance your VO2max without the neuromuscular load and risk of injury. I find 30/30s are not as taxing as long HIIT (over 1mins work efforts) and I can show up rocking the next session, where any longer intervals leave me exhausted.
Doing sprints (hard short efforts with long recoveries) that are often recommended to perimenopausal women in social media don’t hit the cardiovascular component like 30/30s do and has a higher injury risk. I would personally do VO2max efforts weekly instead of true sprints, because of all the benefits of keeping that high VO2max for performance, health and performance.
Together with aerobic zone 1&2, and strength training, and perhaps mobility work like yoga, you are setting yourself up for a great transition into menopause
Listen to your body like you already do. In the beginning of your journey these can feel pretty hard with that short recovery, you you’ll see the change quickly if you keep doing these weekly. Honestly, 4-6x30/30 per week is a lovely place to start.
