Pat Farmer's training tips for the Blackmores Sydney Running Festival

2 mins to read

Australia's champion ultra-marathon runner Pat Farmer's training tips for the Blackmores Sydney Running Festival.

By Australian and international standards, Pat Farmer is considered one of the very elite in his sport of ultra marathon running.

Throughout his sporting career, Pat has set numerous world and Australian records. Pat has twice completed the Trans-America Footrace, achieving second-place in 1993 and has twice run across the Simpson Desert, setting world records both times.

Pat believes a person's fitness is directly related to their expectations of the finish. If they want to take the maximum time then they don't need to be as fit as someone who wants to finish up front. However any body contemplating running a marathon or half marathon needs a reasonable level of fitness.

Pat's Training Tips

Training needs to be a minimum of 3 times a week and maximum 14 sessions a week
The 3 sessions should be 45 minutes to an hour for those wanting to run a half marathon and double for those wanting to run a marathon
Training needs to consist of aerobic, strength and speed work training

Aerobic

Training can be anything from swimming, cycling, organised classes or running. Generally any exercise that involves heart and lung effort is aerobic. You need to lift your heart rate and expand your lungs.

Strength

Training needs to consist of sit-ups for core strength, lunges, weights and stretches.

Sit ups - 30 to 100 (straight up with bent knees and arms crossed across chest not behind your neck). 30 sit-ups to the left and 30 sit-ups to the right

Lunges - It is important to clasp your fingers behind the back of your head and take a large step forward and kneel at the same time. You should go down and back in quick action making sure to bend your knees. 30x3 for each leg.

Stretches

Heel lifts should be done on a step or flat ground 3x30 seconds (works the calf muscles)
List one leg at a time in the air so that your thigh is at 90 degrees to the front of your body then rotate your left/right angle to loosen it up
Hold your knee into your chest and balance on one leg (hold for 20 secs) 3x20 seconds
Do this stretch in reverse- hold one leg up behind your buttocks while balancing on the other leg
Hold your arms up and stretch your fingers up to the sky
Bring arm across left shoulder then place your arm up so that the inside of your wrist is pushing on the back of your elbow 3x20 seconds

Speed Work

Run in a straight line from one point to another, the distance between each point should be comfortable for you. Pick up the pace each time, thereby increasing effort. This will lift the heart rate and open the lung capacity. A beep test is a great way of doing speed work.