Jake Smith Q&A
Jake’s a pretty tidy runner with a half marathon PB of 1hr02min, among other very impressive PB's! Now based in Cardiff but still a proud member of local club Axe Valley Runners.
The idea behind this 10 question interview is to obviously give our community an idea of what goes into running this fast - but more importantly understand that it's all 'relative'! We can all learn from runner's like Jake in terms of their approach and structure of training, all in the pursuit of personal improvement.
Q: Please give us a overview of you're running background? What got you into it, how has you're running developed?
JS: First got into running when I was 12 living in Hong Kong. My parents often took me out for runs over the mountains and I was part of the school’s athletics club. I also joined a local running club which met once a week. Alongside running I was playing football, rugby and hockey at school which helped develop my fitness levels
Q: What does a typical training week look like? What would the focus and time of year be?
JS: Week: 90-100miles
Monday - AM: Recovery run - PM: Progressive run
Tuesday - AM: Recovery run - PM: Quality session
Wednesday - AM: Easy longer run - PM: S&C
Thursday - AM: Easy run - PM: Steady run
Friday - AM: Recovery run - PM: Quality session
Saturday - AM: Easy run
Sunday - AM: Long run - PM: S&C
City Runs: Obviously Jake is clocking some big miles and quality workouts but our key observations on the week structure are...
x2 quality sessions per week
1 Long Run
2x Strength and Conditioning
Plenty of easy/recovery runs
Q: Favourite session and why?
JS: Long run or 2x 4 miles (3 min jog)
City Runs: Judging by Jake's social media / strava a long run is around 20 miles @ 6min miling. Jake's Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/13780211?hl=en-GB
Q: Least favourite session and why?
JS: Anything short and fast
City Runs: Jake is still pretty quick over the shorter stuff, with PB's of…
1500m 3:56
3k: 8:06
5k: 14:00
10k: 29:01
Power 10 Profile - https://www.thepowerof10.info/athletes/profile.aspx?athleteid=722919
Q: What strength and conditioning do you do and how often?
JS: Do S&C twice a week. Do core, drills and lighter leg conditioning
City Runs: No getting away from it S&C is very important it you want to improve it helps runners to avoid injury cope training load stress.
Q: What do you think is key to good recovery and getting the most out of you're training?
JS:
Sleeping well
Diet,
Rolling + stretching
City Runs: The details and discipline around recovery make a big difference over the longer term - recovery from training should be viewed as a key ingredient to improving .
Q: What's it like training in Cardiff and gives us an idea of what life is like living in a house of elite runners?
JS: Cardiff is a great place to train as it has the Taff trail, indoor and outdoor track, Leckwith trails and Llandaf fields all to train on. Living with these boys has really helped my running improve especially when I don’t have to do a single run by myself.
City Runs: Jake lives in house with some other very tidy runners, which makes a great environment to live and train: http://www.dai-sport.com/athletics-cardiff-1okm-lewis-smith/
You can follow the ‘running house’ on instagram - @llanishenstreetdistanceproject
Q: Talk us through your British U23 Half Marathon Record, in terms of build up and the race itself?
JS: The sessions before the half were very tough but they did get me fit and strong. Did a few harder long runs too. The race was perfect as there was no wind and running with the front group really helped during the first half of the race. Then when they started to pull away from me I had to dig deep for the rest of the way. Was very surprised when I saw that time on the clock and just fell to the floor in happiness.
Q: What are your goals going forward?
JS: Want to run personal bests over all distances on the track (1500m-10,000m). Get into the world half team and run 28:30 for 10,000m
Q: Finally, what are your top tips for runners of all abilities trying to improve and hit their targets?
JS: For me the biggest tip I would say is consistency. If athletes are able to follow a similar program every week they will get fit from it. Also need to make sure they keep their easy days easy to recover in order to train well for the rest of the week
City Runs: Amen to that! No matter what your ability, if you want to improve the consistency is king!
Big Thank You to Jake for his time in doing this interview. We wish him all the best for the future - we think some very BIG things are on the cards in the near future.
Follow Jake on Instagram - @jakesmith_lsdp
