Emmet Dunleavy, a running coach with Belpark Triathlon Club, joined Eoin Sheahan and Nathan Murphy on Monday's OTB AM to discuss OTB's latest challenge and provide some running tips for your build-up to the big event.
After the success of last year's Off The Ball triathlon in association with BMW Ireland, some members of the OTB staff are taking on another challenge in 2020 all for the good of Pieta House.
Across six weeks, a number of OTB staff members will be taking on a fresh challenge each week as we build toward a Duathlon to close the whole thing off in the final week. Joined by Emmet Dunleavy on OTB AM, the running coach with Belpark Triathlon Club had some advice for those who made a big go of things in the first week of training.
"People have started off with plenty of enthusiasm and gusto," he remarked after getting a look at the first week's numbers. "My advice for you guys and most people undertaking this is to treat it as five weeks of training and one week of hard effort at the end.
"That final week is the race and these are for training, as opposed to trying to prove your fitness every single week. Most of you need to slow down!"
Thanks for the call-out @enda_coll 👀
As I mentioned on #OTBAM I have no problem bragging about my first sub-19 minute 5k yesterday.
This is an official call-out and warning to the rest of @offtheball ⚠️@BMWireland @tri_ireland #RunandRide4Pieta pic.twitter.com/bckFARp5FM— Shane Hannon (@ShaneHannon01) June 11, 2020
A running coach with Belpark Triathlon Club, Emmet broke down some effective running tips you can use if you're sticking with Team OTB for this challenge, or just trying to get out and about a bit more.
"By slowing down a little bit you make the training a bit more sustainable because there is less of an injury risk," he explained. "It is very much a case of slow and steady.
"You need to bottle the enthusiasm and the intent to run fast times for the final week of the programme and keep the intensity low before then.
"The best gauge of intensity, without getting too much into the science of heart-rates and thresh-holds, is how you're feeling and whether you can have a conversation at running pace. If you're not able to have a chat, you're more than likely going a little bit too quick."
Like all the details surrounding this event and what it is in aid of, you can find out more about that on the Triathlon Ireland website here.
You can listen back to Emmet in full here for the best running tips he had for the lads on Monday's OTB AM.
BMW are supporting mental health and encouraging you look after your well-being by staying active and fit. The Duathlon Cycle & Run challenge supports Pieta House, and is proudly supported by BMW Ireland. To find out more about how to get involved in triathlons and duathlons, visit BMW’s triathlon site
