My name is Jackson Sharp, I’m a 17 year old middle distance runner from the Upper Blue Mountains.
I’ve been coached online for roughly 2.5 years by Gary Howard and Ben St Lawrence of Run Crew. In that time my 1500m has improved from 4:05 to 3:46 as well as dipping my toes in some longer events throughout the recent season; a couple of 3kms and a 5km (8:14 and 14:25 respectively).
The program I receive is designed around the area in which I live and the multitude of undulating trails upwards of 900m elevation, along with some faster, flatter options for intervals and other faster workouts.
As Run Crew is based in the city, we aim to avoid unnecessary travel to the squad whilst I finish my final year of school. However, weekly trips to ES Marks is enjoyable and certainly worth the tedious train trip as it allows me to push and be pushed by some gun runners including Matt Cox, Tom Do Canto, Matt Hudson, Jared West, James seal, Lucy Starrat, Lara Hamilton, along with many other great runners who are super friendly people of all abilities.
This is currently my 2nd full winter of training, so the focus is geared more towards a long block of higher volume, reduced intensity work This is my 2nd full winter of training, so we’re aiming for a long block with a bit more volume at reduced intensity prior to the next track season. It’s likely that I’ll be heading to a US College to study this time next year. Gary and Ben have done endless research and communication with US College coaches to ensure I’ll be well conditioned to make the transition as smooth as possible.
The sessions vary a lot and are rarely repeated from one block to the next, these 4 are key:
Long run– usually 90min run out along some amazing fire trails, characterised by magnificent scenery and some friendly fauna. These runs are always challenging with the hills, but still decent enough to allow a rolling pace.
Hilly tempo – usually 20-25min, I’ll either run a warm up down a long hill and attack the return or head to a hilly trail and attack the ups and flats, roll the downs.
Speed – countless options from 60m to 150m, either on the flat or uphill. Generally including a mix of standing starts, flying starts and pace changes.
Track – poppin stuff. Usually event specific, allowing for some solid practice. This may be 10x400m off 70sec recovery, which is progressively reduced to 40sec of the season while maintaining the same pace during the efforts.
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