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How they train – Jessica Judd

Her coach, Jeremy Freeman, feels the reason Jessica Judd is so good at the moment is that she has a very good combination of speed and endurance.

“We tend to work more down the endurance route so those in the training group with good natural speed get the extra benefits as well,” he says.

“She is quick over 300m, for example, and certainly has an ability to push herself to the limit as can be seen sometimes when she collapses over the line.

“In training she doesn’t do anything more than the rest of her training group but can keep up with most of the men. At Chelmsford we have a number of girls near or at the top of the Power of Ten rankings in the under-13, under-15 and under-17 age groups, so maybe they do more than most, but it seems appropriate that an under-17 should be on around 25 miles per week in the winter and about 20 miles in the summer. We ensure two days a week off as a minimum and easier weeks now and then.

“The training squad is a large one with 30 or more athletes and a mixture of ages and ability. We have good areas at which to train and plenty of grassland parks, school fields and a range of hills and there is a very positive atmosphere among the group with a feeling that most things can be achieved and this is something that we outwardly encourage.

“She likes to race frequently and has a fearless attitude and that is what sets her apart at the moment.”

Training week example

» Monday
Every other week with a sprint group: Drill session with Christian Dailly, ex-Scottish footballer with over 60 caps, who is a speed coach at Chelmsford. The drills change from session to session but include a mixture of strength and core work with the usual sprint type drills, accelerations and change-of-pace work.

» Tuesday
Grass or track session. Grass is usually over 700m laps through the winter with between 3-6km in volume, but more varied in the summer with the sessions changing regularly and we still get good speed from the grass in the summer. From time-to-time she will do some long reps, up to 1000m, as she doesn’t do much steady running and this keeps her volume up a bit. Recoveries vary in each session but she will have around 60 seconds for 300m reps and up to three minutes rest for longer reps or when she is tired to allow for a full recovery. We often end a session with a few relay races which the athletes in the group appear to be totally recovered for, however hard they have trained.

» Wednesday
Rest.

» Thursday
Track: maybe 6 or 7x400m or 300m with 100m very slow jog recovery. Clearly the sessions are tinkered with a little to suit the needs at the time. The group tend to do a good warm-up, a mixture of steady running, plus some multi-directional work or dynamic stretch-type activity. The sessions are not complicated though – it is very basic stuff. It is a big group and would be difficult to organise if there was too much complexity.

» Friday
Rest.

» Saturday
Race. Jessica likes to race quite frequently. If she’s not racing, then a hill session or a grass run will be included, depending on the following day. We usually do something both days at the weekend. The hill session is usually 8x300m and isn’t particularly steep.

» Sunday
Hills or 30 to 45 minutes run.

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