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RUN VAULT PERFORMANCE COACHING

ATHLETE
GUIDE

 

Your welcome to the crew, and the reference you'll keep coming back to while we coach you.

NOTHING SOFT COMES OUT OF THE VAULT

INSIDE THIS GUIDE

01 Welcome to the Vault · 02 Your first two weeks · 03 How your training works · 04 Session types · 05 Talking to your coach · 06 The stuff that isn't running · 07 Racing · 08 The Vault · 09 The admin bit

 

 

START HERE

01 WELCOME TO THE VAULT

You're in. From today you've got a coach in your corner and a plan built around you, your life and your goals.

 

Run Vault Performance coaches runners, obstacle course racers and triathletes. Some of our athletes are chasing their first 5K. Some are chasing a podium or their first 100K ultra. Everyone gets the same thing: a program written for them, honest feedback, and a coach who actually cares how the session went.

 

Our motto is simple. Nothing Soft Comes Out Of The Vault. That doesn't mean every session is hard. Most of them won't be. It means we show up, we do the work, and we're honest about how it's going.

 

This guide is yours to keep. Read it once now, then come back to it whenever you've got a question about your training, race week, or how things work around here.

 

Coach Jamie

 

 

GETTING SET UP

02 YOUR FIRST TWO WEEKS

Get these done and your coach has everything needed to build your plan properly. Tick them off as you go.

 

  • Fill in the New Athlete Intake Form. Be honest about injuries, work, family and sleep. It all shapes your plan.

  • Complete your health and fitness background check. We do this before anyone starts so your training is safe and specific to you.

  • Accept your invite to TrainingPeaks and connect your watch or Strava so sessions sync automatically.

  • Send your coach your goal race (or races), dates, and any days you can't train.

  • Share some recent runs or a recent race result so we can set your paces and zones.

  • Book a run form session if you'd like a baseline video of how you run.

  • Jump on the phone or come into the studio for a quick chat with your coach.

 

The first couple of weeks are about learning how you respond to training. Expect things to feel a little easy. That's on purpose.

 

 

OUR MOTTO

NOTHING SOFT COMES OUT OF THE VAULT

THE SYSTEM

03 HOW YOUR TRAINING WORKS

Your plan lives in TrainingPeaks. Your coach loads your sessions ahead of time, you do them, and your watch sends the data back. Then you add a comment, your coach reviews it, and the next block gets adjusted to suit.

 

EACH WEEK, DO THIS

  1. Check the week ahead on Sunday so you can plan around work and family.

  2. Read the full session description before you head out, not halfway through the warm up.

  3. Do the session as written. Don't make easy days harder.

  4. After the session, add a quick comment: how it felt, effort out of 10, and anything that hurt.

  5. Life happens. If you miss a session, don't try to cram it in later. Just tell your coach and move on.

 

EFFORT AND ZONES

Most sessions are set by heart rate zone, pace or feel. If your watch and your body disagree, trust your body and tell us about it.

 

  • Z1 Recovery · Effort 1 to 2 · Barely trying. Full conversation.

  • Z2 Easy · Effort 3 to 4 · Comfortable, could go for ages. Full sentences.

  • Z3 Steady · Effort 5 to 6 · Focused but controlled. Short sentences.

  • Z4 Threshold · Effort 7 to 8 · Comfortably hard. A few words.

  • Z5 Hard · Effort 9 to 10 · Hard to hold for long. Not really talking.

 

Easy means easy. Around 80% of your running will sit in Z1 and Z2. That's where your engine gets built, and it's what lets you nail the hard days.

 

 

KNOW YOUR WORKOUTS

04 SESSION TYPES

Here's what the names in your plan mean.

 

  • Easy run (Z1 to Z2). Relaxed running. Builds your aerobic base and helps you recover.

  • Recovery run (Z1). Short, very easy jog. Gets blood moving after a big day.

  • Long run (mostly Z2). Your longest run of the week, mostly easy. Builds endurance and race day confidence.

  • Tempo (Z3 to Z4). Sustained, comfortably hard running. Lifts the pace you can hold for a long time.

  • Threshold intervals (Z4). Repeats with short recoveries. Pushes your threshold higher without frying you.

  • Intervals / VO2 (Z5). Short, hard repeats. Builds top end speed and power.

  • Hills. Repeats up a hill, easy jog down. Strength, power and form, all in one.

  • Fartlek. Unstructured speed play within a run. Teaches you to change gears.

  • Strides. 15 to 20 second pickups, fast but relaxed. Sharpens form and leg speed.

  • Strength. Gym or home session from your coach. Makes you more robust and more powerful.

  • Cross training. Bike, swim, row or similar. Fitness with less pounding.

  • Rest day. Nothing. Really. This is when the training actually sinks in.

 

Always warm up before quality sessions and cool down after. If the session description doesn't say how long, 10 to 15 minutes easy is a good default.

 

COMMUNICATION

05 TALKING TO YOUR COACH

The more you tell us, the better your plan gets. Coaching works best as a conversation, not a set of instructions.

 

WHERE TO TELL US

  • How a session went: a comment on the session in TrainingPeaks

  • Questions about your plan: TrainingPeaks comment or email

  • Work trip, sick, life is busy: email or text as soon as you know. Add your availability in TrainingPeaks.

  • Pain or a niggle: text the same day. Don't wait.

  • Anything urgent: call your coach, no hesitation

  • Events: add them to your TrainingPeaks calendar

 

You'll get a weekly check in from your coach via email, phone, note or message. Reply to it, even if it's just a line or two.

 

TELL US EARLY IF

  • Something hurts and it's getting worse, or it changes how you run

  • You're tired all the time, sleeping badly, or dreading sessions

  • Your schedule is about to change

  • You want to add or change a race

 

A niggle caught on day one usually costs a few easy days. One you push through can cost a season.

 

 

STAY ON YOUR FEET

06 THE STUFF THAT ISN'T RUNNING

Running gets you fit. Everything in this section keeps you running.

 

STRENGTH

One specific strength session and one smaller, lower impact mobility session each week make a real difference to injury risk and power. Your coach will add them to your plan. Form beats weight every time, and the exercise instruction library on our site shows you how each move should look.

 

RUN FORM

Better form means running more efficiently and more freely. A run form session gets you filmed, assessed, and sent home with drills and cues. We use video so you can see exactly what we see. Most athletes come back for a recheck every few months.

 

RECOVERY

  • Sleep is the number one recovery tool. Protect it.

  • Rest days are part of the plan, not a gap in it.

  • If you feel flat for more than a few days, tell your coach. We'd rather adjust than have you dig a hole.

 

FUELLING

  • Eat enough. Under fuelling is one of the most common reasons athletes stall or get hurt.

  • For runs over about 75 minutes, practise taking in carbs and fluids so race day isn't the first time.

  • In the heat, electrolytes matter. Ask us in store about what we stock.

  • Check out Fuel and Flow with Jess on our blog for ideas.

 

 

REMEMBER

REST DAYS ARE PART OF THE PLAN

RACE DAY

07 RACING

Race day is where the work shows up. Here's how we get you there fresh, sharp and confident.

 

  • 6 to 8 weeks out: race specific sessions. Practise your race fuel, shoes and kit on long runs.

  • 1 to 3 weeks out: taper. Less volume, a little intensity stays. Feeling restless is normal.

  • Race week: short, sharp sessions. Sleep, eat well, nothing new.

  • Day before: lay out your kit, check the course and logistics, easy shakeout if planned.

  • Race day: stick to the race plan your coach sends. Start controlled.

  • Week after: recovery. Easy running or rest, even if you feel great.

 

RACE DAY RULES

  • Nothing new. Not shoes, not gels, not breakfast.

  • Go out slower than you think. You can't bank time, but you can blow up.

  • Follow your race plan. Your coach sends pacing and fuelling before every A race.

  • Tell us how it went. Send your result and a few lines. We want to hear it all, good and bad.

 

Our Race Day reflection document is the best way to review and assess your performance.

 

 

HOME OF RUNNING

08 THE VAULT

Being coached by us means you're part of the Run Vault crew. Come and use it.

 

  • The studio. Our home base on Manilla Street, East Brisbane. Strength equipment, cardio and cross training gear, and space for run form sessions.

  • Run Vault store. Shoes, nutrition and gear for training and racing. Come in for a fitting or shop at runvault.com.au.

  • Tempo Coffee. Our café right inside the store. Perfect for post run chats.

  • Fitaz Run Club. Coached by Run Vault. We meet at 5:20am at FitazFK Gym on Main Street, Kangaroo Point, run on a 4 week rotation, and finish at Daffodil Cafe.

  • Team RVP. Our athlete community. Rock the kit, cheer each other on, and come to events. See Team RVP.

 

Athlete discount: you get an exclusive athlete discount code for Run Vault. Get in touch and we'll send it through.

 

EXTRA SERVICES

  • Run form clinic: video analysis, assessment, drills and cues

  • Personal training: one on one sessions focused on technique and your goals

  • Group PT: train with up to two others and save

  • Corporate run form sessions: groups of 5 to 10 at your workplace or our studio, with video for everyone

 

 

FEES AND POLICIES

09 THE ADMIN BIT

The short version of how payments and changes work. Full details are in our Terms and Conditions.

 

  • Online coaching: $59 start up fee, then $49 per week. Rates can vary by coach, see Your Coaches.

  • Payment: paid in advance. No refund once a period of coaching has started.

  • Cancelling: you can cancel any time with one week's notice. Your coaching runs to the end of the period you've already paid for.

  • PT and group PT: cancel more than 24 hours out for a full refund. Inside 24 hours, you get a credit to use within 6 months.

  • Pain or discomfort: stop, see your health professional, and follow their advice before training again. Let your coach know.

 

Heading away or need a break? Talk to your coach and add your availability in TrainingPeaks. We'd rather adjust your plan than have you disappear.

 

CONTACTS

 

NOTHING SOFT COMES OUT OF THE VAULT.
WELCOME TO THE CREW.

 

Run Vault Performance · Manilla Street, East Brisbane · runvaultperformance.com.au

RVP

SUBSCRIBE FOR UPDATES AND FITNESS TIPS

coach@runvaultperformance.com.au

0447286520

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We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we work. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elders, both past and present, and celebrate their cultural contribution to society.

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