Hello fellow running enthusiasts, I am Angie Petty, a 26 year old middle distance runner from Christchurch, New Zealand.
I started running for a club when I was 10 years old and got a coach when I was 13, so have been in this sport 16 years so far. I have been to several major championships and am so thankful to have travelled the world competing on the track.
One of the highlights of my career so far was breaking 2minutes for the first time (1.59.06) and winning the World University Games in South Korea in 2015. Getting under that barrier and winning the gold medal was a massive dream come true. Although I have run 3 sub 2s, I haven’t beaten that time since then so one of my goals now is to get back under 2mins and break my PB.
My husband Sam and I met at a grass track here in Christchurch in 2012 and we got married in 2014. He has a PB of 1.49 and we do a lot of our training together. I am a real family person so that’s one of the things I find hardest about this sport is being away from Sam and the rest of my family.
Some key workouts that I have done:
6x600m reps. This is a great session from my old coach Maria. We did this often. I would try hit the 600s at 1500m pace with the last 200m the fastest 200m split. When in good shape I would try and get the 600s all under 1.40 (think my best session was 1.36s-1.39s with 1 annoyingly 1.40 haha.) Off 600m very slow jog recovery.
6x300s off 4mins: These kinds of sessions are always super tough and lactic but I feel you gain so much from them and they really help me get ready for racing the 800 since they are at quicker than 800m pace. I really enjoy the 300m distance as you can break it down nicely, whereas 400m reps can drag on.
4×400 reps off 4mins a real lactic 800m session, have only does this once so far under Danny my coach. Did them on a grass track on a windy day but tried to hit just over 60 seconds for each one, ended up vomiting after this session and I see that its in my training schedule again coming up so am already a bit nervous for this one.
Hill reps: My coach gives me quite a lot of these, anything from short acceleration ones up to about 2min ones. I have done 5min hill reps before and it was one of the hardest sessions I have ever done. I really enjoy 1min reps (about 8 reps) as it’s fast but not too long and great for 800m training.
Long tempos: Good old tempo sessions, such as 2x 3km tempos (3mins between reps) in about 3.20-3.35km ish pace (depending on phase of session and current form) and then something fast after like 5x 100m.
I prefer the fast 800m type training over endurance work but also really like the awesome balance 800m training brings, as you need the speed and the endurance. My biggest mileage would be about 90km in a week but usually I sit around 60-80km depending on phase of season. I mainly train with my husband Sam, dog Tux and recently have a new training partner called Ariana who is awesome to train with as we get on so well and she is fast. Also we train with some other athletes in the area, like junior distance runner Chris Dryden who is over at World Juniors for the 10,000m at the moment. And run with other friends- like sometimes a group of girls on a Sunday
My coach Danny Mackey is in Seattle so we use whatsapp and email to communicate and I send videos etc sometimes. I have others who help me here in Christchurch including my physio Tamsin. I went to Seattle last year to train with my team mates (the Brooks Beasts) and it was so valuable turning up to sessions with like 5 of us doing the same session and taking turns at leading reps. I have trained with other athletes all over the world and am fascinated that 800m training is so varied to suit different types of athletes, some girls might only do about 30km a week, but heaps of speed work and others might get over 100km weeks yet still have similar PBs, everyone works differently and its finding what works for you including other factors like recovery methods, gym work and cross training. Obviously so many factors come into running well. I think its an amazing sport and teaches you so much. I am so grateful for the gift of running fast.
