10k training - how fast can i get in 5 months?

[sirchimp]

Did an easy 6k (keeping pulse under 140bpm roughly) today.

My plan, unless you say different, will be to alternate 30min + 60min each day. So starting tomorrow:

Fri. 60min easy
Sat 30min easy
sun 60min easy
mon 30min easy
tue: Rest
Wed -> Day 1 of program: 60-70min easy

Seem reasonable? Again -> I think good call on going with the easy week now...body was probably suggesting now was a good time for a break, and it will make the race sync up with the end of the next cycle which is probably beneficial...

Later...

[TheEd]

yes, this seems reasonable

on the 1hr days, you may run the last 10 minutes a little quicker if you up to it

please provide feedback

TheEd

[sirchimp]

Ok, last 10 min a little quicker. I'll keep my pulse around 140 for the first 50minutes....i suspect at 50minutes, by pace might be about 5:15-5:30/km in order to be keeping my pulse around 140.

How fast is 'a little quicker'? Would 14kph be too fast? Or something based on heart rate instead?

thanks TheEd!

[TheEd]

if you working off pulse then 160 to 165 bpm

then if off pace per km, you can look at 5 to 10 seconds per k paster pace

hope that is easy to achieve

TheEd

[sirchimp]

Hey TheEd...

I ended up going a bit faster than that:

Tread Mill - 1%
km | time | avg HR | max HR
1 | 5:40.0 | ? | ????
2 | 4:59.8 | 128 | 133
3 | 5:01.3 | 133 | 134
4 | 4:58.7 | 134 | 138
5 | 4:59.5 | 140 | 143
6 | 5:07.9 | 141 | 144
7 | 5:13.7 | 143 | 146
8 | 5:40.0 | 143 | 145*TM Restart
9 | 5:34.7 | 143 | 146
10| 5:00.0 | 148 | 158
11| 4:17.1 | 163 | 167
11.X| 3:22.6 | 168 | 170
Total: 59:55.3

Though based on my pulse I was closeish...However, my pace was over a minute faster....Plus, i really sped up for the last 100-200 meters for good measure

Its funny how easy 4:17/km is after 10km of running COMPARED to how i was running exactly 1 year ago. I don't have the numbers on me, but i think my final km in my 10km race was 4:28...and i was dying after that...hehe. This year should be interesting to see how I do.

I'll stick to this rough speed...my pulse is averaging maybe a little less than 165 over the 10minutes....unless you say to reign it in.

I'm also continuing with the weight lifting here...just for clarity what I'm doing is:

Day A: Squats, Bench Press, Deadlift
Day B: Squats, Standing Press, Power Cleans, Pull ups

Week 1 will be: ABA
Week 2 will be: BAB
Week 3 will be: ABA
and so on...

Since about mid december i have been running first, and lifting afterwards. On days where i have a quality session (ie HARD day like 5x2km) I just skip the lifting altogether and push it to the next day or 2 days depending on if I feel i need to be recovering more the day after.

This week I am lifting BEFORE the easy runs...but will resume with the running FIRST then lifting once the next cycle starts. I'm not sure if it really matters considering they are easy runs...perhaps you can advise if strength training before or after an easy run is better?

I do notice that if I weight lift first, then run, my HR is a little bit higher on average than if I run first...

Regards,

[TheEd]

Try to avoid squats a day before and after the 2k or 1k sessions

if you a fine 'technician' and you know what you are doing with your strength training then you should avoid problems

elevated heart rate would / should be related to muscle fatigue and the extra effort needed to generate the same pace

with time you should be able to utilise your feedback to best plan your weight training

I am all for body weight strength training as opposed to weights for strength development however this is mainly related to what 'can' go wrong if the athlete is inexperienced

TheEd

[sirchimp]

Finished my easy week...so the last 8 days looked like:
~66min - 12k
~30min - 6k
REST
~30min - 6k
~60min - 11.8k
~30min - 6k
~60min - 12k
~30min - 6k
(I won't bore you with the HR and split times...not much to see)

Tomorrow will be REST and then i'll start day 1 of the cycle again...

[TheEd]

yeah .. but more or less how did you find the slow running? Was it closer to 140 or 160

TheEd

[sirchimp]

I kept the pulse at 140 for all of it, except for the last 10min of the 60min runs, where i upped the speed. My second 60min run was much easier:

Tread Mill - 1%
km | time | avg HR | max HR
1 | 5:56.7 | 113 | 129
2 | 4:59.8 | 131 | 137
3 | 4:59.7 | 134 | 138
4 | 4:59.9 | 136 | 141
5 | 4:59.8 | 137 | 140
6 | 5:01.2 | 141 | 143
7 | 5:06.6 | 140 | 143
8 | 5:06.8 | 141 | 143
9 | 5:10.7 | 140 | 142
10| 5:10.6 | 145 | 154
11| 4:16.3 | 156 | 158
12| 4:05.7 | 160 | 163
Total: 59:53.8
138/163 AHR/MHR


Despite my speed in the last 10min, my HR didn't rise too much. It was a different treadmill than usual, but the speed felt about right. Hard to say for sure though.

Overall - a little boring...but I've been finding that for all the easy runs as of late...Part of the problem of running on the treadmill.

As for the strength training....Re Squats: Roger that. I'll avoid them +/- 1 day around the 1 and 2k sessions, probably the 400m and 5k paced run as well...I agree with you on the body weight vs barbells as far as injury risk is concerned. I'm a beginner with the barbells, and as such have been taking the weight progression pretty slowly so as to concentrate on form. I've been following the 'starting strength' program by Mark Rippetoe - as such, i haven't been working out to failure, which has also lessened my chance of injury i suspect (not pushing the weights too high). Deviating from the program, I haven't been pushing the weight up as much as i could each week in part because i'm still learning the movements.

Thanks for all the help!

[sirchimp]

Day1 + Day2 complete of the cycle prior to my 10k..:

Day1: Easy 60-70min:
Tread Mill - 1%
km | time | avg HR | max HR
1 | 5:49.8 | 114 | 128
2 | 5:12.6 | 130 | 134
3 | 5:13.2 | 135 | 139
4 | 5:13.3 | 136 | 140
5 | 5:13.1 | 138 | 141
6 | 5:12.1 | 140 | 141
7 | 5:21.6 | 141 | 144
8 | 5:30.3 | 139 | 141
9 | 5:30.5 | 139 | 142
10| 5:34.7 | 140 | 144
11| 5:50.6 | 137 | 141*TM stopped
12| 5:25.0 | 140 | 144
Total: 1:05:06
135/144 AHR/MHR

Day2: Easy 30min:
Tread Mill - 1%
km | time | avg HR | max HR
1 | 6:07.2 | 112 | 123
2 | 4:55.1 | 133 | 137
3 | 4:52.4 | 137 | 141
4 | 4:56.9 | 141 | 143
5 | 5:03.9 | 141 | 144
6 | 5:10.0 | 143 | 144
Total: 31:05.5
133/144 AHR/MHR

Prior to my 30min/6k session as i was walking to the gym, i noticed a very very slight pain in my right foot's achilles tendon area....nothing particularly bothersome...so i ran anyways...

While running - no problems at all.

After the gym, walking down some stairs, i noticed an increase in the pain in the achilles. I'm not sure its the achilles....if I poke around with my hands i can't feel any pain.

Seems odd considering i just did a fairly easy week of running...

Its not so bad as to make me think i should not do my 5x2km session tomorrow, but what do you think TheEd? Re-evaluate i the morning? Stop being a baby? Take it easy? HEhehe...tough to diagnose with minimal info like that.

I'm not limping, nor am i in discomfort at all while at rest. absolutely ZERO pain/discomfort while sitting. Only when walking, is there a slight pain...and a little more when walking down stairs...

If I had to guess, i'd say its a little higher up my leg...closer to my calves than my heel. Perhaps where the achilles meets the calf muscle?

Just had a nice steak dinner...clearly that will deliver sufficient protein to repair the problem. As a side note...i think i've been neglecting my nutrition somewhat...probably not getting sufficient protein, or healthy food in general. I aim to fix that going forward....

So in summary...I'll re-evaluate tomorrow pre-run if i do the 5x2k session...and take under advisement anything you might add before then!

Thanks!