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

[sirchimp]

Thanks for the advice on the 400m session.

Did my 5k time trial today...couldn't make it to track, so did it at the gym on the same machine as my previous cycle's 4k time trial.
Forgot to weigh myself before hand, but after the run I was 73.5-74kg...though i'm a little skeptical of this particular scale in the gym.

My splits:
Tread Mill - 1%
km | time | AHR | MHR
1 | 3:49.8 | 147 | 158
2 | 3:50.0 | 161 | 164
3 | 3:49.0 | 166 | 169
4 | 3:48.7 | 172 | 174
5 | 3:42.1 | 175 | 176
Total: 18:59.6
164/176 AHR/MHR

W00t! So I cracked 19minutes...just barely...hehe. I think i had more to give if you consider my heart rate...it didn't crack 180 on the final km. However, perceived effort and difficulty was quite high. I was trying to bargain myself into stopping around km 3...hehe.

Two Questions:

1. Next two days of the cycle are just easy running...30min-1hr, and 30min. (Should I lean closer to 1hr? Does it matter? See how i feel tomorrow?)

2. My 10km race is Sunday April 15...1 week after the end of the next cycle. Should I adjust this new cycle somehow to end on the 15th? Or do as normal and just not run a hard time trial at the end? Some advice on how to proceed for the next 4 weeks would be great!

Thanks TheEd! I'm pretty pleased with the progress i've made since November and I credit your training programs and your help here on the forum! Its been invaluable!

[TheEd]

Thanks sir .. nice going .. you can consider doing 1hr if you want but don't push matters up purely for the sake of running 1hr

after the race we will roll towards a build-up where 1hr because 'normal'

if you feel confident in rolling off the 3 week cycle towards the event then we can change it so that you roll on the 3 week program into the race

your call based on what you have experienced

Cheers

TheEd

[sirchimp]

Ok then - I'll see how i feel tomorrow and stop somewhere between 30 and 60min...

As for the race...I think i'll start the cycle as normal for now. If I finish, we can figure out what to do in the week before the race...I may yet miss a few days between now and then...so we will see.

[sirchimp]

Oh one more thing...my next important session will be the fun 5x2k session...I'm thinking of aiming for about 3:55/km, or 7:50/2km....

My previous session was about 8:00/2km.
Prior to that 8:00-8:10/2km
Prior to that 8:17-8:35/2km...(4x2k)

Seem reasonable?

[sirchimp]

Just finished my 2 easy days of running after my 5k time trial...did 8k and then 6k. Won't bore with the splits....

This marks the end of my 6th cycle. Some stats:

Before starting the cycles:
My first 4k time trial: 17:55.6
That implies a 5k time of: 22:53 (mcmillan calculator)

My subsequent cycle time trials:

(time in brackets if not run, but implied by using calculator)

Cycle | Distance| 4k time | 5k time
0 | 4 | 17:56 | (22:53)
1 | 4 | 16:46 | (21:24)
2 | 4 | 15:59 | (20:24)
3 | XXXX -> gave up ...terrible
4 | 5 | (15:30) | 19:47
5 | 4 | 15:11 | (19:23)
6 | 5 | (14:53) | 19:00*
*(rounded...really 18:59.6 ...hehe)

My Average 2km interval times (from 4x2k or 5x2k):
Cycle | time per 2km
1 | 9:08
2 | 8:56.7
3 | 8:25
4 | 8:26.5
5 | 8:05.6 *5x2k started now
6 | 7:59.8

My goal for around this time next year will be to drop my 2k interval times to about 6:50/2km, and run a <35min 10k for ~ april 15 2013.

Possible?

[sirchimp]

One more set of stats...

Kilometers per cycle:
Cycle | KM ran
-----------------
1 | 96.73
2 | 119.87
3 | 126.93
4 | 142.25
5 | 136.50
6 | 156.00

See the attached image for a graph of my kilometers run. Each bar is km run for the previous 7 days. So its a moving average...you can see how the kilometer demands in the cycles changes over time with a spike near the beginning and a taper off.

7 day moving average kilometers from the graph
Min | Avg | Max
23.75 | 42.1 | 67.6
Average has a standard deviation of 9.44

[TheEd]

3.55 for the 2k seems reasonable

your development has been quite something

don't look too far ahead towards 35 minutes but rather concentrate on going sub 40 first

allow for the natural progress, as can be seen there has been significant improvement already

onwards and forwards

enjoy the 2k session

TheEd

[sirchimp]

Last 4 days of running has been interesting...My HR was fairly elevated (relative to the easy runs of the last month and a half), and my legs just felt heavy and tired. Could this be the stress of that 5k run? Seems unlikely. Though, over the last 4 days things got better and better and today my 30min/6k easy run was back to 'normal' pretty much in terms of both my HR,pace and general feeling of things actually being easy.

Think I could have benefitted from a rest day in there? Or is that normal/ok to feel more tired/higher HR following a tough exertion?

Anyway..todays easy run feeling easy again gives me confidence and lifts my ...'mood' as far as the 5x2k tomorrow.

Going to see how hot it is tomorrow when i wake up...see if i want to hike over to the track, or do the session on the tread mill...outdoors would probably be better for me...though, i suspect i might post slower/more inconsistent times so i am kinda trying to talk myself out of that. LOL. Pathetic...i know.

Yeah...35min in a year...might be silly to think about/worry about that. Though, i do wonder if thats possible. Any thoughts?

If I need to hit 6:50/2km consistently on the 5x2k, to imply a 35min 10k, then...:

52 weeks == 17.3 cycles. Say 12 cycles allowing for a few cycles off (as per your off training period recommendations ) to be conservative.
Currently running the 2km's in 4:00/km speed.
Need to drop that to 3:25/km. An improvement of 35s.
So 35/12 = ~3s/km/cycle improvement needed.

Hmm...yeah...best not to worry about that now...

lol
...then i figure i need to drop my /km time on those intervals by about 2s/km/cycle...allowing

[TheEd]

you have been running at the top for quite a while and it could be possible that you going 'slightly over the top' however maybe consider doing a week of easy running now and then rolling the 3 week cycle towards the race instead

what say you?

TheEd

[sirchimp]

That actually sounds like a good idea...

I'm going to take today (my wednesday) off...and will begin day 1 of the program on....Wednesday next week? The 28th of March...that will mean day 19 (race day) is April 15th - the day of my race.

Sound good? in the mean time, what should i be doing for the easy week of running?