40 min 10km. Am I on the right track?

[Tigerdale]

I have recently completed one 3 week cycle of the sub 45 min 10km program and was pleased with the progress. I successully completed 5km in the required time of 21:40 during the cycle and have a best 10km time of 44min set back in May 2009.

My stats are as follows
Age: 23
Height: 176cm
Weight:74kg
Max HR: ~ 191bpm

My target is to run a sub 40 min 10km by late March this year. I am now following the sub 40 minute 10km program where day 1 for me is a Sunday at the moment.

Here is my progress so far with the sub 40 10km program:

Day 1
1 hr, 10 min. 13.54 km @ 5:10 min/km, Ave HR 152

Day 2
30 min easy, 5.43km @ 5:31 min/km, Ave HR 139

Day 3
1.52 km w'up, 5 x 2 km (8:33,8:34,8:31,8:37,8:25) with 90 sec recoveries, 1.48 km c'down

Day 4
Rest day, did a weights session

Day 5
1 hr, 30 min. 17.14 km @ 5:15 min/km, Ave HR 148

I am not at the stage where I can achieve the target times for a 40min 10km and am not sure what I should aim for in the interval sessions and the 5km paced run?

[TheEd]

welcome Tigerdale .. if you do a 4k time-trial and if possible on a 400m track with laps splits and 1km splits then we can provide you more accurate details for your sessions

Cheers

TheEd

[Tigerdale]

Hello TheEd,

I recently did a 5km time trial about 2 weeks ago at the end of the last cycle and my lap splits were as follows:

Distance______Time____Lap time__HR
400__________1:42_____1:42_____144
800__________3:28_____1:46_____161
1200_________5:14_____1:46_____166
1600_________7:00_____1:46_____170
2000_________8:47_____1:47_____171
2400_________10:31____1:44_____174
2800_________12:18____1:47_____173
3200_________14:06____1:48_____174
3600_________15:55____1:49_____173
4000_________17:38____1:43_____176
4400_________19:18____1:40_____177
4800_________20:55____1:37_____180
5000 (200m)___21:38____0:43_____183

I also have a club track meet on the 14 of Jan, in which there is a 5km scheduled.
Just wondering whether I should do a hard 4km or 5km here or stick to what would be a 5km paced run on the program?

thanks,

Dale

[TheEd]

OK, D .. if you in fact ran the 5km at time-trial pace then you are not ready to step-up to the sub 40 minute pace just yet

you can stick to schedule regarding the 5km paced ... and during the week the 1000's can be at 4 min to 4.05 per k

it looks as though you have everything under control and if you don't rush the pace just yet you may move to a new level quite soon

so continue as normal and u welcome to provide feedback

Cheers

TheEd

[Tigerdale]

I tried the 6 x 1000m session yesterday in 31 degree heat and unfortunately couldn't finish the session.

Here are the stats for the session:

1. 4:00 max hr 166 bpm
2. 4:04 max hr 174
3. 4:06 max hr 174
4. only got 300m into it averaged 4:17 min/km legs just wouldn't turn over quick enough

Normally I would be reasonably comfortable at this pace because I have PB's of 2:16 for 800m & 4:58 for 1500m, but I think a combination of the heat and the short rest time (60 secs) sorted me out.

Both my legs and lungs gave up on me during the 4th rep. I feel like I have the speed, but not the strength required to maintain the pace for 6 reps. I will make sure to keep out of the heat next time I do an interval session.

As for the paced run, when I ran it last cycle it was 5k in 22:03. I think I will aim for something in between 21 & 22 min this time, but will try and run at a comfortably hard pace.

[TheEd]

Hi T .. after a few 2000m sessions the 1000's will feel very easy in comparison

the heat can impair performance a great deal so don't read too much in to the session

and best to avoid doing intervals in such heat

Hope you feeling a little better

TheEd

[Tigerdale]

Here is a training update of the last week or so of the training cycle:

Thurs 14/1
5 km track paced run in 22:24. Felt really good all the way

Fri 15/1
58:52, 10.54 km @ 5:35 min/km, Ave HR 143

Sat 16/1
30 min, 5.32 km @ 5:38 min/km, Ave HR 137

Sun 17/1
1.46 km w'up, 10 x 400m (98s each) with 60 second rests, 1.46 km c'down

Mon 18/1
40 min, 7.30 km @ 5:29 min/km, Ave HR 139

Tues 19/1
30 min easy followed by 6 x 1 min hard, 1 min easy. 8.02 km @ 5:14 min/km, Ave HR 147

Wed 20/1
Rest

Thurs 21/1
1.2 km w'up, 3000 m track race (12:20.9), 400 m c'down


I will have a couple of rest days now and go for the 10k PB (44min) on the 24/1. So far my easy runs have been feeling just that, very easy and I am really enjoying the schedule at the moment. After the 10k race I will be switching day 1 to a wednesday to allow for the race at the end of the cycle to be on the Sunday.

[TheEd]

Hope it was enjoyable

:great:

ps.. edited

[Tigerdale]

Got the PB! 10k in 42:49, thats 71s quicker than I have ever ran and a real confidence booster . Conditions were perfect for it though, temperature was 18 degrees with a cool breeze and I felt pretty good until about the 6k mark were it became a battle. But I still exceeded my expectations, I thought I would be lucky to run sub 44.

Here are the km splits:

Distance (km)_____Split______Lap____HR
1________________4:08_____4:08___169
2________________8:23_____4:15___171
3________________12:43____4:20___175
4________________17:00____4:17___175
5________________21:19____4:19___175
6________________25:41____4:22___174
7________________30:01____4:20___174
8________________34:23____4:22___174
9________________38:41____4:18___175
10_______________42:49____4:08___175

[TheEd]

congrats T .. a few days recovery runs and then we can discuss the new pace targets for the 2000's & 1000's

are you happy with your progress?

Cheers

TheEd