Attempting sub 50 10K

[denali]

I am a 37 years old male. I have been running on and off last few years. Last year I ran a 10K in June, time was 51'22. But then I slacked off for half a year, and have been running maybe around 10 miles a week this year till a month ago. I regain interest in improving my running a month ago.

I am really hoping to break that 50 mins 10K barrier of mine soon. I searched "sub 50 10K" on the internet a few weeks ago and found your site. I immediately felt quite interested and started to follow the build-up plan to increase my weekly mileage.

Mileage for the past three weeks are 23.5 miles, 26.4 miles and 27 miles (this week). I ran my easy runs quite slow, maintaining heart rate around 150. My max heart rate was 201 last year, haven't tested again this year. Rest heart rate probably about 68.

Will do a 4K test this Sunday and check back.

[TheEd]

Hi denali and welcome to the forums

OK great that you running and that you understand that a 4k time-trial is needed to make the program more suited to your needs

we will also need to approach everything carefully as we do not want you picking up overuse niggles

good to have you aboard and lets hope we can charter your running ambition without too many hiccups

TheEd

[denali]

TheEd,

Here is my 4K time trial report.

8:44 am，started warming up for 1.5 miles，pace 12 mins per mile. AHR 145, MHR 157. Ran to a middle school track, stretch for a few minutes.

4K time was 20:47. Checked the weather afterward, temperature around 78F(real feel 90F), wind 3mph SSE.

Splits:

1k. 5:03, pace 8:12, AHR 172, MHR 185, lowest 127
2k. 5:03, pace 8:12, AHR 187, MHR 191, lowest 185
3k. 5:24, pace 8:41, AHR 192, MHR 194, lowest 191
4k. 5:17, pace 8:30, AHR 193, MHR 196, lowest 190

After the second K, my heart rate was over 190, definitely not comfortable since I haven't run so hard in a long time. Slowed down quite a bit in the second half of the time trial.

Cool down 1.5 miles, pace 14:32 minutes per mile. AHR 169, heart rate was 166 at the end of cool down.

[TheEd]

OK denali .. we need to be most cautious about jumping into the deep end in trying to break 50 minutes

so with caution we may get it right

from you 4k time-trial you are still some way off of being close to the sub 50 minute 10km but with training and getting into a routine without niggles and / or injury you should set-up towards achieving your goal

to start with, your short term goal should be working to achieve a 4k time of sub 19 to 19:30

by making that as a short term goal you will hopefully take the pressure off of the 10km goal and let things come naturally because if you push too early you likely to break down

so let's get it going

this week .. Tuesday - easy 1hr
Wed - Rest
Thurs - 3 x 2k session pace = 5.10 per k (10.20) Rest 2 minutes
Fri - Rest
Sat - 1hr easy

that is all you should look at for this week .. no more

this will set you up to work towards getting onto the sub 50 routine with more caution .. and you will improve and your improvement will be measured via another 4k time-trial .. a 10km participation can come after 2 x 3 week cycles

please ask for clarity if need be

Cheers

TheEd

[denali]

TheEd,

Thanks for the reply with a great deal of salient inputs!

I know it will take at least 3 months for me to go sub 50, so I am not in a hurry. On the other hand, 10k races are not plenty, so I have to plan ahead.

I plan to run a 10k on Oct 17. With my 4k time, I can probably run 55 mins 10k right now, so my goal for the Oct 17 10k will be sub 53, do you think that's realistic?

The race will leave me with 2x3 weeks time to train including this week. I guess what you were saying was I should start out training easier than the standard sub 50 schedule these 1-2 cycles. And then maybe starting from the third cycle go all the way following the sub 50 plan?

The other question is when should I plan to do the 4k TT again? Maybe in three week?

Regards,

[TheEd]

Oct 17th will be a good time to run a 10km and you should be making progress by then

the next 4km time-trial will be at the end of this 3 week cycle

let's do it by the numbers and then after the 4k time-trial we can gauge the progress and the closer you are towards sub 20 the better

all this should set you on the right road

TheEd

[denali]

Thanks for the quick reply!

I will check back on Sunday then, take care!

[TheEd]

you may provide feedback after the 2000's and also keep in mind that we can change things according to fatigue etc

till then

TheEd

[denali]

TheEd,

Summary of my running the past few days:

Tuesday morning run 1 hour 6 min, 5.2 miles, slow pace 12:46
Wednesday afternoon run 31 min 2.4 miles, slow pace 13:03
Thursday morning interval run:

1.0 mile warm up, 1.1 mile cool down

1st 2K, 10:17.92, pace 8:23, AHR 169, MHR 185

recovery 0.1 mile, 2:02.57, AHR 163, MHR 182

2nd 2K, 10:44.19, pace 8:49, AHR 182, MHR 188

recovery 0.14 mile, 2:26.49, AHR 170, MHR 187

3rd 2K, 11:28.79, pace 9:25, AHR 183, MHR 188

Couldn't keep up in the 2nd 2K, heart and lung felt pushed to limit. Slowed down even more in the third, no juice left in the legs. This work-out is pretty hard.

[TheEd]

yes, it is a nice session

the 2k session let's you know exactly where you stand when it comes to preparing and racing a 10km

the session is every 3 weeks so you always have something to look forward to

this is a speed endurance session and is 'meaningfully' tough

the 1000's should be more fun

TheEd
ps.. do note your pace was somewhat too quick, so that would add to the fade .. pace was 10:20