Following the sub-40 10K program

[pabstars]

Hi out there,

On the 19th January, I'll start to follow the 19-day sub-40 program for 10K as a race takes place in Copenhagen on 7th February. The program looks very interesting and challenging too; especially the 5*2k with a 90 second break must be a killer workout. My aim for the above race is to go below 41 minutes and hopefully I'll be sub-40 again in the late spring/start summer.

A little info about me:

I'm a 44 year old male about 1.85 and my weight is approx. 74 kg. The last many years, my mileage has been about 70-80 km a week on an average due to many marathons. Since Berlin Marathon, I have not been running more than about 40 km a week and now my focus will be on 5 and 10K runs.

Best times:
5K: 18:45 2004
10K: 38.54 2004
15 K: 58.34 2004
21.1 K: 1.23.54 2003
Marathon: 3.08.35 2004

Best times in 2009:
5K: 19.35 (2 5K runs)
10K: 40.43 (2 10K runs)
21.1K 1.26.49 (3 21.1K runs)
Marathon 3.26 (1 marathon)

In 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 I had a lot of injuries why 2009 was the first really strong year since 2004. I expect to run at least 5-6 5 and 10K runs in 2010. At the moment, Copenhagen is full of snow why it is not possible to start the killer workouts yet. Hopefully this is possible in two weeks time.

In the running program, I had thought of adding some tabata-intervals on some of the easy days; it is only 4 minutes of extremely intense running but believe that it is a good way to proceed!

[TheEd]

Hi pabstars and welcome

one of the best things you can do is to do a 4km time-trial and from that we can give exact times for the 2k sessions and 1000's

there is honestly nothing extra that is needed to add to the schedule in the form of other intervals

get past the 5 x 2k session first and then we can see if you consider anything else for now

there is a lot more to the program but all this takes time through progressive development

over to you

TheEd
[SIZE="1"]ps.. travelling from tomorrow till Friday evening so may not get a chance to reply as quickly[/SIZE]

[pabstars]

Hi TheEd,

Thanks a million for your feedback. I will try to do a 4K trial run shortly before starting your program.

How do you get the time to handle all of these 10K enquiries? I have had a short look at some of the threads and it is really fantastic that you give this feedback. I'm truly impressed!

Best regards,
Paul

[TheEd]

thanks pabs .. look forward to 4k feedback

TheEd

[pabstars]

Hi TheEd,

Unfortunately, there is no chance to go to our track in the near future, as snow is dominating the Copenhagen area. However, there is a course which is exactly 5 km with 1 km signs. This is used in my running club and I'll make an attempt to have a 4 km trial race on Saturday unless it is snowing too much at that time. Yesterday, I just for fun tried to take 2*1 km using the first km in the above course. It was too dark to do the 4 km course and also very slippery some places. Depending on the weather conditions, I will either run the 4 km in daylight or run the first km four times as a trial race. By the way, the track which is located very close to where I live is really good and I have used it several hundred times.

I haven't told you that I have read a lot of running literature and followed programs of Daniels, Pfitzinger, Hudson and so on (focusing on the marathon). What fascinates me with your program is the ability to race a lot of times within a few months and also the 5*2 killers with such short breaks.

Just a couple of questions:

1. Is the reason why the intervals get shorter and shorter when approaching the 10 k race that it is used as a type of semi-taper/recovery?
2. Have you considered having progression and tempo/threshold runs as part of the program? Actually, I can see the logic in not having them here because the 5*2 perhaps incorporates a lot of this stuff.

I'll get back to you when the 4K has been run.

[TheEd]

Understandable regarding the weather conditions ... the treadmill can become a friend however I am not sure whether this would work for you.

if u are able to do a 4km on treadmill it could serve as your marker for future training

the 5 x 2k is towards speed endurance and the short recovery stimulates the situation very well

the program works on the basis of the 5-tier system

however it is better achieved in one-on-one training and with a tartan track

the second weekend Saturday is in actual fact a strong tempo run when correctly utilised and this would be achieved after going through the depth of the hidden attached schedules/tips

we cannot put all the pieces of the puzzle online as easily but get towards the goal once the athlete commits to the cycles

there are in fact morning runs and paced runs added into the schedule but to give this to 'ordinary' runners would in actual fact be detrimental without the correct build-up and adapting to cycles

I hope this helps and would not like to go in to too much depth in this reply

Till later

TheEd

[pabstars]

Hi TheEd,

Thanks for your answers about the program.

Today, I went for a 4K trial run. It was a rather strange experience for the following reasons:

1. It was not possible to follow the normal 4K course because it was too slippery some places.
2. It was very windy why it was difficult to run. From the below, you can also see that the km's aren't run at very even paces.

Due to the above, I decided to use the first km on the route and run that 4 times. This meant that some time was lost as you have to turn around 3 times during the run; in this way you lose pace every time you turn around.

1 k: Was run in 4.07.
2 k: Was run in 3.55
3 k: Was run in 4.17
4 k: Was run in 3.42

This gave a total of 16.01. I think that running back and forth meant a loss of at least 5 seconds why it was an OK trial. You may ask about my heart rate; I never measure this as I don't like to carry it. My pacing has the many last years instead been based on Jack Daniels' VDOT values used from races. My best guess is that going sub-41 in 3 weeks is realistic. I very much hope that it is soon possible to run on my favourite track!

I look forward to getting your feedback.

Have a nice weekend.

[TheEd]

Hi there pabstars

maybe going sub 42 minutes would be more realistic and if you grab sub 41 minutes then all the better

the VDOT principle would have been ideal for understanding pace and training without the use of heart rate monitors and certainly during my years of coaching in SA not many athletes could afford to use them back then

things have changed .. for the online coaching the use of heart rate monitors certainly makes it easier for me to prescribe the easy runs or paced runs

what I also like is that the HR monitor provides specific feedback to make online coaching easier and more accurate

the main thing that an experienced runner does learn is pace judgement, something a 'newbie' definitely struggles with

Onwards and forwards and enjoy

TheEd
ps... by the way, where is your favourite track?

[pabstars]

Hi TheEd,

Thanks for your input. I agree that there is a big risk that the next 10K run will not be sub-41 but I will really go for it. Tuesday or Wednesday, the 5*2 killers will be run as I'm on a business trip to London most of the week; I'll go for 8.12 per session. Of course, you are right about the heart rate monitors but I just hate wearing them.

My favourite track is 1200 meters from my home; it is really fantastic but it cannot be used for at least the next two weeks due to a lot of snow.

Best regards,
Paul

[pabstars]

Hi TheEd,

Today, I tried the 5*2 K intervals. The weather was perfect and even though I had a bad cold with a head ache having to take a lot of pain killers, the session went well and I don't think that my performance was impaired by this. I felt that it was the only chance to do them today due to the trip to London and a lot of snow to come to Denmark tomorrow. Here are the results:

1. 8.01.89 Rest 90 seconds.
2. 8.09.98 Rest 90 seconds.
3. 8.03.90 Rest 90 seconds.
4. 8.06.62 Rest 90 seconds.
5. 8.03.57.

The intervals were run on a course which is exactly 2K both according to some guys and my Garmin205. It was really tough and good. Please don't scold me for starting the program with day 1. Tomorrow and Thursday a trip of 0.5 and 1.5 hours will be run I assume. From the above runs, it must be possible to go sub-41 in 3 weeks unless the weather is really bad. Please tell me what you think.

Talking about heart rate monitors, maybe I should very soon invest in Garmin 405. Would this be a good idea?

Ed, thanks a million for your very valuable input!

Cheers,
Paul