Improving 10k time at altitude

[TheEd]

Hi Mark, and welcome to the forums. When seeing your aspirations we often like to share the journey of MMS (lives in Brazil)

https://www.time-to-run.com/forums/showthread.php?t=286

you will note from his thread that there are a lots of ups and downs which are normal however to keep plugging away does lead to results

from your feedback, I notice there is no mention of the 4k time-trial you did to assess your current state of fitness?

over to you

TheEd

[MarkCo]

Hi TheEd

Many thanks for your reply.

I have already read through MMS's story, very inspirational to see the level of progress and positivity throughout!

Re: 4k time trial, I haven't done that, I was just going from my 3 best recent 5k runs below:
28/1: 5k fast run, first 4k in 18:28 (but at sea level!)
16/2: 5k fast run, first 4k in 19:39 (at 2,600m)
20/2: 5k fast run, first 4k in 19:29 (at 1,200m)

Would it make sense to replace the 5km paced run on day 12 with a 4k time trial? I guess this is just running 4k as fast as poss at even pace?

Best,
MarkCo

[MarkCo]

DAY 9

Easy run
5.25km
30.05
5:43/km
Av HR 143

DAYS 10 & 11 rested both

[MarkCo]

DAY 12

Did the 4 km time trail in 19:00 exactly, splits below.

Km / time / HR
1 / 4:39 /148
2 / 4:43 / 163
3 / 4:50 / 165
4 / 4:46 / 168

Didn't feel on top form, but I went ok. Was aiming for 4:45 pace and it averaged out at that.

[MarkCo]

DAY 13

Should have been 10k easy, but I made a mistake and thought it was 30 mins easy.

5.9km
34:12
5:47/km
Av HR 147

Should I move the 10k easy to tomorrow, or just do another 30mins easy? Thanks

[TheEd]

Hi MarkCo, no hassle re: wrong distance

continue with the 30 minute easy and all should be good

TheEd

[MarkCo]

Hi TheEd

Here's the last couple of days:

DAY 14
Waking HR 55

Easy run - 6.37 in 35:58 (5:38/km)
Av HR 144

DAY 15

Km / time / Av HR / Peak HR / HR@ end of 1 min recovery jog
1 / 4:50 / 156 / 161 / 148
2 / 4:56 / 159 / 165 / 151
5 / 4:56 / 161 / 170 / 158

Felt quite tired during today's session and HR stayed relatively low despite the effort so thinking I will rest tomorrow rather than do the easy run, as I also have a long drive to do.

I don't have a race booked for this weekend and will be travelling on what is day 19 of the plan. I will be at sea level (but hot temperature!) on Day 20, so thought I would do a 10k best effort run to see where I'm at (should be able to go significantly under 50 mins at sea level I would hope!). Does that sound OK?

cheers,
MarkCo

[TheEd]

Hi Mark, please don't do a 10k on your own

4 to 8km

if you have others to run with then a 10k is OK

you can set yourself your 4k time, which is used for the purposes of the program

onwards and enjoy

TheEd

[MarkCo]

Hi TheEd

Well, the last couple of weeks have been a disaster training-wise. I have been travelling and went down with a virus, and thought it unwise to train during this, so no runs since 26/3.

I've been feeling back to 100% the past couple of days and so went for an easy run (5.16km in 30:08, average HR 145) today and felt good. Waking HR this morning 54 which is usual for me.

I thought I would do another 1 or 2 easy runs in the next couple of days and then restart the sub 50 min plan if feeling fine?

Re: the 4k time, I did that on Day 12 in 19:00 mins (see post 14).

Cheers
MarkCo

[TheEd]

Hi mark, start off with the sessions slightly slower than the first time. If you work back slowly, you should jump back to a new level, however, if you push to reach a new level too quickly, you may struggle

ask questions if need be

TheEd
ps.. good to hear you OK