Improving 10k time at altitude

[MarkCo]

Hi TheEd

OK, that sounds good - many thanks.

I set out on an easy run today with the view I would start Day 1 if I felt good after 30 mins. Felt comfortable and easy so continued.

Day 1
10.38km in 65:08 (6:16/km pace).
Av HR 144.

So on Day 3, my plan is to aim for 10:00 mins for each of the 2km intervals. Below are the times for this session last time round (only did 2 of the intervals as wasn't feeling great that day):
Interval / time / pace / av HR / peak HR
1 / 9:48 / 4:54 / 167 / 172
2 / 9:44 / 4:52 / 172 / 180

Does that sound OK or should I be aiming slower still?

thanks

[TheEd]

Hi Mark, look to complete the session

so rather slow it up and do 3 x 2k for this session

and even have the pace at 5:05 so you can do it

hopefully all goes well

TheEd

[MarkCo]

Thanks TheEd.

Today went well - below are the results of the last couple of days...

Day 2
Waking HR 58
Easy 5.02km in 30:16 (Av HR 140)

Day 3
Waking HR 54
Completed the 3 x 2km intervals this time. Went on "feel" rather than looking at the HR monitor / time too much. Felt much better than last time and pretty comfortable throughout (compare the heart rate with day 3 last time!). I resisted the temptation to push it in the last interval but the times were still better than expected. Each rest period was 90 seconds walking.

Interval / time / av HR / peak HR
1 / 10:02 / 154 / 162
2 / 9:51 / 158 / 166
3 / 9:41 / 163 / 171

Good to see some results already. May have a day off tomorrow depending on how I feel in the morning.

cheers

[MarkCo]

Day 4
Rested

Day 5
Waking HR 56
18.17km in 1:50:47.
Av HR 146

Felt great and in control throughout. Kept HR in 140s until the last few kms when it went up going into headwind but still felt easy.

Easy 30 min runs for next couple of days so will report back after the 5x1s.

cheers

[TheEd]

Hi mark, nice to hear things are progressing smoothly

enjoy

TheEd

[MarkCo]

Hi TheEd

All seems to be well at the moment, here's the update from the past few days:

Day 6
5.6km in 31:38
Av HR 139 - felt easy.

Day 7
Rested

Day 8
Interval / time / av HR / peak HR
1 / 4:41 / 154 / 163
2 / 4:46 / 155 / 164
3 / 4:44 / 160 / 170
4 / 4:49 / 161 / 171
5 / 4:37 / 164 / 177

Felt pretty good, way better than the same session last time around. Set out a little but too quickly on the first interval, but got the pace feeling right for the rest and was able to push a bit harder for the last couple of hundred metres on the last one. For the rests I walked 0.1km slowly which worked out around 60-90 seconds each, HR came down to between 116 and 129 on each one.

Couple of easy days coming up (may rest for 1 of them), then 5k paced run on Saturday. I was thinking for this to aim for 5 mins per km then push a bit on the last one if feeling good?

cheers

[TheEd]

Hi Mark, ha´ow have things progressed since your last update?

TheEd

[MarkCo]

Hi TheEd

All seems to be going well thanks. I've been away for the past few days hence the lack of updates. Missed a couple of the 30 min easy runs due to travelling but was feeling a little tired after a couple of the quality sessions anyway so not a bad thing. Here's the latest:

Day 9
5.46km in 31:05 (5:41/km)
Av HR 140

Days 10 & 11
Rested both

Day 12
Did the 5km paced run in 24:12. Pleased with that. Felt comfortable most of the way until the last km but still managed to pick up the pace a little. Splits as follows:

Km / time / Av HR
1 / 4:52 / 144
2 / 4:45 / 165
3 / 4:52 / 168
4 / 4:57 / 171
5 / 4:43 / 174

Day 13
10.01km in 61:27 (6:09/km)
Av HR 146. Felt quite tired during this session.

Day 14
Rested

Day 15
Turned out to be a tough run! Although I was at sea level, I didn't have much choice but to run on the beach, dodging waves, rocks and people and in approx. 32 degree heat. Made it interesting though and enjoyed the session. I jogged the first rest but needed to walk the other two to recover, due to having to climb some steps on the second interval which tired me out.

Km / time / Av HR
1 / 4:43 / 167
2 / 5:11 / 172 (approx. 15m climb of steps during this one)
3 / 4:39 / 170

Day 16
Rested.

Day 17 is today, planning to head out later for 30 mins easy.

Look forward to hearing any feedback on the above.

Cheers

[MarkCo]

Day 17
Easy 5.24km in 30:26 (5:48/km)

Day 18
Rest

Day 19
Did 4km time trial in 18:53. Slight improvement on the last one I did just over a month ago (19:00). Splits:

Km / time / Av HR
1 / 4:42 / 149
2 / 4:43 / 158
3 / 4:44 / 161
4 / 4:39 / 169

cheers

[MarkCo]

Hi TheEd

Hope you're well.

I've now finished the 3 recovery days (rested the first and 30 min easy runs on the other two), so planning on starting the program again tomorrow.

For Day 1 should I do as before - i.e. 60-70 mins easy keeping HR around 140?

Any other tweaks needed? I'd like to do a 1km trial to see how fast I can do this - when could I slot that in? With the altitude / amount of oxygen seemingly being the restricting factor in my faster paced runs, I wonder if I should do some faster but shorter intervals as well to be improving my leg speed?

thanks