Improving 10k time at altitude

[MarkCo]

Day 1
11.67km in 69:57 (6:00/km)
Av HR 146.
Felt comfortable although HR a bit higher than I wanted.

Day 2
Feeling a bit tired and was cooking and entertaining most of the day, so rested (and drank a few glasses of red wine!).

Day 3
Set out quite a lot faster than the 3x2km last time, so it felt a bit less comfortable but I was able to maintain the pace more or less, approx. 0:07/km faster on average than last time. I did the rest intervals slightly differently - 0.2km so I could rest until heart rate came below 120 - so rests were longer than last time - about 2:20 - 2:30. Last time I just did 90 secs. What are your thoughts on this?
Results below, and I've pasted last time's 3x2's in brackets below that for comparison. As you can see from the HRs, a harder effort this time:

Interval / time / av HR / peak HR
1 / 9:33 / 158 / 165
2 / 9:47 / 163 / 173
3 / 9:32 / 166 / 180

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

[TheEd]

Hi Mark, nice feedback

regarding the 90 seconds Rest

stick to that and consider starting off 5 to 10 seconds per 2k slower

then record what your pulse drops to during the Rest and we can work from that in the future

on we go

TheEd

[MarkCo]

Great, thanks. I'll look to do speed sessions like that and post up the minimum resting HR also from now on.

I have found a 10k local race (they don't come up too often!) for Sunday 19th May, so just over a week's time. Would we be able to arrange the program around it?

Latest update below...

Day 4
Rest

Day 5
16.78km in 1 hour 44 mins (6:11/km).
Av HR 149

This was a bit tougher than the last long run. The first 6-7k were very easy but then I had to slow the pace to try and keep the HR under 150. Felt pretty tired for the last few km. When I got in I started feeling quite sick and had stomach pains. I remember I used to get this years ago when training for marathon / half marathon when I was increasing the long run mileage. Thinking about why it happened, I think possibly some dehydration as I didn't take any fluids with me, but also I had some banana bread for breakfast which was a few days old and my other half said upset her stomach also. Probably a combination of the above along with my body getting used to the longer distance. Lesson learned and will take hydration drink out with me next time! (I'm sure I learned this lesson before but so long ago it has been forgotton!!).

cheers

[TheEd]

Hi Mark, switch the week 3 of the program for the last week leading up to the race

and change the following for the last few days, Thur to race day

Thur: 20 - 30 minutes easy
Fri: warm up then 6 x 1 minute @ anticipated race pace with 1 minute easy
Sat: Rest
Sun: Race

depending how you feel, you can do a 5km on Saturday @ anticipated 10k race pace, so as to get a feel

TheEd

[MarkCo]

Hi TheEd

Perfect - many thanks. I have tried to enter the race online but having difficulty so hope to be able to sort that out on Monday. Will keep you posted.

Here's the last few days:

Day 6
Waking HR 59 (bit high for me)
Easy run of 4.92km in 30:02.
Felt a bit sluggish and heavy.

Day 7
Waking HR 49, suggesting good recovery but decided to take it easy as still feeling a bit tired - no run.

Day 8
Really good session today, especially given it was in the morning! Felt fresh from the rest and had that great feeling I had almost forgotten of bouncy legs (at least at the start of the session!). Kept the rests as prescribed (60-80 secs). Was aiming/hoping for 4:45 pace which I did and felt in control throughout and was able to push hard for the last 300m resulting in a much quicker last km:

Km / time / Av HR / Max HR / Min HR (after rest)
1 / 4:41 / 154 / 165 / 122
2 / 4:46 / 156 / 166 / 123
3 / 4:46 / 160 / 172 / 129
4 / 4:37 / 162 / 173 / 133
5 / 4:22 / 166 / 181 / 134
Av pace during intervals 4:38

Very pleased with that and really feel a big improvement. Here's the stats from the 5x1km last time to compare. Quicker pace for a very similar HR except I did a harder effort for the finish this time...

(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)
(Av pace during intervals 4:43)

[MarkCo]

Hi TheEd

Hope you're well.

I'm now entered into the race for Sunday, really looking forward to my first 10k race for almost 5 years!

I have also managed to get slightly mixed up with the program over the last few days. Here's what I have done:

Day 9
Rested following party previous night!

Day 10
Easy 5.25km in 30:01 (5:43/km)

Day 11 (Today)
Did the 5k paced run. Set out at what felt like a very comfortable 5:00/km pace but realised coming up to first km I was going faster, so slowed it down for the second km. This felt very (too) easy and my HR was only slightly above easy pace, so sped it back up again. Still felt very comfortable and relaxed throughout, could have probably gone 20-30 seconds faster. I think I could maintain it for 10k, however, I will still start off slower (4:50 - 5:00 pace) on Sunday and then pick the pace up at halfway if all going well. Here's the breakdown:

km / pace / Av HR
1 / 4:42 / 142
2 / 4:58 / 153
3 / 4:42 / 157
4 / 4:46 / 159
5 / 4:27 / 162
Total time: 23:40

Compare with the previous 5k pace run a few weeks back - quicker time for far less effort!...

(Km / pace / Av HR)
(1 / 4:52 / 144)
(2 / 4:45 / 165)
(3 / 4:52 / 168)
(4 / 4:57 / 171)
(5 / 4:43 / 174)
Total time: 24:12

Anyway, I guess I shouldn't do the 3x5mins tomorrow now - was thinking 10k easy would be more sensible then onto the final three days before race day as you said:
Thur: 20 - 30 minutes easy
Fri: warm up then 6 x 1 minute @ anticipated race pace with 1 minute easy
Sat: Rest
Sun: Race

[MarkCo]

Day 12
Very easy 10k in 58:04 (5:48/km)
Av HR 140
Felt great throughout.

[TheEd]

Hi Markco .. how things looking?

have an enjoyable race over the weekend

TheEd

[MarkCo]

Thanks The Ed. Really looking forward to it, except the 7am start time!

Final prep seems to have gone well. Did an easy 5k yesterday @ 5:43/km.

Today did the 6x1km on what I would consider to be do-able race pace and they averaged out at 4:43/km.

Will probably rest fully tomorrow rather than do the 5k, as I've noticed the legs a little bit less bouncy than last week. I think a full day's rest will do me good.

Plan is to set out at 4:50-5:00/km pace and then assess at halfway point. If feeling comfortable I'll increase the pace slightly for km 6-9 and then try for a quick last km. If not feeling very comfortable I'll continue at the same pace.

Will report back on Sunday! cheers

[MarkCo]

Hi TheEd

Completed the race this morning, my official time was 48:59 and so I'm reasonably pleased with that. I found the pace a bit difficult to judge at the start as I've found before, so the first km was quicker than planned but after that I settled into a good rhythm. Wasn't able to pick the pace up as I'd hoped in the second half unfortunately, it was there in the legs but not the lungs. Combination of the altitude (2,550m) and the early start I think. Also wonder if I was a little tired as the HR was a bit on the low side for the perceived effort.

Splits were as follows:

KM / time / Av HR
1 / 4:35 / 154
2 / 4:54 / 161
3 / 4:49 / 162
4 / 4:56 / 163
5 / 4:52 / 160
6 / 4:55 / 162
7 / 4:53 / 161
8 / 4:57 / 161
9 / 4:49 / 165
10 / 4:43 / 166
Time according to GPS watch 48:36 (it agreed with all the km markers on the button from start to finish, so not sure why the difference between this and the official time).

I did a bit of research on the effect of altitude on performance, which varies but the information I found suggests the altitude here will likely affect my race pace by between 10 and 20 seconds per km over a 10km race. So the above should equate to 46-47mins at sea level - a definite improvement over my last 10k race in 2014, which was at sea level in 48:20.

Just to say, many thanks for all your help and encouragement with the programme so far, and I look forward to getting stuck back in soon to push for further improvements! I am hoping to have a holiday back in the UK over the summer, so hope to enter another race or two for then.

cheers