Improving 10k with regular training

[MMS]

Hi TheEd,

some feedback today.

My long run wasn´t good. Although I had the feeling of being fresh after the 2k session, I started to feel sluggish from the 11th km on. So, ran only 14km in 1h21. Extra rest needed, didin´t run on Sunday.

Easy 40min (7km) run Monday night, and 1000m session last night. Again, great impovement (last session 23:21).

Jun 4th - 6x1k @ 3:55
Night Run 16C

Rep|Time
01|03:54
02|03:54
03|03:50
04|03:52
05|03:49
06|03:47
Tot|23:06

This morning another 40min easy run (7km), but my left calf is very tight. I´ll do some gentle stretching and massage later today. Tomorrow will see if I´ll run 1h or less.

Cheers.

MMS

UPDATE: managed to fix my HR monitor. My average heart rate is 145 during 1h easy runs at 5:45 pace. But didn´t use during 1000m last night. It feels weird on the body now.

[TheEd]

1k session good .. feeling flat during long run needs to be watched

Keep me informed

TheEd

[MMS]

Hi TheEd,

I believe I should go easy this week as there were signs that I was tired last week.
First sign was during the long run. The 1k session was great but I felt my left calf and tired Thursday afternoon (had a 40min easy in the morning). Saturday night had my paced session, left calf was fine before it. As I believe I´ll be ready for a sub41 by the end of the month, I ran 5K in 20:20 but it felt tougher than it was supposed to be. And the left calf got tight again.
Sunday morning went for an very easy bike ride with the wife (1h, 17km, 112bpm). Felt good all day.

Overall feeling today is that I´m not tired as last week.

So, I was thinking of skipping the fartlek sessions (I was doing 3x5min instead of the 400m session and 6x1min as a pre-race session) and run only 3 easy runs (30-40min) before the 5k race Sunday morning.

What say you?

MMS.

[TheEd]

MMS .. you now know what is best for you and what gets the best out of you, so your run down to the 5k should be fine

good luck

TheEd

[MMS]

Hi TheEd,

Back from hometown where I raced a 5k yesterday in 21:04. Well, not exactly 5k, close to 5,2k according to my GPS. Here a parenthesis: unfortunately, 5K races in Brazil are not measured properly. There are many cases of runners complaining about it, all over the country. Also you and I know that GPS devices are not 100% accurate, but it gives good approximation when you run in wide opened areas (it´s this case).

Except that, it was a good race especially because it was not a flat course.

Jun 16th - 5K Race

8am – 18C

Km|time
01|03:54
02|04:06
03|04:00
04|04:22
05|03:58
0.2|00:44
Tot|21:04

Link: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/328950641

I got 13th place and 1st at my age category! :great: Too bad they don´t give trophies for categories. Small races are good because of this: you always get a better position!


Now, I´ll focus on my next 10k race in two weeks, June 29th.

Cheers

MMS

ps: the satellite image is old, that´s why we didn´t run on grass/dirt!

[TheEd]

good to be able to run so strongly 'despite'



now to build on to the 10k

enjoy

TheEd

[MMS]

Hi TheEd,

After a couple of easy runs I had my 1k session. I was a little bit lazy that Thursday and because of that the pace was slower than previous session (3:56 vs 3:51).

Jun 20th – 6x1k
Night Run - 17C

Rep|Time
01|03:54
02|03:55
03|03:56
04|03:56
05|03:56
06|03:56
Tot|23:33

But this Saturday I was surprisingly strong and was able to manage a 6k paced run in 24:21. I hope I´m feeling like this next Saturday during my 10k race.

Jun 22dn - 6k paced run
Night Run - 16C

KM|Time
01|04:04
02|04:05
03|04:04
04|04:03
05|04:03
06|04:02
Tot|24:21

Cheers.

MMS

[TheEd]

well if you able to roll through the first 6km at the paced run pace and then only start working you could be in for a good one

take care and good luck with the run

TheEd

[MMS]

Hi TheEd,

Well, it wasn´t my night. Although it was a great time, I was ready for something better. I don´t know how much the external factors played here (it was warmer, around 23C, and it has rained a lot), but the truth is I just couldn´t go faster.

It was a 2-lap flat 5k course and I didn´t get any considerable traffic over the 2nd lap. When I finished the first lap in 20:52 I knew things were complicated. No matter how hard I tried to push, I couldn´t hold it. I even slowed the pace almost giving up during the 8th km, but I realized it would be a mistake and I had the strength to finish under 42 minutes.


June 29th – 10k Race
Night Race – 23C
Times adjusted from the Garmin

KM|Time
01|03:57
02|04:13
03|04:14
04|04:14
05|04:14
06|04:08
07|04:11
08|04:24
09|04:16
10|04:01
Tot|41:52

I am, of course, disappointed, but there´s a great lesson to be learned here.

I had a great year so far, and it´s not just one race that will put me down. I have never raced this fast, so there´s a lot to celebrate.

I´ll place another post to discuss with you my plans for the next 2 months.

Cheers!

MMS

[TheEd]

it does go like this on occasion, try to go back to see when you were in your best shape and analyse things to see whether there are places where you able to improve preparation in the future

however, in a way you are still happy with your run

TheEd