Slow progress on the sub 35 10k plan

[Dan_Jericho]

Hi there,
Here’s my first post on Time-to-run. First, many thanks for providing this site, it has been a huge wealth of information for me - my main source of info for training. Very much appreciated!

I’ve not followed a training plan before and in the past just went out the door and ran for 2 or 3 miles as quick as I could 4 times a week. Not very scientific and pretty boring after a while. Your 3 week training cycle keeps things varied and psychologically that really helps me stick with it.

Getting to the point of my post; my progress seems slow in running a sub-35 10k time. I’m 42 years old, 177cm and about 68Kg. (Nearly all my running is done early in the morning – not sure if that’s relevant.) Before starting running (Jan2014) I did some cycling to keep fit. I ran a 36:21 10k last May with the help of your sub-35 training plan which I did for 9 weeks/3 training cycles in advance. Prior to that I was running as above without any plan.

I stuck with the sub-35 plan into the early summer, then through July and Aug ran the off-training cycle then 2x build-up cycles. Then a short break of a week or so as I had some pain in my left calf. I went back onto the sub-35 plan from around mid-Sep till two weeks ago and now I’ve just completed the 2 week off training cycle. I’ll start 1x build-up plan tomorrow. My fastest 10k time was 35:50 which I ran about 8 weeks ago. 5 weeks ago I ran a 10k in 36:09 and 2 weeks ago 10k in 36:15.

I feel overall I have improved but progress seems slow! Is there any advice you can give to help me reach my goal? Or is my ‘steady’ progress reasonable given my age? I’m planning on racing some events this year and hope to run sub-35 in 2015 at some point, even 31st Dec will do!

I have lots of data (including HR) from my watch and Strava account. Let me know if you need to see any of that. I notice from other posts people often give their 5x2k times, here’s my most recent from 20th Dec 2014:
1 6:44
2 6:47
3 6:55
4 6:49
5 6:57

One last question, in the build-up training cycle, what HR would you recommend I run at on the easy runs? I’ve searched around and seen 65% or 70% of max heart rate. I’ve tended not to stick to a certain HR but tried to just run easy based on how I feel. Normally between 120 and 140 bpm.

Thanks for reading and looking forward to any advice you may have!
Cheers,
Dan.

[TheEd]

Hi Dan and welcome to the forums

thanks for all the solid feedback and info

you more than welcome to add heart rate data in the future if you want

your 10k times are quite consistent and if anything, you should consider looking to improve your 5k time when you have an opportunity, the closer you are to 17 minutes, the easier the sub 35 becomes

if you run sub 17 then all sorts of faster opportunities can come about

you have it right with the 120 to 140 bpm for the easy runs

lets have you do a 4k time-trial and look to have you running faster over 5k while on the program

over to you

TheEd

[Dan_Jericho]

Hi Ed,

Thanks for your advice.

I like the 5k’s and look forward to running them faster. My PB on these was set last summer (2014) when I ran 17:10. My average 5k on the 10k programme has been 17:40. I would be happy indeed to run sub 17 minutes!

This morning I ran a 4k time trial as suggested. Here are my results in mins/secs:

1k 3:31
2k 3:39
3k 3:31
4k 3:33
Total 14:14
Ave HR 178

I felt ok on this run and a little quicker than I expected after 4 weeks off from hard runs.

Please let me know if you need more info and how I proceed to run a faster 5k.

Thanks,
Dan.

[TheEd]

Hi Dan, to further associate yourself with the training program, please take a look at this page: 10k Program Tips

http://www.time-to-run.com/training/10k/programtips.htm

please work out what you think you should start you 2k session at, what pace?

over to you

TheEd

[Dan_Jericho]

Hi Ed,

Ok got that. (With some help from Excel) I've come up with 3:40 as my pace for the 2k session, which is 7:20 per interval.

And 3:30 pace for the 1k session. And 1:20 (at 3:20 pace) for the 400m session.

So that's a little slower than what I've been aiming for. Do these pace/times sound about right?

I've got a couple of weeks left on the build-up programme. I'll continue with that and start the sub 35 10k programme in about 2 weeks, using the above pacing.

Cheers,
Dan.

[TheEd]

Hi Dan, there is no need to continue with the build-up, you can go straight onto the program

the pace for the 2k session from the 4k time-trial sounds right

this will allow you to get back into training without worrying too much about the intensity

then by the 2nd cycle, you will be able to get on the faster pace

this should prove to be more beneficial than continuing with the build up

over to you

TheEd

[Dan_Jericho]

Ok thanks Ed, I'll start back on the plan tomorrow morning.

As suggested I'll use the slower pacing for the 1st cycle then back to the sub-35 pacing for the 2nd cycle, all being well.

I'll feedback in a couple of weeks or so when I have some times from the hard runs.

Cheers,
Dan.

[TheEd]

go well Dan, and keep the training relaxed

TheEd

[Dan_Jericho]

Hi Ed,

I’ve completed my first training cycle since a break at the beginning of this year. As suggested I ran the hard sessions based on my pace from the 4k TT I did in early Feb.

Here’s my results from the hard runs:

Session / Target pace / Actual (average)
2k x5 / 3:40 / 3:38
1k x6 / 3:30 / 3:31
5k x1 / didn’t set one / 3:37
400m x10 / 3:20 / 3:23
10k x1 / didn’t set one / 3:43

I ran the 2k and 1k sessions and 5k TT slightly relaxed and completed them feeling comfortable (relatively). I struggled a little on the 400's. I ran the 10k TT based on your ‘race-your-best-10km’ article, using the above target pacing. I couldn’t keep up and ran pretty much flat out and lost a lot of speed in the last 3k!

For my next training cycle should I aim for the pacing in the sub-35 plan? Or would you suggest something else at this point?

Thanks for reading and cheers,
Dan.

[TheEd]

Hi Dan, consider repeating and run the last 2k and the last 2 x 1k @ 5 seconds per k faster

focus on your long run and your easy runs to make them benefit your traiuning cycle more

when do you plan race / event?

TheEd
ps.. I would not recommend doing a 10k time-trial on your own, always select a 4k . 5k or 8k as a trial