Sub 35:00 10km

[NtutuL]

Made it to the race

Time wasn't what I expected but for the first time in a while, I raced the route instead of chasing an arbitrary time and I'm happy with my execution, except the last kilometre. I had a look who I was around and I raced toe to toe with Cornelia Joubert for most of the race until she blew me away in the last 500m. That put my run into perspective since she's just run 34:04 in the the last Spar Ladies race in Durban and I know her last race on the highveld she ran 35:22 (on the same course I missed yesterday).

Anyway this was the route profile:


And here are my splits:
3:27
3:26
3:45
3:29
3:46 (5km 17:54)
3:45
3:53
3:25
3:29
3:35
0:12 to finish
36:12

I can definitely see myself running under 35:30 for the next race in July, it's no where near as hilly as this, then with a strong push getting under 35:00 in September.

Cheers

[TheEd]

how have things gone since the race?

TheEd

[NtutuL]

Going great. Quads were a bit sore, I think from the downhills, but I seem to be recovering very quickly from runs, much quicker than I ever remember. On Monday morning I didn't feel like I had raced hard.

Did an easy 10km on Monday morning. Yesterday had to switch the double around, so I did the 75min in the morning and then a very slow 10km in the evening (5min/km pace, I hate running that slow!). This morning legs feel great. Planning on doing an easy 60 min this evening, then the 5x2km on Thursday evenining. I'm not going to increase the pace. I want to get to a point where doing 6:55-7:00 feels comfortable. Would rather emerge confident and comfortable than hanging on trying to hit 6:50.

You mentioned extending the long run by time. Should I stick to 90 minutes this weekend or add a bit more time to it?

Cheers

[TheEd]

good to hear you gaining strength in your recovery

add 5 to 10 minutes on for the long run

by the time you down to a 33 minute 10k, a 2hr long run should be normal

enjoy

TheEd

[NtutuL]

A 33min 10km would be nice

Cool, I'll do whatever round km falls between 1h35-1h40.

By the way, I did my 60min run this evening with the HR monitor. The strap annoys me which is why I don't wear it often. Anyway, I thought the data might interest you (splits + avg HR):

SPLIT Avg HR
1 4:56 126
2 4:59 143
3 4:44 146
4 4:29 140
5 4:24 140
6 4:31 145
7 4:21 148
8 4:26 146
9 4:28 148
10 4:25 149
11 4:22 145
12 4:19 143
13 4:26 147

13km @ 4:32/km and average HR 144

It was pitch black so I wasn't doing any watch watching.

Cheers

[NtutuL]

Nice 5x2km session today:
6:59
6:57
7:00
6:55
6:50
Working on relaxing at pace instead of struggling to hit a faster pace from the get go. The rhythm in the session was good, not once straining so was able to ramp up pace for last two reps. I was surprised how in control of my breathing I was. I honestly felt like I could have done 6x2km today which is a good sign I think?

Looking forward to a change of pace over the weekend though

Cheers

[NtutuL]

Thought I would check in just to post what I've done since last week' 5x2km session. The disruption to my schedule actually started last thursday. With some forward planning, I managed to have 45-60 minutes to get some running in. I worked over the weekend so had to swap the long run to Sunday since I worked from Saturday morning and had to run at lunch time.

This is what I've put together:

Fri: Off
Saturday: Easy 11km (club route)
Sunday: Long Run 1h37min (21km)
Monday: Easy 10km
Tuesday: AM Easy 60min PM 8km club TT (30:48 3:51/km)
Wednesday: Easy 10km
Today: AM Easy 15km PM Easy 10km
Tomorrow: Off

My run is on the 25th of this month, so two weekends away (15 days). What should I look at doing this weekend? I presume from Monday I should continue with day 7 of the program?

Cheers

[TheEd]

how are you feeling now Ntuti, not overcooking things are you?

you can slot a paced run up to 1hr in over weekend

and then next week can go onto week 2 of the schedule

so 6 x 1k session next week

does this fit in with your thoughts?

TheEd

[NtutuL]

I'm feeling very good. I've been keeping the workload quite consistent, I really feel like I benefit from the consistency more than the specific workouts, I get confidence from the habit. I've actually slowed down my easy runs compared to what I was doing before the build up. The easy runs this week have been 4:45 -4:55/km with one at 4:32/km but still at ease, just the TT was a bit quicker. The first two weeks post build up were tough when I first added in the double days but I feel like I've adapted to them now. Not carrying much fatigue from day to day but I'll see how I feel over the weekend to make sure I stay on top on things. I can feel I'm fitter and stronger than ever so I don't want to do anything to jeopardise that. A little bit of stiffness here and there which the rest day seems to sort out. My calves are a bit tight but I know I have been lax with post-run stretching this week. I think on the week of the race I will drop the AM run on the day I do the 6x1min session, should be the Thursday for the Saturday race, just to ease the load.

Do you think I need to think about working in a down/recovery week at some point? Maybe roll down to the race on the 25th then do the week after as a recovery week or perhaps just take 4 very easy days before the 5x2km session, something like:

Sat 25th: 10km Race
Sunday 26th: 30min very slow
Monday 27th: 30-40min easy
Tuesday 28th: AM 30min PM 60min (instead of AM 10km PM 75min)
Wednesday 29th: 45 min (instead of 60min)
Thursday 30th: 5x2km @ 3:30/km

Cheers

[TheEd]

Hi N .. let's first see how you recover after the next race, then we can look at what to do thereafter

keep me posted

TheEd