Sub 35:00 10km

[TheEd]

have a good one

and enjoy

TheEd

[NtutuL]

Had a decent, no actually scratch that, really good run today, 18 seconds PB, modest , but still a PB. Had to remind myself that 10 weeks ago I ran a 10km at a slower pace than this so good run. I slacked off a bit in the middle 5km to12km, it is the toughest past of the course ~steadily climb ~60m over 6km. I was 9 seconds slower over the middle 5km than last year but made up time over the first and last 5km.

Here are my splits
3:41
3:37
3:37
3:30
3:31 (17:56 5km)
3:36
3:50
3:49
3:52
3:52 (36:55 10km)
3:49
3:41
3:33
3:42
3:43 (55:23)

Would have love a sneaky 54:59, and possibly overcooked it in that first 5km, but all things considered, really happy with that.

This is the course profile by the way and I think my splits make more sense contextualised


I still feel like I can give the 10km on Saturday a good go. I was thinking of doing an easy 30 minute recovery tomorrow, but what should the rest of the week look like

My idea is this:
Mon: 30 min recovery
Tue: 10X400m (or is this a bad idea this close to the 15km)
Wed: 30-40 min easy
Thur: 6x1min
Fri: Rest
Sat: 10km Race
Sun: Rest and beer :jester:

After this I was thinking of this for winter, (i.e. take a break before I overcook things!):
Off Period: 11-24 May
Build Up: 25 May-14 June (4km TT on 13th June)
1st 10km cycle: 15 June-5 July (10km race on 5 July)

Cheers

[TheEd]

congrats on the new PB, certainly more to come

tomorrow you can do 3 x 5 minutes fast with 2 to 3 minutes easy in-between

simply enjoy the session, not looking to run too fast but to unwind the legs

then the rest of the week as per written

nice going

TheEd

[NtutuL]

Thanks

Will do the 3x5min this evening with 3min recovery just looking for a good tempo, then it's onward to the race!

Will keep you posted how the week progresses.

Cheers

[NtutuL]

3x5min went well yesterday. No watch/pace watching, just ran it by feel and averaged 3:42/km, 3:37/km and 3:37/km with 3min recovery jog. Bit sluggish to start with but was full of running at the end, and legs feel good this morning.

Cheers

[NtutuL]

Hi TheEnd

Had a good run this morning. Was a bit worried to race as I was struggling with motivation after the 15km but it came together nicely...well except for mishap between 6 and 7km. First 4km are easy, then it's net uphill to ~7.4km so the plan was to run target pace to 4km then consolidate and pick up for the last 2.55km. I had been having a very solid run up to that point when my shoelace came undone And annoyingly I had double knotted them. Had to stop, tie then, must have rushed it and unfortunately they came undone again :noway: That split ended up as a 4:08 and I just couldn't get going again. I had gone through 5km in 17:32 and was rolling over the hills at 3:37 pace saving up for a fast finish which never materialised. Still recorded 36:15. By my estimate (and past experience) I lost at least 10s per malfunction, so at worst I would have run 35:55 but I think I could have run 35:45-35:50 without all the mishaps, which would be my 2nd fastest 10km.

Anyway here are my splits:
3:28
3:32
3:30
3:23 (downhill)
3:39 (17:32 5km)
3:37
4:08
3:38 (28:55 8km)
3:37
3:25 (35:58)
17s extra
Total 36:15 (3:37/km)
Strange my watch was recording laps with the km boards until the 9th km and the finish, but rather a bit long than a short course!

From 37:29 11 weeks ago, I've improved by anywhere from 1:15 to 1:45 over 10km and run a 15km PB. So I'm pretty chuffed, thanks for all the guidance

Plan now is to rest today and tomorrow and Monday then ease back into easy running from Tuesday next week. I'll see how I feel then either do another easy week or jump into the build up. This week will only be 45km and I'm feeling surprisingly fresh even after the 10km today. Do you recommend 3 or 6 weeks?

Cheers

[TheEd]

nice going NtutuL, pity about the shoe laces, however I am sure you see the development moving in the right direction

look forward to see you edging closer to the sub 35 zone

onwards

TheEd

[NtutuL]

Thanks

Definitely! I can see and feel I'm heading in the right direction It's just a matter of time to crossing over those hurdles.

Any thoughts on the build-up, should I look at doing 3 or 6 weeks? Definitely feel like it's time to refresh now

Cheers

[NtutuL]

I'm starting on the build up this week, feel sufficiently rested and I'm getting restless. Have been running but nothing major, mostly running at 5min/km, I did do one 60minute run with my long run group from WITS (guys training for comrades going for silver, plus 2 Oceans winner Caroline Wostmann, their regulation run :laugh.

On Saturday went looking for a sufficiently hilly route to do the hilly run. I have a question on that run, obviously it's not an effort run like traditional hills, more about keeping a decent tempo? I did this course on Saturday, it' just an out and back that I did twice, with 500m either side (the steep down and up at the beginning and end).



It took me 50 minutes but I wasn't exactly pushing. These profiles are deceptive but the rolling hills in that stretch between 4.5km and 7.5km are noticeable, 300-400m at 3-4% grade and then that one 700m pull that's done twice for a change in stimulus.

Other option I thought was to do the middle section over and over, could get 4 reps of that plus a 1km warmup from home and a 1km cool down, for a more consistent run though it might end up more like a hill rep session.

Anyway, I'm going to do a 3 week cycle then do a 4km TT with a look to getting back to racing in July. Will discuss racing plans later but I have two key 10km races I'm looking at, 25th July and 5 September which will take 4 cycles, two cycles to each race, haven't decided what I'll do in between (4/5 July and 15/16 August), maybe a TT or a parkrun. Then I would like to do a 2 week rundown to my usual solitary half marathon for the year on 19th September. Hopefully by by 5th September I can get comfortably under 35 min, then have a nice half marathon (I ran 1:19:07 at the same race last year)

Sorry for the longish post.

Cheers

[TheEd]

your rolling hills course is fine, the inclines add to the aerobic development, there is no need to work the hills currently

the idea after the build-up, is to maintain at least 1hr run per week, where the program would say 30 to 40 minutes easy, on the 10k programs

you are now in a position to be progressive, and you can also consider a morning run, discuss this with me, as everything needs to be 'fun' and doable, and not adding extra workload simply for doing it but to achieve further results

like longish posts

TheEd