Sub 45min 10k program - 4 run per week adaptation

[NicBathgate]

Hi TheEd,

Thank you very much for the encouraging words! I hope that one day I will make it to 40mins, it sounds very difficult though .


Friday 29/01
Tempo run:
1k warm up
10km - 4:25/km 171bpm
1k warm down
New 10k PB: 44:06min

Felt a bit tired and slow starting out today, not sure why. Focused on maintaining 'comfortably hard' heart rate of 171-173bpm, ran the first km with a friend at 4:40/km pace, could possibly have started a little faster. First time running a sub45 min 10k, sped up at the end but recovered quickly and didn't struggle during warm down run.


Thanks again for your help TheEd, I still have 6 weeks of my 8 week schedule left before the race so I will continue to train hard but safe and go for the best time I can!

[NicBathgate]

Midweek update.


Monday 1/02
1hr 55min easy - 5:13/km 163bpm
Total distance: 22km

My first half marathon. Pushed the pace a bit faster than ideal to finish within my 2 hours lunch break time, HR crept up to the dreaded mid zone for most of the run, weather was very warm and sunny. Half Marathon PR set at 1:49:46, not sure if I'll ever try to run one at race pace!


Tuesday 2/02
47min easy - 5:33/km 159bpm
Total distance: 8.4km

Went running with a guy from work, he likes trail running so he took me up a hill and then off road into some fairly dense bush, not really my idea of a good run! This was meant to be an easy recovery day, ended up being another run in the dreaded mid zone .


Wednesday 3/02
1hr 10min easy - 6:06/km 141bpm
Total distance: 11.4km

Today was meant to be 5k time trial, however because of the half marathon on Monday compiled with running too fast on hills yesterday my legs were not fully recovered. I decided to go for an easy run with another friend from work on a flat route that I know well. The result was a nice easy recovery run.


I have moved 5k time trial to Friday and will drop the tempo run I had planned for that day. I think the tempo run is the least important of my runs, I like it because it helps me get used to maintaining a decent pace for extended distance, but I don't think the lactate threshold training is so important for the 10k race.

A question for you TheEd, next Wednesday (my main quality day) I have a 10k race pace run planned. Do you think it would be more beneficial to replace this with a set of 10x400m intervals? My second cycle starts the following week.

[TheEd]

Hi Nic, for the future, and specific in this case to running the half marathon, you need to focus on at least 2 days recovery after an event, even if you consider it to have not been a race. The fact you ran a PB places it squarely into being considered a race.

Try not to complicate matters, keep things simple. Do not over think things.

You in a position to benefit from a training program that has been used over a number of years and has got many results, and with the forum feedback things can be very simple.

The tempo runs are of value in the future, as it teaches pace judgement and control at speed

as mentioned, Day 3 to Day 8 are important, with our usage over the years, Day 3 is a Thursday. Are you able to have Day 3 as a Thursday?

over to you, and nice going with the 21k run

TheEd

[NicBathgate]

Hi TheEd!

Thanks for the further advice. Unfortunately I'm committed to futsal on Thursdays so I won't be able to make Day3 a Thursday in the next cycle, however I could do what I did last cycle and make Day3 a Friday and Day8 a Wednesday with 2-3 easy runs in between. Here is an update on where I'm at.


Friday 5/02
2.4k warm up
5k time trial - 3:58/km 181bpm
3.8k warm down
New 5k PB: 19:52min

This was a very satisfying day, one of my running goals was a sub 20min 5k and that is achieved now! I realised after the run that the course I ran had 100m of elevation, I'm keen to try again on a flat course to try and set a better time. Unfortunately I think I did my left shoe up too tightly and caused my extensor tendon to become inflamed on top of my left foot, I played futsal Friday night for a few hours and this worsened the injury.


Monday 8/02
1hr 40min easy - 5:49/km 141bpm
Total distance: 17km

Did my long run with a friend who kept the pace down to a sensible speed, extensor tendon still sore.


Tuesday 9/02
49min easy - 4:55/km 159bpm
Total distance: 10km

I had to be back at work for a meeting by 1pm and ran further out than I should have, the result was I had to run tempo pace on the way back to make it on time. On top of this I decided to do a fast km on the way out, set a new 1k PB of 3:19min but now have a tight right calf as a result, not a very smart idea.


I had to go to a futsal practice match with my team last night before the season starts next week, my extensor tendon was already aggravated from the run yesterday and playing futsal in tighter fitting shoes made it much worse. I iced it when I got home last night.

Today I am skipping my scheduled run entirely for the first time since starting, this is very sad but I need the tendinitis to heal. I will likely skip the social futsal match tomorrow and hope to be back in shape by Friday to do 10x 400m intervals. I hope to fit in a run on Saturday to make up for skipping today.

Next week is the start of the second cycle, below the dotted line on my schedule:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AF4j...fPq8sE/pub

[NicBathgate]

After two full rest days (haven't cycled to work this week even) I went out to do 10x400m session today. Extensor tendon feeling a lot better, still not 100%, after the run it's a little more tender than it was before but no where near as bad as it was on Tuesday after futsal. Made sure to keep shoelaces as loose as possible.


Friday 12/02
3k warm up
10x 400m with 60s rests
400m - 75s - 3:08/km 158bpm
400m - 80s - 3:20/km 167bpm
400m - 81s - 3:23/km 165bpm
400m - 85s - 3:33/km 167bpm
400m - 81s - 3:23/km 166bpm
400m - 77s - 3:13/km 170bpm
400m - 82s - 3:25/km 171bpm
400m - 68s - 2:50/km 177bpm (hammer)
400m - 85s - 3:33/km 173bpm
400m - 75s - 3:08/km 173bpm
3k warm down
Total distance: 10k

Went to a proper track for the first time to do these. Ran in time to a song that was 198bpm, at this cadence it was a struggle to keep the pace slow enough, 86s per repeat was quite comfortable. I tried doing a hammer interval on the 8th repeat.


Strava tells me I set a new 400m PB of 64 seconds, I think next time I will use an old fashioned stopwatch to be sure of my time. I enjoyed the 400m intervals a lot more than the 2k and 1k ones! After the 10k race I might spend more time at the track doing speed work like this.

[TheEd]

Nic, you need to back off in training, and not look at the PB's in training, but instead prepare to achieve the little goals on race day or even on the paced run

you must become self-disciplined so that your enthusiasm doesn't lead to injuries. These programs work, and the principle of less is better applies. As you develop the workload will change, this is a results based program, and the idea is to train to race

on we go and all good

TheEd

[NicBathgate]

Hi TheEd, thank you for the continued advise. I've learned that lesson about going for PB's in training again in the last week! It's difficult for me to hold back sometimes, but I understand I must to avoid injury! After this week I am planning to slow my easy runs down even further (down to 145HR instead of 155HR) as I feel they may be effecting my interval days.

Saturday 13/02
Tempo run:
10km - 4:18/km 174bpm
3.6k warm down
10k time: 43:03min

Had to fit in my tempo run on Saturday. Felt strong and energetic for most of the run, there was some wind on the second half.


Monday 15/02
1hr 41min easy - 5:37/km 153bpm
Total distance: 18km

Ran first half with a friend at a slower pace. Felt good, decided to surge for about a mile about 14k in, this was a mistake, injured extensor tendon became inflamed and hurt the rest of the run .


Tuesday 16/02
56min easy - 5:16/km 152bpm
Total distance: 10.6km

Was very careful to keep my pace slow, kept HR under 160 for the whole run, injured tendon felt fine.


Wednesday 17/02
1hr 11min easy - 5:20/km 159bpm
Total distance: 13km

This was meant to be 2k interval day. It was very windy, after a warmup and the first interval felt very weak and tired, wind effected my pace too much so postponed intervals till Friday and did an easy run instead. Tried to run tempo pace on the way back but found it difficult to maintain without music.


Friday 19/02
1k warm up
4x 2k with 90s rests @ 4:00/km
2k - 7m44s - 3:52/km 171bpm 180spm
2k - 7m54s - 3:57/km 176bpm 180spm
2k - 7m54s - 3:57/km 177bpm 185spm
2k - 8m02s - 4:01/km 179bpm 185spm
0.5k warm down
Total distance: 10k

Was hoping to complete 5 repeats this time but my physio appointment ran late so only had 50mins available to run. Felt quite weak and tired, woke up the next day with a sore throat, I don't think I would have been able to hit the goal pace on a 5th interval. Overall pleased with the effort, average 6s/km faster than last cycle for the same HR.


My extensor tendon injury has been steadily improving since Monday, I will continue to be careful with it and avoid any speed work on easy days! Physio said I'm good to keep running on it, it's on the mend.

For the 2k intervals I tried the first two intervals at a lower cadence, my legs got tired quite quickly. I want to lower my cadence at all paces slightly to improve my stride length as I think this could help me run more efficiently. Planning to do 170spm for anything below 4:30/k pace, and 180spm for 4:30/k-4:00/k pace. Planning to run the 10k race at 180spm.

[TheEd]

nice feedback Nick

try not to focus too much on the technical things, but attempt to run as per feel. Run to what you feel most comfortable with, and afterwards analyse things

hopefully you understand where I am coming from

TheEd

[NicBathgate]

Hi TheEd,

Thanks for the reply! I guess learning to focus and maintain pace is an important skill to practice in running, if I don't keep an eye on my pace data I tend to lose focus and run too fast on easy days or too slow on hard days!


Monday 22/02
1hr 51min easy - 5:35/km 149bpm
Total distance: 20km


Tuesday 23/02
52min easy - 5:59/km 143bpm
Total distance: 9km


Wednesday 24/02
3.6k warm up
6x 1k with 60s-90s rests @ 3:50/km, 180spm
1k - 3m45s - 170bpm
1k - 3m47s - 172bpm
1k - 3m47s - 175bpm
1k - 3m49s - 176bpm
1k - 3m50s - 177bpm
1k - 3m44s - 178bpm
3.6k warm down
Total distance: 13.6k

Rests were closer to 90sec before the last 2 intervals. Workout felt easier than the last time I did it, but was still very challenging. All intervals completed at 180 step per min, last 1k interval session cadence was 190spm.


Friday 26/02
1k warm up
10k time trial - 4:10/km 177bpm
2k warm down
10k time: 41:43min

It is two weeks from the race, as I have never run 10k at full effort I wanted to try so that I can better understand my limits going into the race. The initial splits were 4:08, 4:04, 4:06, in the later half of the run I struggled with focus and slipped to 4:15, 4:22, 4:23, but finished with 3:53. In the race I will hold back at 4:10-4:15 for the first 3k and try to settle into 4:05-4:10 after that.

[TheEd]

Nic, I don't want to bring too much to the table for now, but will discuss pace, form and other aspects as we develop

need to get some performance of the current training before introducing other things

keep it simple - simple = enjoyment

TheEd