Wanted to say thanks

[kk_law]

I'm new to this forum and I'm not sure if this is where I post this but:

TheED is INCREDIBLE. I'm not sure who TheEd is or if he/she is even real but every thread that I've read TheEd has not only been truly interested in the OP's questions/progress but is so positive and supportive. Who are you? How are you able to help internet strangers so openly and passionately? In any case, I would like to thank you for providing such an awesome resource for us weekend warriors.

I have to say I'm really excited about having a program that helps me focus my running efforts and to have found a forum with such active members. It's hard to run alone If anyone has any advice or would be willing to provide feedback as I progress, it would be greatly appreciated.

I've been running quite regularly for the past year, averaging about 50km/week with the longest run at 17.5km every sunday. I just started your sub-40 10k program; my 10K PB is around 43.

The 5x2K was really hard, but I loved it. As brutal as it was, it finally felt like I was putting effort into the right place. Splits as follows:

1: 7:59
2: 8:10
3: 8:18
4: 8:30
5: 8:30

My long runs are no problem, I could do 2 hrs pretty effortlessly, it's when I start ramping up the pace that things get difficult. I'm looking forward to the 6x1k session on Wednesday (not really, but I'm looking forward to the dataset ).

I have a half-marathon planned at the end of June and a 10K in October (maybe another 10K this summer). I'd like to do 1:35 for the half and sub-40 for the 10K. Considering my current times, are these goals possible? Realistic? Things to be careful of? Again, any advice would be greatly appreciated and thanks so much in advance.

KK

[TheEd]

Hi kk_law and welcome to the forums.

Thank you for the compliments, TheEd is indeed a real person who originally started athletic coaching in 1984

OK .. over to your needs .. they seem reasonable and judging from your 2k session you should be able to work towards running the 2k session in sub 8 minutes which leads to racing sub 40 minutes for 10km

ideally the Days 3 to Day 8 starts from a Thursday ..

this is done for a reason .. so we would have been looking at doing the 1k session today (Tuesday) .. if not you can do the session tomorrow

look to go 10 seconds per k quicker for the 1k session

1k @ 4.15 to 4.20 per k

you welcome to provide feedback here

all the best

TheEd
ps.. will move this thread to the 10k Training Zone

[kk_law]

Thanks for the quick reply. In terms of the scheduling, I just worked back 3 cycles from my race day (a Sunday). So my 5x2 is on a Friday, long run Sunday, 6x1 Wednesday, rest Saturday, 5k Sunday, and so on into the last week with a rest day Saturday and race on Sunday. Perhaps I've misunderstood something in the schedule.

Is there a particular pace I should be running my easy runs at? I do the talking test but I've also hovering around 5min/km.

Thanks,
KK

[TheEd]

we change the last days before the race as it is not that important however best to try have the 2k session (in the future) on the Thursday

Days 3 to 8 are good to have running in that sequence

Thursday onwards

5 minutes per k should be fine or as you develop, 1 minute per k slower than current 10k pace

this will all balance out as you develop

hope everything clear

TheEd

[kk_law]

Cool, thanks for the clarification. If it's ok, I'll stick with the schedule as I have it setup for this one cycle and reset for Day 3 to fall on thursday for the next one? Out of curiosity, what is the significance of Day 3 on a Thursday? Is it to leave room at the end of the cycle to adjust for a race day for either a Saturday or a Sunday?

I'll keep you posted on my 1k times tomorrow.

[TheEd]

Hi kk

the reason day 3 starts on a Thursday is to provide for the longrun to fall over the weekend as well as to do with the significance related to 'overload' and 'adaptation' during those days of training

this is where the core of the training is applied

as the athlete develops, the training changes and more is added to it, hopefully you able to develop to that level

enjoy

TheEd

[kk_law]

Hi TheEd,

So I did the 6x1k today, felt good. I got a new watch recently and haven't figured out how to use it properly so while I had 1k intervals set with 60sec rest, it wouldn't show me my lap time while I was running. So basically I ran the whole thing by guessing at my pace. Need to figure that one out for next time. Here are the splits:

1 3:45
2 4:13
3 4:01
4 4:10
5 4:22
6 4:21

As you can see, all over the map with the pace but hopefully I'll figure out how to use my watch properly next time . I felt I was fast on the first 4 so i pulled back for the last 2 but wasn't sure by how much. Sigh, I hope to not have to rely on a watch in the future.

I'm planning on doing a 5k on Sunday, the program calls for a sub 20 target - is that still my goal for this cycle?

Thanks,
KK

[TheEd]

I think you should look to run around 22 minutes .. working off the 1k session you did

please provide feedback and do the paced run at 75% effort

we will become more accurate as you develop and we have more data to work off

cheers

TheEd

[kk_law]

Thanks,

I'm relieved to see I don't have to aim for sub 20, it would be a tough target to reach right now. I will aim for 22 and try to also get some heart rate data for reference.

In regards to the easy runs, how important are they to the overall program? Is there a specific training effect that comes only from meeting the set run duration/distance prescribed, or is the main focus recovery and staying loose for the next workout?

Thanks for your time and advice and I hope you have a great weekend.

KK

[TheEd]

main focus on the easy runs is to recover between session while doing light aerobic running

as you develop the easy runs play a role in recovery from hard sessions and races and also allow for a higher workload due to the benefits of the higher aerobic fitness gained

hope this makes sense

TheEd