sub-40 Program

[Rubens]

Hi,

my name is Ruben, i'm 35 yo, 1,74m, 73kg and i have a background of tennis and soccer. Until about 6 months ago, my training (other than tennis and soccer) was mostly short intense runs of 4kms to 6kms.

About 6 months ago, i injured my left calf during soccer, and as a part of the later stages of my recovery process, i've started to run longer distances and, challenged by some friends, i eventually did my first 10k run and race in just under 50 minutes.

I've gained the taste for the sport, and naturally, the next goal was to improve my PB. After some research i've found the TTR 10k programs and i've been using the sub-45 10k program for the last 3 months. I've successfully improved from a PB of 49'41'' to 44'58'' last sunday. Although i've managed to break the 45min mark, it wasn't by much and i gave it all i had in those final 2kms. I did the first half of the race in just under 22 minutes and i felt comfortable, but in the 2nd half it was real hard to keep up the pace.

I will do just a few short easy runs this week in order to eliminate a nagging pain that i've been feeling in my groin but early next week i'm thinking about doing a 4k time trial to obtain the references for the sub40 program. I was also hoping to hear some thoughts about what i need to work more in order to be able to maintain the pace in the later stages of the races.

As for my future goals, and with your help, i'm looking forward to complete a half marathon by March in under 1h40min and to reach a 10k sub40 result by June. Don't know if i can improve that much in such short time but i'll definitely give it a try

Best regards

[TheEd]

this is good Rubens, and welcome to the forums

a groin injury, is often more associated to a soccer injury

hopefully you recover well

after the 4k time-trial we can chat

we stick to the sub 45 minute 10k program, however we increase the 2k session to 5 x 2k and the 1k session to 6 x 1k

we can tinker a little with the long run in the next cycle, so that we can start preparing towards the 21k event

over to you

TheEd

[Rubens]

Hi TheEd,

thanks for the feedback.

well... you guessed right. I got this niggle from soccer and it seems i can't get rid of this just yet. Although i feel no problems during exercise, it bothers me a little afterwards. I'm stopping soccer for the next couple of weeks and i'll start some strengthening exercises to see if it definitely goes away.

Meanwhile, i did the 4k time trial today.

km 1: 4'08
km 2: 4'23
km 3: 4'15
km 4: 4'28
Total: 17'14

I was expecting better results but come again, i had a poor choice of route. This route has a 2k length with quite a few climbs, mostly in the 2nd km and that's clearly reflected in the times i got for kms 2 and 4. I need to choose a better route next time but for now, i think we can use this as the reference. Overall, i ran at an average pace of 4'19 per km so, the sub45 program is definitely the ideal program for me. I will increase to 5x2k as suggested and stick with the 8'50 for the 5x2k and 4'10 for the 6x1k. Correct me if i'm missing anything

Btw, could you explain to me why the 10x400m that i saw in the sub40 program isn't recommended in the over40 programs?

[TheEd]

Ruebns, try tyo set-up your 4k route, similar to where you do the 2k training session, it may take a little longer to find the ideal route, and then you use that continually, for consistency in training

you have everything right regarding 2k and 1k session, great

as for the 400m session, this session can cause a few problems with less trained athletes so near to the event

hope this all helps

TheEd

[Rubens]

Hi TheEd,

i'm having a race on the 28th of november so i've started the cycle this week.

Day 1:
The groin issue seemed to be resolved so i played soccer on tuesday instead of making the 60 minute easy run. The idea was to play with reduced intensity throughout the match but.. i couldn't really control it and it ended up to be an intense game.

Day 2:
As expected, i felt the legs pretty heavy yesterday but still went for the relaxed 30 minute run with a pace around 6'30''.

Day 3:
Today i made the 2k sessions with the following results:
1: 8:46
2: 8:45
3: 8:50
4: 8:54
5: 8:57

I felt pretty comfortable at the first 2 but my legs felt very heavy in the final 3. Still consequences from the soccer match. I tried to make some quick stretches before the final run but i wasn't able to finish strong.

Do you think that when my fitness reaches better levels i will be able to incorporate the soccer matches in the program without them affecting these quality sessions?

Best regards
Rubens

[TheEd]

Hi Rubens, ideally you need to get Day 3 to Day 8 in where football should not interfere with those sessions

if this is not possible then please post your normal week with when football takes place and we shall see what we can come up with to accommodate both sports

over to you

TheEd

[Rubens]

Hi TheEd,

i play football every Tuesday so, i guess i can skip football on the 2nd week of the cycle.

I've been slightly sick in the last days so here's how my training has been.

Day 4:
Rest

Day 5:
Long run turned shorter due to a stomach bug.
Managed to run just over 1 hour at a very slow pace.

Day 6:
Still recovering from the stomach bug so i skipped the 30m session.

Week 2 - Day 7:
Almost at 100% but decided to do a cross training session of 60m on a stationary bicycle.

Day 8:
Did the 1K series
1: 3:52
2: 3:57
3: 4:00
4: 4:06
5: 4:08
6: 4:04
I failed the goal (4:10) miserably. Had to run without a GPS watch and although the route is excellent, it only has a couple of references so it was hard for me to know what my pace was without the GPS watch. I definitely went too fast even though i felt comfortable. Tried to adjust in the next attempts but was not until lap 4 that i got the pace closer to the goal. And i think that only happened because i was getting naturally fatigued. I really need to work on my pace awareness... any tips?

I felt alright afterwards but does a session like this one, where i ran faster than i should, has a negative impact on the rest of the cycle?

[TheEd]

good to see you on your way with your training again, problem free

as for the 1k session, by now, Day 8, it should not have a negative impact on your cycle, as the training eases off from here

there is a lot more to the programs but for now will leave things for you to adapt and balance the program according to your needs

looking good though

TheEd
ps.. be careful not to run too fast this weekend, as you may feel ready to race