Sub-40min 10k

[Daniel]

Hi Ed,

I've had a good week of running and also completed the 4km TT.

Tue was 35min easy, 7.16km average pace 4:53 average HR 142.
Wed was tempo run, 15min easy followed by 20mins at average 4:18/km.
Thu was 35min easy, 7.49km
Fri rest day
Sat didn't run - had to travel early and couldn't find the time.

This morning I ran the 4km TT on a grass 400m track that I can use anytime.

Recorded both the 400m and km splits as follows:

400m | 1:33
800m | 1:39
1200m | 1:39
1600m | 1:39
2000m | 1:41
2400m | 1:41
2800m | 1:40
3200m | 1:40
3600m | 1:41
4000m | 1:38

1km | 4:03
2km | 4:10
3km | 4:12
4km | 4:10

Total: 16:35
Average pace/km: 4:08

If I understand correctly then my training paces would be:

For 2km session: 4:14/km (8:28)
For 1km session: 4:04/km
For 400m session: 3:54/km (1:38)

My first target race is a local 5km fun run on 14th March. If I start this Tuesday that should be enough time to get through 2 cycles. With such a long layoff I’m happy targeting a 5km race to start with, there are some 10km races later in the year that I will also be targeting.

I’d appreciate your advice on where to start. While my time trial suggests sub-40 plan I’m thinking it may be a good idea to start with sub-45 for first cycle (using the target times above for key sessions) then all going well move to the higher volume in the sub-40 plan for the 2nd cycle.

In either case I’ll probably do a little less than 90min for the day 5 long run as I haven’t run >55min in 4 months. I’ll probably aim for 70min in cycle 1 and 80min in cycle 2 if you think that’s OK. With target race being 5km I hope that won’t be too much of a problem.

I'd greatly appreciate your advice.