Sub 35:00 10km

[TheEd]

well, at least faster than last year

the race you go through sub 17.30, is the day that it may all happen for you

what's up next for you

TheEd

[NtutuL]

Yeah, small positives, consistency over the past two months racing wise (the 55:25 15km is about equivalent to a 36:15 10km) and an improvement over last year.

I have a 15km lined up at the end of the next cycle, 15th August, there were no 10km races available except my club race but I'm marshaling. Next 10km is on 5 September, 6 weeks away. Then the half marathon 2 weeks afer that on 19 September. We keep things the same for the next cycle? I'm not feeling overwhelmed by the training, looking forward to all my runs and sessions, more importantly I've finished each stress session in the last cycle feeling like I could do one more rep. The racing is a mental battle, seem to have a block with 36min but I've crossed it once and I'm determined to do it again and push on!

Cheers

[TheEd]

would like for you to run a sub 17 minute 5k during the next cycle

so when it comes to the paced run, if you could keep that in mind

TheEd

[NtutuL]

Cool, I'll see what I can do. There's a flattish parkrun that's about 35-40 min drive from me though it's ~40% grass. I'll head out there and see how quick I can go. Just had a look at my parkrun record and I did it in 18:20 two years back in January 2013 when I was around 37:30 shape (ran a 10km 2 weeks later in 37:27). Looks like someone always runs around 17:15-17:45 and a few 16:xx clockings. Last 3 weekends, 16:05 (!), 17:42 and 17:35 by some youngsters in the 20-24 age category so at least it won't be a solo effort and I'll have someone to chase. I'll make sure to get a good night's rest and head out early and get a good warm up in, treat it like a race weekend,

Cheers

[NtutuL]

So I was thinking a bit more about my race, and I think objectively my legs were very heavy. Like with all the hard sessions, my breathing was fine, within 2 minutes of the finish I was back to normal etc but during the race it was definitely my legs that were the limiting factor, just had no acceleration and seemed to be one paced.

I just had a look at my training log and noted that since and including the build-up, I've done 916km in the last 10 weeks, while the biggest 10 week block before the build-up was 741km, so ~24% increase.

So with that in mind I was wondering if it might not be prudent for me to cut my mileage down a bit, maybe I can do a lighter week this week? Should a recovery week cut both mileage and intensity or proportionally reduced everything while maintaining the weekly rhythm? I'm sure if I've maintained my 10km pace while running almost 25% more mileage than I ever have, freshening up a bit should bring the snap back in the legs? Or am I overthinking things?

Would be interested in your thoughts?

Cheers

[TheEd]

Ntutu, I do believe the cold would probably have affected your legs in the last race

I would like for you to have a successful 5k (sub 17) as soon as, so we are able to measure how things are going and more

will reserve on getting too involved in answering questions currently, as they are coming on the back of feeling disappointed, often not the best time to be too analytical

hang in there a little longer, as everything shows you a success waiting to happen

TheEd

[NtutuL]

Thanks, yeah I think I'm definitely over-analysing and brain is going into overdrive Conditions definitely seemed to affect everyone, a few guys I know ran slower than they usually do, up to as much as 60s for one consistent sub 33 guy.

Anyway, this week hasn't been too great. Did an easy recovery run on Sunday, 6km in 32min, very slow and felt fine, on Monday did another easy run but knew I was working way too hard for the pace, 4:50-5:00/km. Anyway on Tuesday morning felt terrible and visited my GP, and she said I was starting to pick up a cold but rest would sort it out. So she booked me off work Tuesday and Today, have been in bed since! I'm sure that wouldn't have helped my hard effort on Saturday either, coupled with the cold weather.

So I will ease back into running on Thursday afternoon with an easy 30min, and maybe try and build up to an hour again over the weekend, 45min on Saturday and 60min on Sunday. I know we don't ever make up workouts, so I'll continue with the program from next week?

Cheers

[TheEd]

run every 2nd day when you come back

we will still be ready for the race when it comes, just back off, it is all in the tank still

TheEd

[NtutuL]

Cool, I'll run tomorrow, rest Friday, run Saturday and rest on Sunday. Hopefully the rest will do me some good

Cheers

[NtutuL]

Hi TheEd,

What should I be looking at doing this coming week? Not sure how I should go about things given the disruptive nature of week that's just gone. I'm also not sure I feel confident about attacking a 5km this coming paced run day. I can put in a hard effort but I don't want to put a target number on the run just yet. But on the next paced run day, 29 August, I will definitely drive down to the flat parkrun and give it a serious go.

Cheers