Mark Threlfall: The 10K distance for running is a milestone for many runners out there.
One of the most commonly targeted times for the 10K has to be the hour or less, the sub
60 minute 10K. Today in this video, I'm going to be helping you to achieve that.
[music] Typically 10K
is the next distance up that many new runners will target following the 5K. Understandably,
it can be quite daunting because it's quite a big step up. You have
worked so hard to accomplish that 5K yet this is twice the distance. Is it twice as hard?
Well, actually for many runners out there, running 10K can be more manageable than
running that first 5K that you went for. Once you can run 5K continuously, you have opened up the
doors to so much more. You are someone that can sustain running for a continuous period of time.
That means just running an extra 5K on what you already have achieved isn't all that bad.
[music] Let's begin by looking at
what we're trying to achieve here. Running 10K in less than 60 minutes requires a pace of at least
9 minutes and 39 seconds per mile or 6 minutes per kilometer. That's obviously the same pace
as running 5K in just under 30 minutes. Interestingly, many runners actually find
that their pace doesn't drop off that much from 5K up to 10K, particularly for newer runners.
If you're someone that can already run 5K in around 30 minutes, then it's more than likely
that you'll already be knocking on the door of that sub 60 minute 10K. Perhaps currently around
maybe 63 to 65 minutes. With a little bit of training, that is definitely achievable,
but if you're not currently at that sort of fitness level, then don't worry,
it's still very much achievable. You may just need a little bit more prep time and training.
[music] Talking of training,
one of the main differences between training for 10K versus training for a 5K is the distance that
you'll need to cover in some of your runs. Running a sub 60 minutes 10K is going to require you to
prepare both physically and mentally. There is no better way to doing that than by covering the 10K
distance or close to that distance regularly, and comfortably within your training. Actually, a good
way of doing this is by including one longer run into your training schedule per week. By spending
more time on your feet and running, this is going to help to improve your overall fitness towards
that 10K and also your fatigue resistance. Now to be clear, this needs to be a nice, easy, sociable,
and aerobic pace far, far slower than that than when you're trying to go after that sub 60 10K.
Make sure you build the duration and distance of this run-up gradually. Don't suddenly jump in at
10K if you're not used to that. IncuIncrements of 10% are always a good idea. For instance,
5K to 5.5K to 6K to 6.7K to 7.3 K and so on. You don't however need to run super long
if you're simply training for 10K, because anything too long could end up leaving you
fatigued and not able to reap the benefits of some of those faster quality sessions that
we'll get into in just a moment. Anything up to around 12 to 14K is absolutely fine. Initially,
don't worry about the pace so much in these longer runs, simply focus on the distance and
just spending time on your feet. Some weeks you might want to focus on just covering the distance
and then other weeks you might want to explore off-road hillier in which case you may just want
to focus on the time and the time and your feet. [music]
It may or may not come as a surprise to you, but to run a 10K fast it still requires us to
do some speeds. This is all about improving our top end speed. That means running at paces faster
than those required to simply run a sub 60 minute 10K. Faster than 9:39 minute model 6minute per K.
This is all about increasing that ceiling to your pace range and an ideal and perfect way of
doing this is using intervals. These intervals are shorter durations allowing us to really focus on
that top end speed for a short duration of time, and then with good recovery between them.
The length and the intensity of those intervals can vary. Ideally, we want to do them on something
like an athletics track, which will simply allow us just focus on getting the effort done
and nothing else. If you don't have access to an athletics track, just a good smooth road or trail
is fine. Anything where, like I said, you'll focus on getting the effort done, you're not having to
dodge pedestrians or the risk of rolling an ankle. Good examples of these include a simple 30 on 30
off star workout. After a good warmup, run hard for 30 seconds above your 10K target race pace,
and then jog for 30 seconds making sure that you keep moving. Keep repeating that through
for a total of eight minutes, then take an extra three-minute recovery before repeating
that eight minutes on-off format once more. Another example is a pyramid style workout,
where we increase the duration slightly. For the main workout, run hard for 30 seconds above your
10K target race pace, then into a recovery jog for an equal 30-second duration, then one-minute hard,
one-minute jog recovery. One minute 30 hard, one minute 30 jog recovery. Then back to one minute,
hard. One minute jog recovery, 30 seconds, hard, 30 seconds jog recovery, back up to one minute
hard. One minute jog recovery. One minute 30 hard. One minute 30 jog recovery. One minute hard. One
minute jog recovery, 30 seconds hard, 30 seconds jog recovery. You get the picture. With time,
you can add more pyramids to this work out. [music]
We also can't forget the tempo workout. This is a key workout for any runner, but for you guys,
focusing on the sub 60 minute 10K this is incredibly important and here's why. See,
the tempo pace is technically at or just a little slower than the best pace you can sustain for an
hour all out which is obviously very close to the pace that you're looking to hit in your 10K. The
idea is that this intensity correlates to your threshold, the point at which your body starts to
produce lactic acid at such a rate that is quicker than your body can remove it. That's obviously
brushing over a bit of science there before the lactic acid police jump on my back. However,
what this means is that by training at or a little slower than this pace at tempo, we can rack up
some good time at a very good intensity without dipping too far over and producing lactic acid.
As an example, if you're on the cusp of a sub 60 minute 10K, then it's likely that your tempo
pace will be around six minutes per kilometer and slower, and certainly not faster. The idea with
these tempo workouts is it's longer periods of time at this effort, which we can build up with
time. To begin with, for lots of five minutes at this tempo pace is a good starting point with
three minutes jog recovery between each. You can even repeat this with less recovery with time too.
You can then move on to eight, six, four, and two minutes at tempo with two minutes recovery jog
between each then up to two lots of 10 minutes at tempo with two minutes jog recovery between each.
Even maybe with time, three lots of 10 minutes at tempo with two minutes jog recovery between each.
[music] Now I'm aware I've given you a lot of info
and a bunch of workouts there so how do you use all of that and fit into your training week? Well,
ideally, you'd look to fit one-speed workout in one tempo workout and one steady long run along
with maybe one or two other easy aerobic runs, depending on how many runs you're doing per week,
all nicely spread out throughout the week. For instance, say you're running four times per week.
You might want to do the speed workout on the Monday. Follow that with a nice, easy
aerobic recovery run on the Wednesday, your tempo run on the Friday and then the steady long run
over the weekends. Of course, that is just an example, use that how you like,
but as I said, try and spread it out over the week and with your available time.
[music] Now let's talk about the actual
10K that you're targeting and planning to do. Some of you out there may be planning to do an actual
organized 10 kilometer event. Others of you out there may be playing to do your own 10K organized
solely by yourself in your own time, which is more than likely at the moment. Whatever your choice,
whatever you're planning to do, it's important that you pay close attention to the actual course.
First off the surface that you'll be running on. If it's a soft ground it's loose underfoot
or even full of potholes and whatnot, that is not going to give you as quick a time as a nice,
smooth and perfectly flat 10K course. Again, if it's lumpy and hilly, that's not going to give
you as quick a time as a nice flat 10K course. Then of course, there's the weather. You don't
have total control over the weather, but if the course is on a very exposed and typically very
windy section, then again, that is going to impact your time significantly. Personally,
I always run fast with people around me. If you're organizing your own, then see if someone fancies
joining you or even just pacing you on the bike, perhaps. As we're talking about pacing, you know
that you need to run at a pace of at least nine minutes, 39 per mile, or six minutes per
kilometer. However, it's so easy to get carried away in the opening stages. That's normal because
adrenaline is high and you're feeling fresh. You want to use this adrenaline to a degree as it's
like free energy, but you want to keep it cap on the pace and for how long you exceed above it.
10 to 15 seconds per kilometer quicker through the first half a kilometer or so is fine,
but you want to be dialing it back very quickly after that and settling into your pace.
I would really recommend wearing a sports watch so that you can track your time
and your pace during the 10K. Personally, I'd really recommend a GPS sports watch
like this so that you can track that pace live on your watch as you're running. Failing that,
a lot of 10K events will actually have mile markers and kilometer markers on the course.
If they don't, then perhaps go out beforehand and make a little mental note, or if you're organizing
your own do the same or perhaps even go as far as putting up some markers for yourself.
Then, as you go through those markers, then you can just check your time against those markers
as you're going through. I used to go as far as actually writing the splits and the time sounds
on my hand so that I wouldn't forget them. Final bit of advice in terms of pacing with 2K to go,
you want to make a conscious effort to try and pick your pace up. In reality,
the likelihood is you don't actually pick your pace up. You may be at most just sustain the pace
that you've been running at, but that is what is needed particularly as you start to fatigue
towards the end, is what's needed to try and maintain that good pace that you've been running
at and get the best time you possibly can. There you go. A lot of advice there for you.
I hope you've enjoyed today's video, so please do give it a like, give it a thumbs up. Don't
forget to give us a follow over on social media. We've got tons more videos like this. If you're
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