Improve 10KM time

Muppet Man

Hi Guys, not long running (about 6 months now) and my 10KM times seem to be stuck at around 51 minutes. I did the BUPA 10KM Phoenix Park in 51 minutes which I was happy enough with (my first "Race"), but also a little dissappointed as I have been doing 51 minutes in training too. I just cant seem to improve my times.

Training is on predominantly flat ground - twice or three times a week 10KM runs. Diet is mostly Carb / low fat. Little / no alcohol. I've lost about 16 Kilo's and about another 3 to go (the toughest 3 of all time! ).

My Runs are usually on a fairly empty stomach (about 3 hours after last food).

Running in Kayano XV's which are a feckin dream to run in.

I'm not using any fancy watches / GPS/ monitoring Split times... I look at my start time and I look at my finish time.

Ideally I would like to be sub 50.

Suggestions?

Thanks
Muppet Man

--amadeus--

The best advice I could give would be to follow a structured training plan. If you google "10k plan" you'll find loads of tehm, Hal Higdon comes highly recommended for example. FDind a plan that looks do-able and pop back on here with any questions about what it all means

cfitz

Run more often.
Don't pay too much attention to your times in training unless your doing some sort of special workout or time-trial.
Vary the distance you run a little bit.

shels4ever

Enjoy your running, Have a plan and try to stick to it. How many days a week are you running? If you post a sample of your normal weeks training it might help too.
Well done so far, sub 50 should be on the cards for you soon

kennyb3

Also if you really are that keen on improving it i would recommend buting a decent watch as it will help you find out where you might be falling down. i.e i use to run too slow early and couldnt make up the time when i pushed later.

can also help you determine whether your better at running positive or negative splits.

also as the others have said - more miles, more miles, more miles. do some longer runs (ie not just 10km all the time) and then some 3km to 5km speed work.

emerald007

The guys are correct, mix up your training sessions with shorter harder runs, and try and work some kind of hill into your longer routes. I'd recommend finding a local club, since the structure and advise that they offer can always be a help. Trying to get a predictable time in the phoenix park with ~10000 other runners is always going to be tough. Set a target of a smaller 10km race in a few weeks, and i'd say with the same or updated training you'll be getting a new PB.

Muppet Man

Thanks lads, all good advice me thinks.

Currently running 10KM x 3 times / week... and its starting to get a bit boring, but I think I have more left in the tank, so I might up it to 12.5 / 13 KM mark... at least once a week.

Might also focus on faster 5KM runs.

Thanks,
Muppet Man.

kennyb3

Muppet Man wrote: »

Thanks lads, all good advice me thinks.

Currently running 10KM x 3 times / week... and its starting to get a bit boring, but I think I have more left in the tank, so I might up it to 12.5 / 13 KM mark... at least once a week.

Might also focus on faster 5KM runs.

Thanks,
Muppet Man.

yeah you really need to go further than 10km in training if you wanna improve a 10km in a race. id go further than 12.5km or 13km, prob up to 15km or further if possible, just at slower pace.

silverside

you need to start mixing it up - just running even pace, while good for leg strength, will improve your fitness very slowly. 30 km a week (18 miles in old money) is a plenty strong base to do at least one speed / interval / hill session.

join a club, look up a training schedule, or at a minimum do one of your runs on a hilly circuit where you feel yourself getting out of breath on the uphills.

edit: i seem to have repeated what emerald007 has said !

Andrewf20

Just make sure you bust balls in the training. I found that this makes a huge difference. Include some fartlek techniques also (google it for more). I have found that intensity is perhaps more important than quantity when training. I always aim to finish a training session half dead!

Seres

Muppet Man wrote: »

Thanks lads, all good advice me thinks.

Currently running 10KM x 3 times / week... and its starting to get a bit boring, but I think I have more left in the tank, so I might up it to 12.5 / 13 KM mark... at least once a week.

Might also focus on faster 5KM runs.

Thanks,
Muppet Man.

i was doing that a while ago , just going out and running a couple a miles as fast as i could a couple of times a week , it really burns you out , cause every night you go out your trying to beat your best time , very boring and after a while you just give up , a least with a program you have variation and very easy days and very hard days , much more enjoyable.

hawkwing

I have lots of different routes 1.5,2,3.5,5,6,7.5 mile runs etc and 90% of the time end up trying for pb's unless it's very windy or i'm tired.Needless to say usually i don't get them but i get bored otherwise unless it is near a race.I have only got my 10k time down from first BUPA 2007-- 5211 to 4840 this yr.Doing nearly all hilly runs,about 15-18m /week. Seldom go above 10m other than races and last yrs marathon training.

--amadeus--

Andrewf20 wrote: »

Just make sure you bust balls in the training. I found that this makes a huge difference. Include some fartlek techniques also (google it for more). I have found that intensity is perhaps more important than quantity when training. I always aim to finish a training session half dead!

hawkwing wrote: »

I have lots of different routes 1.5,2,3.5,5,6,7.5 mile runs etc and 90% of the time end up trying for pb's unless it's very windy or i'm tired.Needless to say usually i don't get them but i get bored otherwise unless it is near a race.I have only got my 10k time down from first BUPA 2007-- 5211 to 4840 this yr.Doing nearly all hilly runs,about 15-18m /week. Seldom go above 10m other than races and last yrs marathon training.

Personal opinion of course but I don't agree with the above.

If you go balls out every time in training and always go for a best ever time in training then you are not training efficiently, particularly for an endurance event like a 10k. You also run a higher risk of injury and a very good chance of doing your best running in training rather than races.

I think it's Daniels who explains it best but basically a good race performance is made up of lots of different elements. Your running efficiency and economy, your lactate threshold, your VO2 max and so on. Different types of training run will train different elements of teh package. So running hard every time will bring improvments to your VO2 max and LT values which may make you faster but won't do a huge amount for your base fitness or running economy. In contrast just churning out low intensity 6 milers will give you a good base but no speed. That's why I recommended a proper training program, that will combine all teh elements in teh right proportions.

colblimp

Dare I suggest that if you want a good 10k time then the LSR is essential. If you can run 10k then your LSR would want to start at 8 miles and increase the distance by 1/2 a mile every fortnight. You should be running these long runs at a slow, conversational pace, not at race pace!

As other posters have mentioned, look for a decent 10k programme and stick to it - you'll be breaking 40 minutes before you know it!

Muppet Man

This is awesome stuff guys, thanks very much for responding.

I like the idea of the fartlek training - hadnt heard of it until I googled it, but it looks like something that I integrate into my training.

Additionally, I definitely need to bump up the distance....

Also need to organize a training plan

Muppet Man.

Andrewf20

I would only ever recommend high intensity once you body feels in good form. For over six months last year I was doing plenty of quantity but I never really pushed to my limits, and I found that my 10k time never got better. Over the last 6 months I have decided to always try and run at a mildly uncomfortable pace, and always finish all training sesions at a sprint pace to eek the last out of myself. From time to time, I would go at a casual pace and up the pace for a few minutes and ease up slighly again (fartlek). Since I started working really hard I have knocked nearly 5 mins off my 10k pace. No injurys have occured so far. Over the last 6 months I have actually been running less but the intensity has gone up and this seems to work really well for me.

cr17

muppetman,

I,m in the same boat as yourself kind of. Started running 2 months ago. Did the Bupa in 53 mins, and am looking to improve to go sub 50 by my next 10k which is the calcutta run which is mid may. Found some training plans on runnersworld.co.uk. Good site withs lots of info.

hopefully i will improve more during the race series in the summer. but after years of stopping and starting and hating running, am eventually loving it.
Best of luck:pac: