How does one train for a 10km run?

Gotta do one next month.

Wouldn't be unfit, do a lot of hiking, but just want to know what to do. Should I be out doing 1km tonight, 2 km tomorrow night etc. etc. Or should I simply try running that distance now as fast as I can and try bettering the time each run?

cfitz

A little bit depends on what you want to get from it. If you want to take up running on a more long term basis, you'd be better off avoiding time-trials and the like for the first few weeks. But if you want to get your absolute best from this race and don't care after that, then you might want to do some fast running before your race.

A sensible first four weeks of running might be something like this:

Week 1:
Monday - 15 min easy
Tuesday - Rest
Wednesday - 15 min easy
Thursday - Rest
Friday - 20 min easy
Saturday - Rest
Sunday - Rest

Week 2:
Monday - 15 min easy
Tuesday - Rest
Wednesday - 20 min easy
Thursday - Rest
Friday - 20 min easy
Saturday - Rest
Sunday - Rest

Week 3:
Monday - 15 min easy
Tuesday - Rest
Wednesday - 20 min easy
Thursday - Rest
Friday - 25 min easy
Saturday - Rest
Sunday - 20 min easy

Week 4:
Monday - 20 min easy
Tuesday - Rest
Wednesday - 20 min easy
Thursday - Rest
Friday - 20 min easy
Saturday - Rest
Sunday - 25 min easy


Try to get up to running 5/6 times per week sooner rather than later. This is far more important than covering long distances. Once you are running about 30 minutes 5/6 per week then you can start adding distance.

Krusty_Clown

Google URL="http://www.google.ie/search?rlz=1C1GGLS_enIE291IE303&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=10k+training+program"]10K Training program[/URL.

Unfortunately hiking doesn't necessarily translate well to running, but it depends on what your goals for the race are. Certainly running 10k a night until the race is a very bad idea and can result in injury. 4 weeks isn't a lot of time to get up to speed though. Find a suitable program, and if you're able for it, pick a selection of weeks from the program, e.g. Weeks 3-6 of Han Higdon's novice program

*Edit*: Or see CFitz suggestion above.

Great, thanks for that.

Was really thinking of training in terms of distance, not time, so glad I asked now.

Tried it for 20 mins last night.

Torture. Mostly because I went out too soon after eating I guess.

But at least I kept at it. And was surprised that I didn't need fluids, thought that would be the biggest problem.

cfitz

Deleted User wrote: »

Tried it for 20 mins last night.

Torture. Mostly because I went out too soon after eating I guess.

But at least I kept at it. And was surprised that I didn't need fluids, thought that would be the biggest problem.

It's a good idea to drink plenty of water during the day. You probably won't have to worry about taking on fluids while running unless you start doing very long distances. Even when I'm running for 1hr40 I wouldn't drink anything during my run.

Doing it every second night now. Did 25 mins, 4.5 km last night, no stitch, recovering a bit quicker too.

cfitz

Good work. For most of your runs there's no need to keep track of the distance you covered - it's very easy to get caught up in the details when the important thing is just to be out running consistently for the first few weeks.

Yeah, tbh wasn't even that concerned about the distance, it's just that I was curious to see how far I was getting. Would have been heartbroken had it turned out to be only 1km or 2!

Well, did it.

48 mins 34 secs. Was delighted with that, didn't think I could get near 50 mins tbh, let alone under it. Went off way too fast, then just really stuck with it, and left a lung or two somewhere on the course. Still feeling the effects yesterday. It wasn't record breaking or anything, but as I only started off 4 weeks ago and only did one 10km before the race, was pleased with that effort.

Thank for all the advice on here. Thihnk I might even stick with this and try more 10km road races.

cfitz

Well done. 4 weeks of training is very little, if you were to stick with it, there's the potential to knock huge amounts off that time.

Krusty_Clown

Deleted User wrote: »

Well, did it.

48 mins 34 secs. Was delighted with that, didn't think I could get near 50 mins tbh, let alone under it. Went off way too fast, then just really stuck with it, and left a lung or two somewhere on the course. Still feeling the effects yesterday. It wasn't record breaking or anything, but as I only started off 4 weeks ago and only did one 10km before the race, was pleased with that effort.

Thank for all the advice on here. Thihnk I might even stick with this and try more 10km road races.

Well done. Good time! Did not having a hangover make a big difference?

My 10 k tiemw as down to about 48 mins.Then I went on a J1 and now I reckon I'll be closer to 60 mins wen I get home.Dam you alcohol.

Krusty_Clown

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Did not having a hangover make a big difference?

Yeah!

Not so much the head, it was the absence of waves of nausea that I really appreciated.

Never, ever again will I have even so much as a shandy the night before running.