10m/Half training plan

LloydChristmas

I am looking for some help in structuring a training plan for the winter months. Realistically the next races that I will be targeting is the Dungarvan 10 at end of Jan '14 and then followed by the other spring ten milers (Ballycotton, Mallow etc)...I have a 10 mile PB of just over 75 mins but I would love to get this closer to 70 mins if possible. I have never really followed a structured training plan or have ever had any consistency so I am expecting some improvment

Anyway, I am fearful that I am running too many junk miles at the moment when I don't have a plan to follow which will probably just tie me over and not give me any improvement. I have had a brief break from running for last two months so am just getting back to it now. All the paces below are plucked out of thin air by me based on my current PBs which are:

5K: 21.10
10 Mile: 75.10
Half: 1.44.xx
Marathon: 4.15.xx

The make up of my week will be 4 days running (Maybe 5 days the odd week but cant manage it at moment)

Mon: Easy 6, Pace: 9.30 per mile

Tue: Session: 6 x 1mile @ ~7.00 per mile (from Macmillan program)

Thur: Medium 8 @ 8.30 per mile

Sat: LSR 12 - 16 miles @ 9.30 per mile

So, could any of you knowledgable folk give your 2c on what worked for you or what would help me to improve my paces up to half marathon distance. I am not sure if the above is the best plan. Should I be doing more short speedier sessions? More runs at planned pace for 10 miles i.e 7 mins/mile? or should I be aiming for running more mileage weekly?
So many questions...

rom

Knocking 5 mins off your PB is defo possible. Running more and in a more structured way will certainly improve your times. Having a session tues,thurs and LSR on the weekend is what I do also. It does seem to work but not lately when my LSR have been over 20M with PMP miles thrown in. I suppose the problem with most training programs is that a person runs too easy during the sessions and too hard in the recovery so the range of your running ability is not increased.

Mon: Easy. You plan to run this at 15 secs slower than MP. This is too fast. Easy should be around 1min slower than MP so 10:30 or something around that ball park. This should be the pace of your LSR also. My LSRs last year were 9-9:15 and I went on and did a 3:18 in DCM.

Tues: For any hard session such as Tues and Thurs then you should have a nice long warmup and cooldown. This is very important. I run two miles at easy (mondays pace) at the start and end of the session. Having no injuries in two years now and this helps this. The intervals should be of progression so something like 4x1k , 3x1M, ... with recoveries of between and min and 90 secs with you running at the easy pace and not stopped for this time.

Wed: you should run this day also. 4M easy would be great as it will really freshen up your legs. This would be a run that you should consider doing on grass and not worry about pace as grass will be slower.

Thurs: This really is just pulled out of thin air. A session at 10k pace and not faster for 20 mins with a good warmup and cooldown (2M easy each) increasing it over time to 25 mins would be a nice session to do.

Fri: Again I would do 4M easy on grass if possible as it would freshen up your legs for the LSR.

Sat : LSR is fine but there is little need to be doing 16M if your target is 10M races. Just make sure you are running it at your easy pace from monday.

Diet: if you have weight to lose or have a BMI over 25 then losing weight will benefit you (each to their own here and lots of people like to say that they have broad shoulder or Brian O' Driscoll is considered obese etc but in running higher power to weight ratio for an amature is desireable. )

Rest/easy weeks: you should have weeks like hard hard easy hard hard easy so your body can recover. These are generally good to fit in prior to a weekend race like a mini taper.

This is basically the program that I followed over the last two years and my times have been for 10M
2011 - 81mins
2012 - 72mins
2013 - 62mins

Give me a PM if you want more info. Based on your other posts I presume you are mid/late 20s and have loads of time to improve if you put the work in.

LloydChristmas

ROM, thanks! I was reading your log the other day, your progression over the last few years has been fantastic, you seem fairly dedicated.

Just a few questions if you don't mind. On the Tuesday session what pace should I run them at? Should it be current 5K pace which would be around 6.50 per mile? Or faster maybe? Also on the Thur session, should it be current 10k pace which is around 7.15 (soft PB) or target 10k ?

So my new plan will be as follows for the next 10 - 12 weeks:

Mon: 6m EASY (10min per mile)

Tue: 2m WU, 4x1m, 2m WD. (This will be progression over a number of weeks i.e 5x1k, 3x1m, 4x1m etc)

Wed: 4m EASY (grass)

Thur: 2m WU, 20 mins @ 10K pace, 2m WD.

Sat: LSR 12 - 14 miles

rom

Probably best if you send me a PM with your email address. tbh I am very average but a hard worker.