5K v 10K

Hi

5K PB - 19:24

10K PB - 43:31

After having my gait looked at and new trainers fitted due to a knee issue caused by not taking my new hobby seriously ( I was told to burn my old trainers and was lucky more damage wasn't caused ), I spoke to the man in the shop about my race times. He said with a 5K time like that I should be getting low end 41. As it stands I will be happy to get sub 42 and look at the other time as a bridge too far. Am I setting my targets low and is what he is saying achievable?

Weekly Running

Monday - 5k steady

Wednesday - 4 mile steady

Friday - 5k steady or speedwork on track

Weekend 10K or up to 10 mile long run or Race ( 5K/10K )

I have no concrete plan and this does vary with maybe an extra run thrown in or one taken off if I'm being lazy!

Thanks in advance

Comments

  • Your 10k is slightly out.

    But you only run 10k once a week anyway - so you're very undertrained for it - so its only to be expected.  

    They're pretty good times off that limited mileage. 16 miles or so ?

  • stutyrstutyr ✭✭✭

    have a look at the mcmillan pace calculator, which will ive you equivalent times for the different distances. NB don't take it too literally, based on your low training volume theres no way you'd achieve the marathon time quoted without a significant change to your training.

    As a comparison, I haven't broken 20 mins for a 5k but have run a sub-42" 10k so it does suggest you could improve your 10k time.

    As cougie has said, your relative 10k performance is understandable due to your low training volume, and your 5k time is impressive from this amount of training.

  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭

    Lee, if I were you, and presuming you're keen to really bring those times down, I'd simply make the next 2-3months about getting your mileage from 16miles or so, up to 25-30. Progressively and gently easing up each week, with all the runs at an easy pace.

    At the moment, it looks like your runs are mostly "medium hard".

    Once you get a comfortable base of 25-30miles a week, I'd then suggest adding in a speed session,as then you'll have a greater capacity to deal with it.

     

  • Agree with Cougie. And how often is the Friday speedwork, and how often is it steady? You could do with a longer rep session in there - 1-2k repeats - to get some speed endurance. This would help your 5k in the long term as well. Why not try a 4-day pw 10km plan for a couple of months and see whether that can get your times down?

  • Unable as I am to give any very technical advice, it's clear that sometimes people have problems with one specific distance. I have a 5k PB of 19.44 and a half marathon PB of 1:30:28, but my 10k best is 42:01, which isn't really in line with the other two. This isn't a counsel of despair because if you train specifically for one distance you should bring your time down, but sometimes despite your best efforts you don't (or, should I say, I don't).

  • Hi

    Thanks for the positive and useful replies.

    Cougie - Although I would like to be stricter with training plans I do sometimes find it hard to fit longer runs in with 6 day working weeks and 2 kids. My weekly mileage varies from 10 to 20 miles. When I first started it was less and this combined with a sudden increase 6 months into taking it up, trainers not built for road running and never doing one second of post run stretching caused my right knee to suffer from ITBS. My knee hasn't been the same since and I am kicking myself for not taking it more seriously when I started! I think this has also made me cautious in doing longer runs. I do wonder tabout he heights I would be hitting if I was clocking 40-50 miles a week.........

    stutyr - I am pretty confident you will get a sub 20 5K before I get a my poxy sub 42 10K image

    Stevie g - I am thinking of getting a charity place in the Brighton Marathon and have been looking at training plans to prepare for this distance. Is it true once you have got one of those plans under your belt your 5K, 10K and 1/2 times decrease quite considerably?

    dancing in spikes - My plan above is very vague to be fair but I try to fit speed work in on my local athletics track once or twice a month.I am still learning about training and can't believe how many different types of training runs there are. When I started I used to run as fast as I could for a set distance. No wonder my knee told me off! image

    Peter Collins - I know what you mean about " best efforts" and " bringing times down" Last week was a pacer week at my local parkrun and I thought I would follow the 19 man.....I finshed barely ahead of the 20!! ( 19:57 )

     

    Thanks again everyone!

     

    PS - I must say I am loving my running, love the buzz of racing day and just wish I had done it in my twenties!

     

    " You could have been a contender!" image

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • If you're pushed for time, try running either early in the morning before work (great option as you're running on empty too which has an associated training effect), or alternately, running on your lunch break. I do this regularly because I find most lunchs I'll quickly eat and then waste time for the remaining 30 mins or so, hence cramming a short run in.



    Extra volume helps hugely in upping performance.
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