10k / Half Marathon Training

Hi all

Was wondering if someone can cast there eyes over my routine i recently created it with the goal of finishing a 10k in 40 mins. Current PB for 10k is 42:32 also for a half marathon i've never done one before.

Monday: Am 12x 400m i can also do a run PM if its a good idea after the 400's

Tuesday: Am 6 mile recovery run

Wed: Am Hill work

Thursday: Am 6 mile recovery run

Friday:Pm 6 miles easy

Sat: Tempo run normally do a parkrun

Sunday: 10-12 miles steady

Question is am i over running or adding too many junk miles. I know for the half marathon i'll need to up my miles but don't really want to waste good sessions with needless miles.

I normally try and get in a X- training session in the gym or even a swim. Does doing weights helps also.

Will welcome any constructive or good feeback.

Thanks

Mark

Comments

  • It's a case of does the plan fit the person. Nobody can answer that unless you give some details of where you are currently at and what you have been running in the past.

  • Thanks for the reply im currently at the level between 41 and 42 mins. Been running for 3 yrs not as much as the last year and a half. Done about 6 10k races times have come down a fair bit from 48 mins down to 42 mins over a year.Suppose im just finding it testing to get the right formula to kick on. Hope thats enough information.
  • Looks ok to me , easy miles add to your fitness so I wouldnt worry about junk miles.Id try and work up to a mix of 400s / 800s and the mile on the monday as you progress as that will help you stamina .

    For the half building  up slowly to a 15 mile on the sunday will help you too.

  • Cheers Leslie would you think doing a pyramid of 400 800 1200 1600 then reverse it 1600 1200 800 400.

  • Something like 8x 400 then 6x400 + 2x 800 then 5x400 + 3x 800 only increasing the total distance a little every week but the longer ones are always at the end as you get more tired so its getting tougher all the time, no point making it easier as you tire its sort of defeating the point.

    Pick a pace you could hope to get a mile at in the end otherwise it soon becomes impossible and ramp it more gently if needed as if you havent done intervals before it will come as a shock to the legs.

  • Hi, what does your training week look like at the moment?

    Is there any reason you have no rest days?

  • Thanks leslie. Training week was.

    Monday 6 miles steady

    Tuesday 6 miles quicker pace

    Wed 6 miles easy

    Thursday rep session

    Friday easy 5 miles

    Sat park run or rest

    Sunday long slow run 10-12 miles.
  • So i went out and done my 12 x 400 reps tonight 

    rep 1 was 0.25mi (time 1:21) 5:59 min mile

    rep 2 was 0.25mi (time 1:23) 5:57 min mile

    rep 3 was 0.25mi (time 1:23) 5:56 min mile

    rep 4 was 0.25mi (time 1:27) 6:08 min mile

    rep 5 was 0.25mi (time 1:26) 6:04 min mile

    rep 6 was 0.25mi (time 1:27) 5:57 min mile

    rep 7 was 0.25mi (time 1:29) 6:00 min mile

    rep 8 was 0.25mi (time 1:27) 5:57 min mile

    rep 9 was 0.25mi (time 1:25) 6:02 min mile

    rep 10 was 0.25mi (time 1:29) 6:06 min mile

    rep 11 was 0.25mi (time 1:28) 6:10 min mile

    rep 12 was 0.25mi (time 1:30) 6:13 min mile

    My goal is to get as close to 40 mins as i possible can so can any seasoned runners tell me if those times above are good or not.

  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭

    Did you just attack them as hard as you could manage or were you aiming for a time? 

  • DT was aiming to stay under 1:30 the course i used is downhill for 200mtrs then 200mtrs of uphill was quite happy my last one was 1:30 but the legs were feeling a tad heavy.

  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭

    I still think you should go to McMillan running and get proper training paces, and I would find a predominantly flat area to run them, perhaps a track or footy pitch. 

  • 6:15m/mile  I was doing mine in which slowly progressed to close to 6 min/mile by the time I got to the mile reps. (41 min 10k so far ) much easier on a track which is where I did mine and as said you need a flat course hills are no good.

  • Thanks guys theres a good track beside me well its a good 20min drive but i can manage that once a week.

  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭

    OK in that case you ran them too hard except the last one. I did session on a track in august and mine came in at 80 secs a rep consistently so 5.20 mm. I was just on the 39/40 mark. Its important to try and stick to the paces or as close as. 

  • Cheers DT i'm going to do them again next week but i'll slow the pace down a bit.According to my times how would that work out 10k wise.

  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭

    Its quite difficult to say based on 400m repeats. The only way i can work it is that 3 weeks before i did a sub 40 i did that session and all my reps came out at 80 secs give or take a couple of secs.

    The worst mistake you can make in a race though is pacing it for an aspirational time. Believe me, may-june i set out on every 10k i did for sub 40 and it was just too fast and i ended up with 41.xx. Perhaps had i paced for say 40.55 i would not have died in the last half and got a better time to work from.

     

  • No runs between 6 miles and your long run. Build up a second medium long run during the week, about 8 or 9 miles for you.

    Intervals, hill repeats and a parkrun is too many quality session in one week.
    Drop one quality session per week and do them on a rotation with some longer reps and a longer tompo run (or fast finish to the medium long run I suggested above)
    Nothing wrong with the sessions you listed but you need more upper aerobic work to supliment them.

    Make sure you keep your easy runs easy, 8:30 per mile for you I think.


    That 400 session looks like a good one to me, I would cycle through interval/repeat sessions, something like this but play around with it a bit:
    hills  - 400s  -  800s/1k   -  1 mile repeats at goal 10k pace -
    repeat, short recoveries for longer reps

    A good tempo session rotation could be:
    fast finish medium long run -  4 miles tempo run @ threshold or just a touch slower  -  6 miles @ around or just slower than McMillan HM pace (based on current performance not goal 10k pace) -  parkrun full beans

  • That lot is based on the target of a sub 40 10k, once you have that I would then move onto targeting a half mara. Then you should consider dropping the hills, 400s and look to do more longer tempo work and build up your long run and medium long run some more.

  • 400s are really too easy and dont put you under pressure long enough and you need more endurance for a 10k thats why you are fast at them , id say you would struggle to put a 6 minute mile in thats why I like adding the 800's and the mile .If you cant go a 6 minute mile then the 400's are being run too fast although it takes time to build up.

    5:20min/mile pace is way beyond my 40 year old legs ability image ...for now anyway and im sure I will get to 40 mins 10k long before I get to that pace, but I plan on going down to 200's to try and find some more speed soon.image

    As long as you put the miles in you will get there sooner or later , no right or wrong way to train just different opinions and you need to try a few and see what suits you.

  • mark robertson 15 wrote (see)

    So i went out and done my 12 x 400 reps tonight 

    rep 1 was 0.25mi (time 1:21) 5:59 min mile

    rep 2 was 0.25mi (time 1:23) 5:57 min mile

    rep 3 was 0.25mi (time 1:23) 5:56 min mile

    rep 4 was 0.25mi (time 1:27) 6:08 min mile

    rep 5 was 0.25mi (time 1:26) 6:04 min mile

    rep 6 was 0.25mi (time 1:27) 5:57 min mile

    rep 7 was 0.25mi (time 1:29) 6:00 min mile

    rep 8 was 0.25mi (time 1:27) 5:57 min mile

    rep 9 was 0.25mi (time 1:25) 6:02 min mile

    rep 10 was 0.25mi (time 1:29) 6:06 min mile

    rep 11 was 0.25mi (time 1:28) 6:10 min mile

    rep 12 was 0.25mi (time 1:30) 6:13 min mile

    My goal is to get as close to 40 mins as i possible can so can any seasoned runners tell me if those times above are good or not.

    Sorry this is a bit irrelevant to your actual question and the discussion but how are you converting your 400m time into a min/mile pace?

    Also some reps are faster but the min/mile pace is slower? Rep 4 v Rep 6? Rep 8 v Rep 9?

    I just like to understand where numbers come from and I can't work this out - sorryimage.

  • Thanks for the reply im currently at the level between 41 and 42 mins. Been running for 3 yrs not as much as the last year and a half. Done about 6 10k races times have come down a fair bit from 48 mins down to 42 mins over a year.Suppose im just finding it testing to get the right formula to kick on. Hope thats enough information.
  • Skinny I just copied off the info from my garmin I did think the same as I looked over it.

    Cheers guys for all the input I felt I was getting to a stage where I was worried that I was maybe training wrong ie too many hard runs not enough long runs etc.
  • Any gps watch is less accurate the shorter the distance thats why its good to just aim for a time per lap using the watch to check pace .

  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭

    If I am on track reps I ignore GPS and pace it on every 100m so if I am doing 400s at 80secs then I clock 20 secs per 100m. Far more accurate way over short reps as Leslie says. 

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