Help needed please peeps!!

Hello everyone! Bit of advice needed! I am a semi advanced runner, I have done a number of 10ks and marathons and am trying to smash some pbs. I aiming to get comfortably under 40 mins by July which I think I can do and ran a 5k today in 20mins 33 secs and felt pretty comfy. I have been really looking into core stretching/weight training/yoga to improve the muscles a bit and was wondering if it is better to core stretch or do weight work a bit more. Any advice would be great! I am enjoying the core stretching but if weight work is better the. I'll go down that route!! Thank you, Michael

Comments

  • MillsyMillsy ✭✭✭
    It depends what running you do in the week.

    It may make a small difference but more running/ better structure to your running will probably see the biggest gains.



    20.30 5k to sub 40 10k seems like quite a big jump in 2 months.
  • Cool thank you for the advice. I do tend to go out about 4-5 a week and core stretch on one of the two rest days. My bp over 10k is 42:27 and second best is 43:15 so I do feel if I go for it I could sneak under. I do feel in good shape, finished the Brighton marathon last year well but you are probably right, might be too much...
  • Should say pb not bp of course!
  • MillsyMillsy ✭✭✭
    What does an average weeks training look like?



    Well done on the Marathon. What was your time?
  • I normally do a light 5k mon, intense 7k Tuesday, core stretch weds, and steady 8-10k Thursday and Friday. And a run on the weekend but I don't really go for a set distance until I'm changed and ready to go.



    I did 4:24:31. Ran the whole thing, never hit the wall neither which I was really surprised with! Felt great at the finish line, better than when I did london last year and felt terrible at 20 miles...
  • Michael this is one of those questions that if you ask 20 different people you might get 10 different answer's. I'd say that core work from yoga would be better but would be more long term if your enjoying the weight work is it not possible to do both? say some light weight's for 15 minutes a day when you feel like it and some time for yoga? maybe as your warm up for the running?

    The benifit isn't just for your time just in case there are a few studites out there have have shone that if can help in both recovery and also preventing injury because of the houmones that can be the byproduct. That's from memery through so I wouldn't trust it 100%.

  • Your mileages are very light.

    You don't run longer than 8-10k ?



    You'll fade before 10k unless you run over distance in training. I think you'd benefit from more running rather than Yoga etc.
  • literatinliteratin ✭✭✭

    What is core stretching? Is it stretching, or core strength/resistance work, or both?

  • I don't mean this as a criticism, but is 4:24 for the marathon a typo? 3:24 off a 42.xx 10k is a good conversion;  4:24 off 42.xx would suggest you could do with a lot of long slow runs to boost your aerobic fitness!

    (I really don't mean for that to sound as harsh as it probably comes over, honest!)

  • Hello,I did do an awful lot of running as you imagine before Brighton and was hitting some big distances so I know 100% I have it in my legs to cover the distance, just need to have the fitness to really power through every km.. You are right though, I will hit some longer than 10k distances at a steady pace just to reconfirm I can hit those distances at a good pace.. Then really go for getting the time down
  • Hi Michael,

    Having done a little stalking, I see that you did indeed do a 4:24, which, though it's a good time, isn't a great conversion from a 42:xx 10k. As an example, I have a 3:29 marathon off a 43:xx 10k... and I'm not really any more than an average converter.

    Marathon running is almost all aerobic, whereas 10ks involve a decent anaerobic component too... and you're much, much better at 10ks than marathons.

    This suggests that you're well trained for running around your lactate threshold, but haven't got as good an aerobic engine. Lots of long, easy running would hugely improve your aerobic base, which would ultimately mean you'd be able to run faster for less effort, thus improving your 10k too.

    Or you could work towards another marathon and knock about an hour off your time...image

  • Thanks for the tip! And thank you for the research too! Haha. I've always thought of myself as more of a 5-10k runner and even did a half marathon in 1:38:00 back in February which I was happy with. Ironically I'm looking at finishing this year with the shorter distances and then working on the longer marathon distances from next year onwards. I did think I could creep under 4 hours this year but after a disastrous London Marathon where I finished seconds under 5 hours I just wanted to finish a marathon without stopping. I've re-entered Brighton next year and put in the entry to finish roughly around the 4:15:00 mark but am aiming to get in around 4 hrs... A sub 4 he marathon for me would be a dream!
  • Ok, I will give the longer but steadier runs a go. I'll go out for a 12k run today and do a steady/easy pace and see how I get on there. Yes normally when I do my easy runs it tends to be around that pace...
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