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10k in under 40 minutes?
Hi,
I'm a relatively inexperienced runner. I started going for occasional runs 1-2 years ago and I'm a 23 y/o male. I regularly do parkruns and that's about it at the moment, I haven't followed a training plan before (well, for more than a few days 
) but when I've felt particularly enthusiastic I've put the odd 30-mile week in, usually running quite hard rather than doing many 'easy' miles. At parkruns my PB is 18:50 and right now I could probably expect to run about 19 minutes (I managed 19:08 this week).
I'm interested in taking my running a bit more seriously in the coming month as I've entered a 10K in about six weeks time. A nice target seems to be 40 minutes and so I was just wondering
(1) whether this is a realistic goal in the time period I have to train? I haven't raced anything longer than 5k before
(2)if so, what would be the optimal way to train? As I said I'd like my training to be a little more focused! Could anyone perhaps give a guideline for what a week might look like?
Many thanks!
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Comments
I'll leave it to others with more knowledge to guide you on training. You should be able to do sub-40, but it's not always a linear affair - I've done, in my late 40s (I'm now 53) sub-20 parkruns, but the nearest I've got to a sub-40 10k is just over 41 minutes. It's possible you'll bust it easily, and I should have done it I guess, but the longer distance can be deceptive: quite possibly, because you're running longer you feel able to coast some of the middle miles a bit more than you can in the 'long sprint' of the 5k. A first thing to say is that running hard all the time will probably, counter-intuitively, hold you back - easy runs should be just that, run at what for you is an easy pace. Others will have wider advice.
i was running 18:55 at park runs in April and at the same time ran 38:50 10k so you are good to go now!
2 x 5k time plus 1 minute to get a 10k time is pretty accurate for me. It is a realistic goal, though you might suffer from lack of endurance at the moment.
I think it's a realistic slightly longer-term goal, but maybe a bit of a stretch in the time available now. A guy I know from my gym (PT, pretty fit generally) was in a similar (but faster) place to you - newish to regular running, 18:20ish parkrun PB, not really structured training, and faded quite a bit in his first 10k recently to come in at 40:15. He needs to do the same as you: more regular easy running to build an aerobic base, then adding some speedwork in, making sure he actually bothers warming up, etc.
in terms of training.... i guess it depends what you can handle. my knees can't handle much so my general week is.....
6*1k intervals +4k easy or 5*2k intervals +2k easy, rest, 14k aerobic, turbo 30 mins @ recovery HR, 5k @ 10k paced + 5k easy, rest, 21k aerobic.
I'd be really surprised if you couldn't run sub 40 now. do 19min 5k rest a minute then do a 19:55
with a 19 min 5k, you should be hitting a sub 40 10k already.
If you aren't, incorporate some longer distances and up your mileage generally into your training.
My sub 40 10K training plan is as follows:
Saturday: 5k tempo/ or park run
Sunday: 20K long run
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 1km warm up, then 8 reps of 1km intervals in 3 mins 50 secs. 2 minute recovery jog/ walk in between reps.Then 1km cool down.
Wednesday: 5k easy run (very easy!) and stretching.
Thursday: 12 reps of 400m intervals in 1 minute 40 secs. 200m recovery jog/ walk in between reps. OR: 12 reps of 400m hill intervals in 2 min 30 secs. Recovery jog back down the hill!
Friday: Rest
so in all, 5 days training a week and 50km a week. I'm on week 2 of 6 and my fitness has already rocketed. Well on target for my fist sub 40