200 metres to 10k to 10 miles

Hi guys, first post!

Little bit of background. I'm 27, and between 2000 and 2009 I was a sprinter for my county.So have always been generally fit, and back then even more so. Very much drilled into sprinting though.

Cut to the start of a year, and a friend of mine plays on my competitiveness to get me to sign up to this years Great South Run with him. So the last time I ran it was 200 metres, and now it's 10 miles!!

Started in February, and had a lot of foot/knee pain at first. Got properly fitted for some Brooks Glycerin 9's and they have been a god send! Love them to bits. So, in the last 2 months really I've gone from 1 mile to completing a 10k last Sunday. Was a bit ill, but managed it in 50 minutes. Still had a bit in the tank so wasn't too disheartened. Been struggling to run like a distance runner since all instinct is to sprint. But I wrote out a little plan, stuck to it, and did the distance!

So with that personal achievement behind me, I'm gunning for the 10 miles in October. I know time is on my side, and I 'only' need to be able to do another 4 miles (could be harder than just adding more miles I know).

So after that waffle, my question is, how do I go from doing a really average 10k to a decent 10 mile? I've put myself down for a completion time of 1h30m, as has my chum, but I'd like to aim for 1h20m really.

Main problem is fitting it all in.

Monday - Run, Tuesday - Rest, Wednesday - Muay Thai, Thursday - Football/Run, Friday - Rest, Saturday - Run, Sunday - Rest

I'm really pleased with what I've done so far, since running any distance has never been something that interested me. 

Very curious as to what you'e all got to say, and thanks in advance!

Ran 3 miles last night, a route that I'm very accustomed to and enjoy.

Took 20 seconds off my best time. So my PB is now 21 minutes 51 seconds. Really pleased with it.

My tactic is to just start quicker, then deal with it later. What I've found is I just settle into a quicker pace, and don't feel particularly different through the run. Trying to speed up later would be a nightmare.

Hi Tortuga, thanks for the reply.

In my mind I trimmed down the approach to a marathon, where (if my Dad, who did a 3h 45m when he was 45, is right) you never do the full distance in traning. If I can do 8 or 9 miles by September, I know I'll be able to finish on the day.

I'm mainly wondering if there is an optimum way to get to that point.

Your Dad is right - you would never train to the distance for a marathon as it would just take too much out of your body.  But 10 miles is different.  If you want to do well in it I would run at least the distance and probably up to 12 or 13 miles in training.  However, I would run the miles nice and slowly at a conversational pace. 

You also need to build up time on your feet.  You need to do the bulk of your miles at a nice easy pace whee you could hold a conversation.  Do not fall into the trap of trying to run the same short route faster and faster. Building up mileage is key to long distance running. 

Looking at your schedule I would do something like this:  

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left; background-color: #eeeeee;">Monday - Rest, <span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">Tuesday - Run (4 or 5 miles), Wednesday - Muay Thai, Thursday - Football/Run (if run then so 1 mile warm up, two miles at comfortably hard pace, 1 mile cool down), Friday - Rest, Saturday - Run (4 or 5 miles), Sunday - Long run - build up to 12 miles by 1 mile a week

<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">The football could be your speed session as it is akin to interval training.  Or substitute with a tempo run as outlined above.  Something like that anyway.  Or follow one of the half marathon schedules on the site as they will be pretty similar training. 

Well, last Saturday I ran 8 miles in 1h 6 mins. Pretty pleased with it.

Then on Monday and Thursday I did 4.1 miles. Both times in just over 32 mins. Bumped it up to get out of doing the 3 mile runs that I was enjoying, but weren't really helping.

Today I ran 8.66 miles! My god it was rough. What I've started doing is writing mile markers, and the time I should be there (if I do 8.20 per mile) on the inside of my left hand. At 3 miles I was a minute under! Brilliant.

Between 5 and 6 miles it got tricky. What I'd eaten clearly hadn't agreed with me, so I had an urge to throw up, as well go to the toilet. Ignored both and kept going. Then it started raining and the wind picked up. Made 5 to 7 very tough.

At 6 miles I was dot on the time. Then after it slipped. 5 secs off at mile 7 and 35 secs off at 8. After that I just got bloody minded and ran for as far as I could.

Feel alright now, though we shall see in the morning. Really proud of it. Only need to do another 1.4 and the Great South Run distance is covered!!

When I entered the GSR i put my time down as 1h 30m, as I didn't know what to put! Figured 9 min miles was acceptable. But now I've done this I'm aiming or 1h 25m. Achievable and realistic.