Can I run 10k in 40 minutes with this training schedule?

Bit frustrating on both counts by the sounds of it, nearly 20 broke and nearly 40 broke.#

I definitely get the feeling with running that getting down to a 20 minute 5k and a 40 minute 10k is within the capabilities of a lot of male runners with the right training but progressing beyond these levels is far more of a challenge.  I could take chunks of 30 seconds or even a minute off my PBs in training when getting down to this sort of level but now I think it's going to be more of a case of the odd few seconds here and there in races.

Nice splits Cicero, shame about the slight tail-off.

LD - I know all about muddy park runs...I live near Manchester!!

Cicero wrote (see)

My 10k in Battersea Park yesterday went well although I didn't quite PB 40:54 - 3 seconds outside. Splits 04:02, 04:02, 04:01, 04:01, 04:05, 04:03, 04:12, 04:12, 04:07, 04:09.

I just didn't have the stamina to maintain my pace. Up until k7 I felt really comfortable at the pace of around 4:00/km, but at that point fatigue hit. Time to up the mileage over the winter.

Very frustrating whe you can just feel the pace slipping away.  Your final split was still slow, which, to me suggests you'd given it everything.  No sprint finish.

Hi guys,

Not sure who's a beginner and who's a more advanced runner but just thought I would share this site on training for various types of races (marathon, half marathon,  5K & 10K).

Good general info for amateur runners.

All the best

Sounds like you guys are making good progress, you'll all be under 40 minutes pretty soon I think.

I'm admitting defeat in running the half marathon on Sunday, have hardly run for 2 and a half weeks since the ankle injury and when I have the ankle has felt pretty dodgy as well as causing some pain in the achilles. Think I will have to leave it another week or so and start again. Very frustrating as I was probably in sub 39 10k shape and 1:26/1:27 HM shape based on my training efforts before the injury.

Did anyone else follow Viral Shah's link?

I did, because people who've posted here so far have all contributed something of interest/value. Not the worst example ever for sure, but I think perhaps there's a clue in the name - Viral Shah ... Check out his post history and suddenly all becomes clear.

The only reason I checked is because the training plans are totally irrelevant to this thread being essentially "couch to just get round" 5k and 10k plans. 

Viral Shah wrote (see)

Not sure who's a beginner and who's a more advanced runner but just thought I would share this site on training for various types of races (marathon, half marathon,  5K & 10K).

 

Ho hum.

On 27 October Cicero wrote (see)

New 5k PB today at Dulwich parkrun 19:50! Sub 20!!

Splits 3:58, 3:57, 3:56, 4:10, 3:49. My left shoe came untied in k4 and though I chose to ignore it perhaps it affected me more than I realised at the time.

Further small PB on 24 November - no parkruns since 27 October due to a variety of factors.

Saturday's PB 19:47. Paced by an 18:01 runner which really helped. Splits 4:00, 4:02, 3:57, 4:01, 03:47. Next milestone target 19:30 ...

Next race is Perivale 5 mile on Sunday 2 December. Automatic PB since it's my first race over the distance, but am going to try and run it at 40 minute 10k pace to help with my next 10k ... Though not sure when that will be yet since I'm struggling to find something close that my diary can cope with.

In other news I just entered the Bournemouth Bay Run - Half Marathon - https://www.bhf.org.uk/get-involved/events/runs-and-jogs/event-information/bournemouth-bay-run.aspx. A great course and well organised event and thoroughly reasonable £16 entry.

Another nice PB Cicero, I think you should be in 40 minute 10k pace in the next 3 months, just need to get that 5k down to around 19:20.

I'm still struggling after my ankle injury, that's more or less recovered now but I tried a tempo run on Monday and had lost a ridiculous amount of fitness in  a month and I've now developed a hip problem! So I've now taken this week off.

5 weeks now of no run, so will be starting back almost from step one when I can run pain free again, very frustrating.

Good running Cicero - the sub 40 can't be far away.  Was that with an official pacer or just some guy you knew?

Leamington Parkrun is difficult to pace as basically it all uphill for the first half then all downhill on the way back.  There is also a very steep uphill section of about 100m at 5-10%, so its impossible to run anything like an even pace.

Recent Coombe 8 xc went well, although time of 58:07 is fairly meaningless, official distance was 8.3, bit I and a number of others logged it at around 7.7 miles . I finished ahead of a couple of my clubs ladies (they won the team prize) when previously i've come in slightly behind.  I'll take that as a sign of improvement.

I've not been able to find a convenient 10k in the near future too.  Club xc handicap race this weekend, then that probably it until after Christmas.

Running the 5 miler at sub 40 pace is a good plan - should give you a good idea of where you are currently.

Lou Diamonds wrote (see)

Good running Cicero - the sub 40 can't be far away.  Was that with an official pacer or just some guy you knew?

A friend. My coach in fact from the Running School in East Dulwich. I know some parkruns have pacers for certain times, but I'm guessing Dulwich isn't yet big enough. Typically just under a 100 runners. The Leamington parkrun sounds hard!

Lou Diamonds wrote (see)

Running the 5 miler at sub 40 pace is a good plan - should give you a good idea of where you are currently.

Well it was a good plan ... Which actually didn't come off as badly as I thought when, as I started, my watch didn't. Tried a couple of presses, but something was up. Probably user error. I've yet to go back to it and confirm that it does still work. So with no watch on and not being able to spot the mile markers I had little clue as to how I was running. (Event details state markers every mile, but I'm notoriously bad at noticing anything when running.) I'd planned to run 6:30 miles hence aiming for 32:30 which is a little outside 40:00 10k - 40:23 in fact. Reasoning here being that I currently feel that my next 10k attempt should be a more measured attempt at a good PB - 40:30ish - rather than an all out attempt at sub 40:00.

I asked a friendly looking runner what pace he was aiming for after about 500m and he said 6:20 so I thought I should let him go, but not too far. I lost track of him after about 3 miles, but take into account my comments about me noticing things

Not having my watch on it felt all but impossible to push towards my target pace. I just settled in and made myself uncomfortable. All I can say is I still had a little left at the end as I didn't see the finish coming up. (You know what I'm going to say.)

So, all in all, when the results were published I was actually quite pleased with a 33:11. Plenty of room for a PB next time anyway.

Last minute entry in Moreton Morrell 10k yesterday.  I had assumed it was on Sunday and that that it clashed with a mates 40th birthday, but when I realised it was on the Saturday morning I thought it would be a good opportunity to finish off my first year of running which started with a 44:52 in the Leamington Regency back in April.

My mind was on sub 41 but found that another guy from our club was running and that he would probably get close to 40, so decided to stick with him.  He started quicker than I expected but the course drops about 100ft over the first mile and is then fairly flat before climbing back up to the finish.  Stuck with him feeling fairly comfortable and realised that if I managed to keep it up I was on target for around 40.  Went past him at 8km and then hit the final climb back up to the finish.  

What a bastard of a hill! I knew it was coming and battled up it passing a couple of guys on the way but knew the sub-40 was slipping away.  Anyway, finished in 40:15, which I was very pleased with and rather surprised by.  Bring on 2013. 

Lou, so close!

Relatively little running since my last post, but thought I'd check in. I took a week out after the 5 mile race on 2/12 and on returning struggled with what felt like ITB caused knee pain in a couple of easy runs on 11/12 and 13/12. Both were cut short and I had to walk to avoid the pain which kicked in around 6k. Felt pretty low about this, but took advice and have been doing regular foam roller work since.

Decided to parkrun on Saturday 15/12 - it's less than 6k! - and felt fine. In fact I ran a 19:51 which I was very pleased with. This morning I went out intending to go through the 6k barrier and see what happened ... Managed 9k and though there was a hint of knee pain around 7k/8k there was nothing intense and I didn't need to slow or stop. So, fingers-crossed and foam roller at the ready, I'm hoping to taper my run distances back up and get fit for another 10k attempt in the new year.

Cicero, I had something similar to your ITB pain a few months ago, I found that the foam rolling and a few other stretches worked wonders. The key thing is to keep doing them, as I found some pain returning pretty quickly as soon as I went a few days without rolling/stretching.

Lou, that's a cracking effort sir.  Well done

Iwan, thanks for your input. Which other stretches particularly? I've finally accepted that foam roller is a permanent part of the programme so I'm doing that regularly, but would be interested to know if there are some stretches I'm not doing that I could be.

Managed an 18:17 5k at the Cardiff Parkrun this morning (according to my Garmin), which represents a 53 second pb!

I've been back training since just before the new year after my ankle injury and am now really seeing the benefits of consistent 50 mile weeks over the last month or so (no real speedwork yet).

Anyone else made any had any races over the last couple of months?

Thats a huge improvement over 5K Iwan. That'll surely transfer to a great 10K improvement too!

I got a 5 mile PB a few weeks ago in a race (29 mins 11 secs). I was aiming for sub 29 mins in the hope that it would prepare me for a low 36 min 10K next Saturday.

Since then, I've managed a 17:43 5K time trial and a 23:06 4 mile time trial. Fingers crossed the low 36 min 10K might be a realistic goal?!?! 

Iwan Jones 4 wrote (see)

Thanks Jamie, yeah hoping that will translate to comfortably under 38 minutes for the 10k when I run Bristol in May. 2 months to add in some speedwork.

They sound like very quick time trials there, are they just run on your own? I don't think I have the willpower for that sort of sustained effort in training! I think that 36 should be do-able off that kind of 5k in training tho. What's the current pb?

Matt they are very quick times for 50 miles a week! Quite encouraging tho, as I feel like 50-60 miles/week is my limit at the moment. How many tempo's/intervals do you do in a normal week?

Thanks Iwan, I've never found it a problem running near race effort time trials in practice for some strange reason.......I quite like the hard work, and yes I do them all alone.

On Friday I did that 4 mile time trial at my intended 10K race pace 5:48 per mile and came in 6 seconds inside.........that said an extra 2.21 miles at that pace on race day might be too ambitious for me! But I'll be trying my best.

That 5K time trial was actually a 5K PB for me. I've never raced that distance........we don't have many 5Ks locally. Its a shame because my competence probably suits the shorter distances.