A Turbo-Injected 10Km Race Plan

Last Sunday, I woke up at 5:20am wishing I'd be able to run 12km without a knee pain and zero walk break. Any energetic desire to boost up and accelerate was deemed counterproductive. The objective was just a smooth and unproblematic run all the way from home to Silang main roads and back. Nothing fancy, nothing fast, just going for a continuous 12km Sunday long run (a long run is a subjective term!, 12km is already long for right now. hehe.)

6:34 min/km pace and no knee pains. With only a dog pooh sticking on my right running shoe as a notable slight disaster, the comeback long run was successful as compared to last Sunday wherein I almost walked the entire second half of the 12km route. :D

With that, we move on to our 10Km race plan...

Season 2: The Road To Boston

Chapter 2. Road Work
2.2 A Turbo-Injected 10Km Race Plan

Good thoughts are no better than good dreams, unless they be executed. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Our running script for the season has been mostly written. It's time for "lights, camera, action!!!" And it has been a struggle action!!! for me to bring back my best running self lately. Sometimes the plan becomes a lot easier said than done. The body is a much tougher fellow to persuade than the mind.

But I'm trying. I guess it'll be that way until I finally regain that crucial moment of mind-body fusion. 41 kilometers in 10 days of the new year. And more to go. Much more.

So what adjustments were to be made? What's retained? What's clicking? What's new and what's gonna make the training days more exciting?

Last year, I fell on a running trap. I tried to improve my speed with Tempos and Intervals and thought I could get away without running the EASY runs. I tried to build mileage with speed work and BOOM! BANG! BANG! The mistake was costly and it almost ended my running hobby in the form of a right knee injury.

This year, I'd be a fool not to make key adjustments for an injury-free running season.

(1) First on my adjustment list is my foundation-building exercises - strength training by use of weights. Maybe my legs were not strong enough to endure the tough requirements of the marathon.

(2) Second adjustment is to get back to basics - run the EASY runs to build mileage. Last year, I only run 3 days a week. Tuesdays and Thursdays, I do speed work. Sundays, I run long. Most of my runs were Tempos and Intervals so I could improve my running speed. What is so wrong with that schedule? I don't have adequate mileage base to support my fast running days and long running days. I just kept on going for the hard workout (speed and long). This year, I've got to go back to basics. Running the EASY runs consistently. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday mornings, I'll hit the road early and run relaxed and easy. Runner's World suggests:

...studies have shown that even Olympic runners do 75 percent of their weekly training at an Easy, relaxed pace. You should make sure you're not exceeding this amount. Similarly, you should aim for about 10 to 15 percent of total miles at Tempo Pace, and about 5 percent at Interval Pace. Your Long runs should account for 25 to 40 percent of your weekly miles, with the lower percent for runners who are running high weekly mileage.

(3) Third adjustment is to understand, practice and earn the benefits of sprinting. Sprinting is of course the fastest running type there is. But it's only sustainable for a few hundred meters. Nonetheless, I believe there are a lot of running techniques that could be learned from sprinting. Speed form is crucial. So is being able to train yourself for your maximum oxygen threshold.

Last week, on some of my easy 1K loops, my runner friend and I did sprint for a 100m segment of the 1K-loop. That was a blast. It almost emptied our oxygen tank. Feels absolutely wonderful though. While sprinting, I had to take note of my arm swing, leaning angle and foot strike. I will talk more of it later on my upcoming blogs.

(4) Fourth, pay attention to hill training. One of my best race last year was the Rota Run in McKinley Hills. I believe that was because I trained for the hills in Silang-Tagaytay Cavite during my long runs. On the Philippine International Marathon, I struggled against the bridges and flyovers. Why so? Because I pu so much emphasis on Tempos and Race Simulation runs that I neglected much of my long runs on hilly terrains.

(5) Fifth, do quality speed works. Much of my success last year (21-minute 5K and a 44-minute 10K) was mostly the result of RTYPs and Tempo runs. The 10x400m intervals, the 5k tempos and the 21-10-8 marathon simulation runs played a huge part of my training. This year, I will continue doing speed work and hopefully reap the same benefits I had last year.

(6) Sixth, do not neglect the foundation-building exercises (strength, core drills, cross training). It's good to start the season with a strong body conditioned by boxing, basketball and weight training routines. Last year, I tend to drop these exercises as I build my running mileage. This year, I plan to maintain a strong body, a fit core and long lasting stamina by retaining these exercises and making room for them on my weekly training schedule.

(7) Seventh, follow the 2-week training principle. My usual training schedule last year consisted of weekly progressive running. I increase my weekly mileage from week to week trying to get stronger and building my stamina. Week2 is slightly longer in mileage than week1. Week3 is then longer and harder than week2 and so on and so forth.

The 2-week training principle is still a progressive schedule. The major difference is that we will have to repeat the same routine stronger on the following week. For illustration purposes, check the speed work training schedule below. Week2 and Week3 are the same. Then Week4 and Week5 are also same except that they are longer and harder than week2 and week3. The repeat week (Week3 and week5 on this simple example), requires that we get better and stronger as compared to the previous week. So while Week4 and Week5 both have the same 3K Tempo distance, we have got to run better on Week5 as compared to our performance on week4.

Working on this 2-week principle, we get to gauge our development in 2 weeks time. On the repeat week, we can already tell if we are getting better and faster by doing the same routines we did the previous week. Early feedback means a lot so we could adjust our schedule and tell how much we are progressing within each passing week. We would always want to beat ourseleves on the repeat week. This competitive attitude would then fuel us to improve and do better. (We still need to cutback on mileage from time to time to let the body recover.)

(8) Eight and last, we progress with our long runs slowly but surely. Last year, preparing for the marathon, my long runs fluctuated from 27km to 35km in successive Sundays. This year, I would be sticking to the 10% progression rule. I started with 12km long runs. I should be progressing very gradually. Runner's World Tip reads:

When you're training for a specific race, your miles per week should increase gradually by about 10 percent per week up to your highest, comfortable mileage. It's also a good idea to take a "recovery" week every third or fourth week. During this week, you might decrease your weekly mileage by 25 to 40 percent over the previous week.

To summarize the adjustments:

1. Build the foundation for our running body.
2. Build running mileage through easy and maintenance runs.
3. Sprint training.
4. Do not neglect hill training.
5. Do speed work.
6. Continue with the foundation-building exercises throughout the training schedule.
7. Follow the 2-week training principle.
8. Progress with long runs gradually.

Speed Table

Now that our running plan has been settled, we proceed to our speed training goal. How do we really improve our 10K performance. My idea is to carry my interval speed (previously at 1:04-minute for 400m, 2:40 min/km pace) to the race (best race pace is at 21:30 for 5Km, 4:17 min/km pace). I hope to carry my 400m interval speed to 10km as near as possible.

To put the intentions into actions, I plan to start with 400m intervals then carry as much of the speed to 800m and then finally to 1 kilometer. I will track my progress. Next, I will want to carry my interval speed as close to my Tempo speed. I will be running 3km tempos to 5km and then finally to 10km. I will be building my speed endurance little by little and hope to reach my target 10km speed by race day.

This would be my speed table starting this week until the Globe 10Km race on March 21, 2010. On my interval training days, I would record my best time for the interval distances (400m, 800m, 1k). I would do the same with my tempo training days (3k, 5k, 10k). With this table, I could easily track and tell how I am progressing with my running speed. This should be competitively fun - chasing for my best running time during my speed work training days. (A gray box means that distance is not applicable for the week's running schedule.)

Week	Best 400m	Best 800m	Best 1km	Best 3km	Best 5km	Best 10km	Notes
1							No speed work
2	1:08.6						8x400m Intervals
3	1:05.5						8x400m Intervals
4		2:35.94		DNF			6x800m
5		2:38.32		12:06.79			6x800m, 3k Tempo
6			3:50.56		20:43.78		5x1k Intervals, 5k Tempo
7			3:44.62		20:29.72		5x1k Intervals, 5k Tempo
8				11:57.11	19:25.40		3k Tempo, 5k Race
9					19:48.51		5k Tempo
10					20:12.07	43:58.78	6k Tempo, Pocari 10k Race
11						43:49	Globe 10k Race

Our Speed Work Training Table

 

What do you think of the plan? Will it be effective? Any loopholes? 

I would be filling up this Speed Table up until the Globe race in March. See you there.