I Ran 10K...So Now What?
PinkNinjaLaura
Posts: 3,202 Member
Last week I finished the Hal Higdon novice 5K-to-10K program. I focused solely on building distance. I made note of my pace after each run but never looked during the run. The first several weeks of training I had negative splits because I would start out cautiously and then speed up when I got to the point where I knew I would be able to finish. As I went further along and got more comfortable with pacing on my longer runs I got more consistent.
I'm one of those people who has to have a plan. I had an Excel spreadsheet listing out each day's planned workouts (or rest days) for 11 weeks. My spreadsheet is done as of today. My first thought was to jump into the Hal Higdon novice 15K/10 mile training plan, but after today's 5K race I'm thinking I might want to focus on building speed next, especially since I'm going to have to start treadmill running soon during the week. But I don't even know where to start.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Advice?
I'm one of those people who has to have a plan. I had an Excel spreadsheet listing out each day's planned workouts (or rest days) for 11 weeks. My spreadsheet is done as of today. My first thought was to jump into the Hal Higdon novice 15K/10 mile training plan, but after today's 5K race I'm thinking I might want to focus on building speed next, especially since I'm going to have to start treadmill running soon during the week. But I don't even know where to start.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Advice?
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I use Smartcoach, it gives you intervals and tempo runs which will help your speed, while increasing your distance.0
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I use Smartcoach, it gives you intervals and tempo runs which will help your speed, while increasing your distance.
Thanks! Is that a phone app?0 -
I don't think the app is available any more, I use the online version.0
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It on Runners World under the "training plan" tab.0
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Thanks ladies! I'll check it out.0
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It had me put in a time from a recent race. Instead of using my skewed race results from yesterday's 5K, I put in my time from my 10K run the week before. I picked the 15K training plan. It has me running 2 minutes a mile slower than I have been running. I also put the plan out for 16 weeks and it doesn't have me start doing any kind of speed work (just easy runs) until week 6, and those first 5 weeks are all lower weekly mileage than what I have been doing. I tried doing it again changing it from "moderate" to "hard" intensity but that didn't adjust any of those things, at least in the early weeks. Does that seem right? Or am I messing something up?0
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I had the same problem when I tried to use the Smart coach for bridging to 10K. It had me running a full 2 minutes per mile slower than what I consider my easy pace. So I decided to go with the Hal Higdon Novice 10K plan instead. (I haven't been good at staying on that plan since this is the most hectic time of year schedule-wise.) But the Smart Coach plan made me wonder if I should slow down more. Because of that I have been running my "long" (anything over 4 miles) at a full minute slower than my normal pace for 2-3 mile runs. I still have not figured out speed work. But I do try to throw in hilly runs to help build my strength. I have been getting faster on my shorter runs mainly due to the fact that after running longer distances, they feel easier. I'll be very interested to see what you find out.0
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I was looking at the Active 5K-to-10K app that I already bought. I was originally going to start that after finishing C25K but quickly decided I wanted to focus on building distance, so I switched to the Hal Higdon plan instead. The Active version does incorporate steady runs, tempo runs and fast runs, so that might be the way to go: repeat 5K-to-10K but with a different focus.0
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It has you put in ranges, and starts you on the low side of the range. It doesn't add speed work until you're running 10 miles a week. You can either consider the drop in miles as a gift to keep running fun or skip ahead a few weeks to continue running almost the same distance.
However, you're probably running your easy runs too fast. Most people do. Consider the easy run pace a maximum and the speed work paces as a minimum.0 -
It has you put in ranges, and starts you on the low side of the range. It doesn't add speed work until you're running 10 miles a week. You can either consider the drop in miles as a gift to keep running fun or skip ahead a few weeks to continue running almost the same distance.
However, you're probably running your easy runs too fast. Most people do. Consider the easy run pace a maximum and the speed work paces as a minimum.
I think the range I put was 6-11 miles. I have been running 2 miles on Mondays, 3 on Wednesdays, and then my longer runs on Saturdays, so the most mileage I've put in during one week is 11.2.
I'm confused by the easy run pace. I don't look at my pace when I'm running (just when I'm done) so I'm really just moving at a pace that feels comfortable and feels sustainable. But that's too fast for an easy run? Honestly I run pretty much that same pace for both my 3 mile runs and my longer runs. (The 2 mile runs are when I do hills.) If I'm on the treadmill though I can set the pace at whatever so I can certainly slow down if that's the smarter way to go.0 -
The easy runs and long runs are for building up aerobic fitness so running them faster isn't really of any benefit, though saying that I did run mine slightly faster than the pace recommended but not by much, and sometimes on my long runs I would occasionally run them at more of a tempo run pace just to give me an idea where I was at for race pace. I think you have to think long term, it's more about staying injury free. The times might feel slow but I was happy with my race results, although what I did with it was, rather than putting in my last race time (I hadn't done any races) I adjusted the time I entered until the expected race time at the end was the race time I wanted.0
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The easy runs and long runs are for building up aerobic fitness so running them faster isn't really of any benefit, though saying that I did run mine slightly faster than the pace recommended but not by much, and sometimes on my long runs I would occasionally run them at more of a tempo run pace just to give me an idea where I was at for race pace. I think you have to think long term, it's more about staying injury free. The times might feel slow but I was happy with my race results, although what I did with it was, rather than putting in my last race time (I hadn't done any races) I adjusted the time I entered until the expected race time at the end was the race time I wanted.
Maybe I should try that. The race time it gave me for a 10K is the exact time it took me to run it my first try, so it isn't giving me any improvement at all. And what I'm running now I would consider an easy pace, so 2 minutes a mile slower than that seems like an awfully big drop.0 -
After all that I asked my trainer tonight what to do and I'm going to do the Hal Higdon novice 15K program next. Closer to spring we'll start doing more speed/interval work.
Thank you seriously for all your advice. I've learned so much from all of you and value your opinions.0 -
What you want is clear differentiation. Your speed work needs to be fast, your easy runs slow. If you run your easy runs too fast, you won't be able to push as hard during speed work. Etc.0
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What you want is clear differentiation. Your speed work needs to be fast, your easy runs slow. If you run your easy runs too fast, you won't be able to push as hard during speed work. Etc.
I tried to do that last summer (after finishing C25K the first time) and wasn't very good at it, but in hindsight my only/best speed at the time was probably best described as a warm-up jog so it was pretty much impossible for me to try to build on that. When I think about doing it now I flash back to how hopeless that felt. I'm not the same runner I was a year ago so my brain knows it's not a fair comparison, but that's where my gut goes anyway.0 -
I didn't even start any speed work until about 3 months after the program....0
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