running advice

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LauraFouhse
LauraFouhse Posts: 115
in Fitness and Exercise
I am a fairly new runner.
My goal is to run 10k.
This weekend I made 7k in 38 minutes which I feel okay about.

My question is: what is the best way to work towards 10k? How soon do I increase my distance? By how much? Is it better to continue to run at a shorter distance and increase my speed and then move on? or?

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  • czmmom
    czmmom Posts: 236 Member
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    When I was increasing my distance, I took one of my runs a week( I usually run 3-4 times a week) and added about 1.5 km or about 10 minutes onto it until I reached the distance I was training for. My other runs are 5-6km . Some people swear by doing speed work. I found what increased my speed was running consistently 3-4 times a week. As I increased my miles, speed increased naturally.
  • _Waffle_
    _Waffle_ Posts: 13,049 Member
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    I am a fairly new runner.
    My goal is to run 10k.
    This weekend I made 7k in 38 minutes which I feel okay about.
    Congrats. Looks like you're progressing nicely.
    My question is: what is the best way to work towards 10k? How soon do I increase my distance? By how much? Is it better to continue to run at a shorter distance and increase my speed and then move on? or?
    I believe the general rule of thumb is to increase your speed or distance no more than 10% a week. Don't worry about speed. Just work on distance. As you're able to run further and further you'll find that your speed increases on it's own.
  • sheltol
    sheltol Posts: 120 Member
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    I think it takes both HIIT and long distance runs. In my opinion they provide very different benefits.
    Hight intensity or speed runs increase you cardiovascular system and it also provides increases in distance.
    Long distance runs help condition your joints and ligaments.
  • running4thehigh
    running4thehigh Posts: 144 Member
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    I am a fairly new runner.
    My goal is to run 10k.
    This weekend I made 7k in 38 minutes which I feel okay about.
    Congrats. Looks like you're progressing nicely.
    My question is: what is the best way to work towards 10k? How soon do I increase my distance? By how much? Is it better to continue to run at a shorter distance and increase my speed and then move on? or?
    I believe the general rule of thumb is to increase your speed or distance no more than 10% a week. Don't worry about speed. Just work on distance. As you're able to run further and further you'll find that your speed increases on it's own.

    Believe the waffle, he knows what he's talking about.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    like others have said, increase your running about 10% every week. do your best not to over do it because "you're feeling in the zone."

    most running plans have you do only one long run a week, with 2-3 other runs that are speed work or just fun medium distance runs. the other days you can rest, and/or cross train. but they also recommend at least one full rest day a week.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
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    Before worrying too much about speed you need to build your aerobic base and give your body time to adapt to running longer distances (if you're interested there's a great book called "The Runners Body" that goes through a lot of this stuff)

    Keep the distance increases conservative (the general rule is nor more that 10% total volume week over week) and stay injury free.

    You didn't mention what other exercises you may be doing but it's very helpful for runners to cross train (bike, row, swim, weights etc) to address muscular imbalances and improve injury resistance.

    Have fun!
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    Is it better to continue to run at a shorter distance and increase my speed and then move on? or?

    Speed comes with distance, not the other way round. Keep adding to your long run until you can comfortably do 12-13km continuously. Once you're doing 25Km per week you can start doing speed play and expect some benefit from it.

    For 10K, three to four runs per week, one long, the others shorter with one at a faster pace.
  • LauraFouhse
    LauraFouhse Posts: 115
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    Thank you so much for the helpful advise. I will try increasing one of my runs by 10% and run a little faster for a shorter distance for another.

    In terms of cross training... I'm actually training for a triathlon so am swimming 3x per week, running 3x per week and biking 3x per week. As well I have a personal trainer and am doing strength training with free weights 3 x per week.

    I was doing HIIT as well but was starting to feel tired so decided to drop it. Should I work it in again?

    This whole fitness thing is completely new to me... so much to learn.. so very exciting.

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