Got the 5K's down - so how do I attack this 10K?

[tmbacon]

I just got back into running again in February, after taking an 8-year hiatus. I did a 5K today and was fairly pleased with my results - 25:45 finish, 11th out of 59 for my age group (female 35-39). I feel pretty good about my approach for attacking a 5K, and I'm doing my very first 10K in 2 weeks. My long runs are coming in around 7-8 miles, so I am slowly working on my endurance as well.

I'd love to get a good time for this 10K coming up, so I can use it for the Princess Half next year. I've been reading up on various tactics for how to approach running a 10K successfully, but would love to hear some first-hand experience from others. 10K is such a weird distance for me - I don't think there is any way I can use the same pace as for a 5K, but I still want to finish strong - would love to hear anyone's tips or tricks on this one!!! Thanks!!!

 

[jmasgat]

Tanya Great result for your 5k! My running book has a chart (and there are race time predictors out there if you Google) that shows that based on your 5k, your predicted 10k would be around 53:40. That's about 8:40/mile vs th 8:18 pace that you ran. So I would go out around that pace (or maybe 8:30 or so) for the first few miles and then pick it up if you still feel good. For this length of race, I like the idea of going a little faster than I "should run", which is why I suggested the 8:30 time.

This advice falls into the "Do as I say and not as I do", cause I don't know if that's how I've run my 10k (no Garmin). I'm sure I went out faster than I would have thought I should.

Maura

 

[John VN]

What ever you do, watch out for injury.

Good luck.

 

[tmbacon]

Thanks Maura, that's very helpful info! I'll try that tactic in terms of my pace. That is my biggest fear, is starting out too fast and losing steam.

And John - I will definitely watch for injury. In fact I am currently doing some PT with a sports med doctor for an old and recurring 'runner's knee' problem. He's given me the green light to keep running, as long as I follow his guidance and his program.

 

[fashionista311]

I definitely struggle with pacing myself for races - I don't think I mentally push the pace as much as I should sometimes. But I would say start out somewhat conservative for the first 3 miles, and then really try and nail it home for the last 3.1. Also keep in mind any difference in terrain (hilly?) and weather (hotter) and adjust your pace according. There's also just some days too when your body feels "on" and some days just aren't your days. If you are that's great and push as hard as you can...and if it's not your day, that's ok too - there will be plenty of other races.

Also for Princess - anything under an hour for a 10k will definitely get you corral A and you are so there, so don't let that stress you out.

 

[FFigawi]

I'm with Maura on this. The biggest mistake people make when trying to really run a great 10k is to start too slowly and try to build as they go. It's much easier on the body and gets you a better time to run constant 8:30s than to start at 8:50 and drop to 8:45, 8:40, etc. Plus, there's nothing wrong with starting steady, trying to pick it up at the end, and bonking. If every race you run, you feel fine at the finish and wish you had gone faster, you haven't run fast enough. You have to push, push, push and crash every once in a while in order to get your fastest results.

 

[Qltrgrl2]

Tanya,

I am a new runner, so I can tell you what I did on Saturday to give you some perspective..... My 10K ended with a negative split with the first 5K at 28:45 and the second at 27:71 with a time of 56:06. It is hard to know if you are going out too fast and it was interesting to me to see the number of people I passed on the second 5K. I need to trust my endurance a little more and racing experience will help. This was just my second 10K and I hope it is good enough to put me in the same corral as my sister at the Disneyland 1/2 in September.
Good Luck on Saturday!
Pam

 

[tmbacon]

Tanya,

I am a new runner, so I can tell you what I did on Saturday to give you some perspective..... My 10K ended with a negative split with the first 5K at 28:45 and the second at 27:71 with a time of 56:06. It is hard to know if you are going out too fast and it was interesting to me to see the number of people I passed on the second 5K. I need to trust my endurance a little more and racing experience will help. This was just my second 10K and I hope it is good enough to put me in the same corral as my sister at the Disneyland 1/2 in September.
Good Luck on Saturday!
Pam

Thanks Pam, that is a FANTSTIC time for your 10K! I hear you completely when you say to "trust my endurance" more. I am working on gaining confidence in my running, this is definitely an area where I am falling short. I KNOW I can do this 10K, but I am just so darn nervous. But being anxious can be a good thing, I just need to work on channeling that nervous energy positively.

Good luck on getting in the corral as your sister!!!

 

[verticalchaos]

Good luck! I've decided 10K is my least favorite distance. For me, it's too long to go all-out from the start, but it's too short to get into my good HM rhythm.

YMMV, and it clearly does with some on here, but I'm not a fan of going out fast and then maybe speeding up. I'd rather start a little slower and build, and that works best for me so far. When I tried going out at so-called "race pace" in my last 10K it wasn't pretty. I walked way more than I have in anything since the 4-miler when I was having breathing issues because in the 10K, my so-called "race pace" was way too fast to maintain over the course. I somehow eeked out a PR, but I don't know how I did it. I was miserable at least 80% of the race. Next one I'm going to do the slow and build thing that works so well for me in my other races - and in my training runs.

 

[tmbacon]

I just wanted to say that thanks to everyone's advice on this thread, I finished the 10K this morning in 53:21....about 2 minutes faster than my goal! I felt really good, but also realize I've got work to do and feel totally OK with that. Maura, I set my pace for around 8:40 and stayed pretty steady with that except for mile 4 where my pace went way down to 9:02. I picked it up though on mile 5 and 6 with 8:33 and 8.15 splits.

So now that I've got this first 10K under my belt, I can figure out where I need to improve and push it even further for the next race.

Thank you again everyone for the great advice and support!!!

 

[jmasgat]

TanyaExcellent! And the fact that you were able to run the last 2 miles at faster pace is a sign that you are strong and have potential for more.

Good luck figuring out what to do next.

Maura

 

[John VN]

Absolutely fantastic and completing with a kick!

 

[FFigawi]

Great job! Way to finish string!

 

[cobbler]

I'm not sure if this is much help but there is an Ipod/Iphone app called couch to 5K by Alex Stankovic (app looks like a little white stick type person running in green circle). Yeah I know, you've done the 5K.

But he also did an app that has the same look - white stick person, green circle - called Bridge to 10K and that is what I used after completeing the 5K app.

Don't know if it helps but I liked it.