10K Training (Part 2: Race Preparation)

Introduction

The second part (weeks 8 to 16) of my 10K Training was Race Preparation. You can read about the preceding 7 weeks of my 10K Training here: 10K Training (Part 1: Rehab and Hills). My objective was to run on April 13th the Fila Race 10K (Buenos Aires, Argentina) as fast as I could. My revised objective was to run it under 35 minutes. Since starting to work on my 10K racing abilities and specific-endurance I've come to know better my current capabilities of running the 10K distance. I chose to practice with paces that would aim to run a 35-minute 10K. I came to this conclusion after couple of more event-like practices. Last year I ran one 10K race in 39:50 (3:59 min/km). So my progress had been pretty nifty during the last 9 months.

Figure 1: Running the Unicef Rosario 10K.

Training Plan

I read Brad Hudson's and Matt Fitzgerald's book: Run Faster from the 5K to the Marathon: How to be your own best coach. The training philosophy is called adaptive running. Hudson explains how to be your own coach which I find, as being the lonely wolf, very useful for me. This approach suits the educated runner/coach that observes closely the training, the reactions in the body, makes experiments and writes down every day in detail the training that has been done. There must be willingness to adjust the plan and not just follow stubbornly the training plan without thinking or making adaptations. In adaptive running all the key workouts will progress towards the demands of the goal race. Different writers/coaches call pretty much the same elements and practices each with their own names. Hudson and Fitzgerald have divided the athletes' training to three larger ensembles: aerobic-support training, neuromuscular training, and specific-endurance training. The Race Preparation phase in my 10K Training program emphasizes on the specific-endurance training. Aerobic-support and neuromuscular training are the cornerstones of fitness which need to be built first and then just being maintained when moving on to specific-endurance training. My 10K Training cycle was first based on one of Arthur Lydiard's 10K running programs, but later it was influenced by the adaptive running. I will really put the adaptive running to test in my next training cycle.

The Key Workouts

The key workouts in my 10K Training Race Preparation phase were the Long Intervals, Time Trials/Racing, and Short Intervals. Besides that my training included some Fartlek, shorter and longer Recovery Runs as the weekly Long Run was a 90-minute Recovery Run. The Short Intervals became shorter and easier as the training progressed. The Long Intervals and Time Trials/Racing became more event specific, that is to say they became longer and tougher in general.

Long Intervals

Figure 2: Long Intervals Progression.

The specific-endurance training progressed towards more and more race-like workouts. Even though I consider the Marathon my Main Event in which I want to excel in the future, I am still bringing more speed than endurance to a 10K race. That makes me a speedster in a 10K race. In the Long Intervals workouts this means that I can run at the 10K goal pace from the first practice of the specific-endurance training and make progress by trying to run keep the pace longer and longer distances. If I would bring more endurance than speed to the event I would run from the start longer specific-endurance practices but with slower pace than my goal pace and progress by running adding gradually speed during the specific-endurance training. I will go in to more detail about my use of adaptive running in future posts. The progression of my Long Intervals workouts is presented in the Figure 2.

Short Intervals

Figure 3: Short Intervals Progression.

Short Intervals were used early in the Race Preparation. After the three-week period of running Short Intervals they were replaced by even shorter relaxed strides and doing some of the same type of training stimulus in my easy Fartlek practices. Short Intervals provided nice stimulus of running faster than the race pace, but they are less significant than the Long Intervals and the Time Trials. In distance running it is not the speed that limits us, but the ability to resist certain speed for certain distance.

Time Trials

Figure 4: Time Trials Progression.

The Time Trial workouts were an important part of specific-endurance training. I could run them at slightly faster pace than the goal 10K pace close to maximum effort. I made one important observation about the effort levels in practice. If I can run a 5K Time Trial in practice at a pace of 3:27 min/km, next week I can almost run at the same pace a double distance in an actual race. Not that my fitness improved that much but the race adrenaline makes you that much faster and more resistant. In the end I ended up just running one 10K race, but I don't mind that. The training took effect and raised my level of running. The Time Trials progression is presented in Figure 4.

Peak Training Week

The first and most important thing to consider when making a training plan is to decide on the goal race and the date when you want to be at your peak performance. The second most important detail is to plan the Peak Training Week. The Peak Training Week is the toughest training week in the training plan usually couple of weeks (depending on the race distance) before the goal race. All the training progresses towards and culminates in Peak Training Week. If you survive this week with the desired paces and distances, you can be pretty sure that you are well prepared for the goal race to run at your level. In this particular case I ended up running my only race on my Peak Training Week. That is not optimal, but still I proved that my 10K training had worked out and tactically I ended up running a very good race. Here's the Unicef Rosario 10K Race Report. The training log of my Peak Training Week is presented in Figure 5.

Figure 5: Peak Training Week (13/16) training log of the 10K Training.

Peaking

My objective was to run the Fila Race on 13th of April. Less than two weeks before the Race for work related reasons I was forced out of the race. I had been selected for the first time in a road race to run as an Elite, but this time I missed the honors of starting a huge race (10,000 runners) at the front of the pack. But I also started to feel and suspect that I might have peaked already. The running starts to fall apart and mental toughness is reduced at least in the practice. I decided to keep on tapering and elected to train one more week and possibly run a 5K race on the following weekend. I ended up not running any race and felt that the tapering served as an "offseason". The Unicef Rosario 10K was the only race and I ran it on heavy legs, but tactically it was a very good one. Maybe I could have been able to run it even faster with proper tapering, who knows. 

Figure 6: My first elite BIB.

Overall I achieved my objective and most importantly my running fitness was improved during this training cycle. I also learned about coaching myself and training for 10K and training in general. My next big race will be the Bank of America Chicago Marathon (42K) in October in 25 weeks. But for now, I will hang My Diploma of 10K on the wall, see Figure 6.

Work And Play

It's All About Planning

Figure 1: Probably the most famous work related burn-out
in movie history. Jack Nicholson, The Shining.

I'm pretty sure that Jack (played by Jack Nicholson) would not have lost his mind in the movie the Shining if he'd just planned his stay better. All work and no play is not the way go. Or at least if he would've been a runner would've caught his wife before entering the labyrinth, or if that's not convincing, he would've had a better chance of surviving in the labyrinth: running creates tremendous amount of heat. As long as you are running, you don't freeze to death! Been there, done that (Finnish military in Winter).

The number one excuse that I hear is "I don't have time". People waste their time on complaining that they don't have time. And then there are some that have figured it out that if you don't have the time, you just make the time. Prioritize again your life. We should be out there chasing our dreams. The big dreams are not materialistic. They are deep inside every one of us. They are about what you do and just being the person that you want to be. I want to be an athlete. Fine. Now I just have to act like one. Work hard on your dream and life will reward you generously. There's no greater satisfaction than knowing that you've given your best.

The reason I write this post is not to criticize anyone nor am I trying to tell anyone how to live their life. The reason I write this is to show that it is possible and in your own control to take charge of your life. To do what I love I had to give up on sitting in cars in traffic jams and standing in crowded public transportation every morning and afternoon, and use that (extra) time to chase my dreams. Sounds like a bargain to me. They will call you crazy at first and when they see that it actually works they will still call you crazy. And it is true, you certainly stand out of line with this kind of weird behavior. It is not normal. Or maybe it is in Kenya, but not in the West. But I can go to work and still train like professional if I just plan it right.

Everyone of us is at their unique situation and there are quite a few variables to think about when putting together the puzzle. Some of the most important and fundamental things to consider:

• The type of job you have
• The working hours
• Do you need to carry things to and from work
• The distance from home to work
• Do you have a shower at your disposal
• Where can you keep your things
• Traveling

All of these things have a major influence on how to resolve the puzzle. But neither one of these things will prevent you from running (for example). They are just part of the equation at hand and will vary from case to case. I am not going to explain how to cope with each one these variables. Just get creative. The style is free, but mandatory. I guarantee you that there is always a way.

My Way To Do It

Here's how I do it. Monday is my rest day, meaning that I only run very easy home from work. Monday mornings I bring to work all the clean clothes that I plan to use that week in work. I have my locker where I keep my things. Friday is another easy day and that's when I bring back the work clothes in the afternoon. From Tuesday to Thursday I run to and from work according to Figure 2 depending how many times per week I am going to practice (running). I work often weekends, especially on Sundays, but the hours are not carved in stone so creativity has it's use again.

Figure 2: Weekly schedule. AM: Run to work, PM: Run from work,
Evening: Run after work. Low intensity (green), moderate intensity (yellow),
high intensity (red), long run (light blue).

The shortest route to work for me is 8 km. But I often run much longer and do it in the park that is in between my work and home. The only things I'm carrying while running are my keys to home and work and my Sony Walkman. Cell phones, well, I don't like them. If I really need to move my cell phone I do it like this: I remove the sim card, put it in a small plastic bag or sleeve and bring it home (or work) in a small pocket in my shorts. I have an old cell phone at home. But this is just for special occasions. I prefer the De La Soul approach. One of the best things about running is that you get to disconnect from the stressful world.

Traveling

When I have to travel for work (or vacation) I try to make use of that time as recovering from recent exercise. I might do double practice dose right before traveling and then try to relax and put the traveling time in good use. You can not follow too strictly your plans, but you can make the best out of your time, and that's enough. Traveling is not just a distraction, it presents positive things as well: you might get to train at different climate, altitude, temperature, landscape and routes. Take it as a gift, not a distraction and you will be fine. Some of us crazy guys (and gals) run at the airports and airport parking lots. Yes, that's one way to do it.

"In an insane world a sane man must appear insane." -C. William King