Hey guys, I just decided that I want to participate in a 10 km run in april and Iād like some planning advice. I usually donāt do longer runs but rather faster runs (about 9 km/h) for a timed period instead of mileage and covered with walking rests about 4 km.
I usually do more strength training that Iād still like to continue in some form. So my question is, what would be a good plan for doing that?
I thought about either doing my actually planned kettlebell journey twice a week and incorporating 3 runs a week or rather the HIIT and run or run further and do at least a kettlebell circle once or twice a week.
I donāt know how long the distance runs can get in HIIT and run, can someone tell me that?
I just heard that the run further tends to not go long enough to actually cover 10k (at least the first time), so Iām not sure on this journey.
10km is a great achievement and im sure youāll get there by April.
I just recently finished HIIT and run and in my case longest run was 3.5km
Few weeks later I went on a free run to test myself and I got 4.7km without break.
So not sure if this journey is the best for 10k but hey we are all different, this was only my experience.
Hi @gameonplayer thatās a great initiative!
I think you are definitely right in wanting to keep your strength up, it is a great way to complement your runs.
In my opinion, a good way to build a plan, hitting all components of running, would be:
Kettlebell Journey 3 times a week (if you want to keep this journey, it seems that you like it, maybe 3 day in a row)
1 Egyptian God ā HIIT running workout working on your anaerobic
1 Free Run ā 1 long run a week can help build low aerobic, training your body to be more efficient at running. For this one, I wouldnāt try to go for a distance but rather try to run for at least 45-60 min (or 30 min if your not there yet). The goal would be just to build stamina for a long period of time, going slow, keeping the heart rate low. This sort of long low aerobic zone 2 training is highly efficient and complementary to the other exercises youād be doing.
Wow thanks a lot for the detailed plan Tom!
I havenāt done the kettlebell journey yet (only bodyweight journeys with a focus on strength), but Iād like to give it a try, and it sounds like working on muscle condition would also be a good thing for running.
Also the aerobic and anaerobic topic is something that Iāll look into more closely.
Hi @gameonplayer - I was in a similar situation in 2018 when I signed up for my first 10k race. I was lifting and doing Freeletics but never ran more than a mile. Now I have conquered a marathon and numerous 3+ hour trail and spartan races.
The biggest key to getting better at running is consistency. You will see remarkable improvement just by running a little bit every day or every other day with one fast day and one long day per week. Other than the one fast run, try to keep the runs easy and just focus on getting the time on feet. I wouldnāt even track distance other than the fast runs and the long runs. Another big thing to remember is that, like anything with fitness, running is all about slow progression. I would recommend focusing on time. So look at how much time you spend running in a week, and try to increase that by roughly 5-10% every week until you are running roughly 2-3x as long as you think the 10k will take you every week. So if you think that the 10k will take about 1 hour then aim to run 2 hours per week by sometime in early march.
@TomG has a great weekly cadence of 3 Freeletics workouts per week, one interval workout, and one long āfreeā run. My only change to it would be to get in the habit of running as often as possible, even if it is just to go out for 10 minutes before or after the kettlebell sessions. Make sure that these runs are very easy. If you have a Heartrate monitor, try to keep your heart rate lower than 180 minus your age during the easy runs to ensure that you are not stressing your body too much and are using the correct energy systems (aerobic).
If you want to talk through a more detailed training plan, I would be happy to offer some guidance, just shoot me a DM.
Good luck with your training and upcoming race. A 10k is a big accomplishment and worthy challenge!
After my cold is finally gone I tried running for 30 minutes now in the low aerobic zone, as @TomG suggested, but no matter how slow I ran (even ārunningā as slow as my usual walking pace) I was always in the low anaerobic zone. I thought the training was exceptionally easy as I usually run way faster but I could keep it up way longer and am not as exhausted as usual.
Does anyone have any tips for staying and training in the aerobic zone then ?
I would be a little surprised if you were able to train anaerobically for 30 minutes and feel like it was easy so I think thereās something else going on. That you were able to train for longer and not feel as tired suggests you were in the right training zone.
Might be worth doing a threshold test to more accurately estimate your MAX HR, and then calculate your training zones from there.
Anything you do will still be an estimate though unless you do something like a Maximal intensity cycle ergometer test, but I notice that more and more gyms are providing such professional tests in gyms for a couple of hundred euros (at least here in Germany).
Oh wow thanks, well thatās interesting
Unfortunately I donāt really have the money right now to do a professional test but Iāll try to do a threshold test soon.
and Iād like some planning advice. I usually donāt do longer runs but rather faster runs (about 9 km/h) for a timed period instead of mileage and covered with walking rests about 4 km.
?