Tuesday, June 5, 2012

I'm Getting Schooled... Part 4 of 5 (10k Training Plan)

As I alluded to in the first part of this series, I have done alright on my own as a runner, and have come a long way since my clueless beginnings.  However, my marathon PR still sits 20 minutes away from a Boston Qualifier, and I am looking for better improvements.  Hence, it's time for a coaching change (I'm firing myself).


With the change comes a new and welcome training plan, customized for me by Coach Wadsworth.  In the short term, I've got my sights on a 10k race, and that training plan is what I'm going to share with you today.  While this 5 week 10k training plan was tailored for me, I'm sure there are many runners who could gain something by it.


I would describe the plan as advanced, and geared toward a half or full marathoner who needs to squeeze in a 10k.  Note that the minimum daily mileage besides Sundays and race week is 6 miles, and it maxes out at about 56 miles in the third week.  One possible inconvenience is instead of listing paces for each workout, the speed is determined by heart rate zones.  I will go into more details after the training plan chart.

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Rest or
(E-A) 6 miles
(E-A) 6 miles
(E-A) 7 miles/strides
(T) 2 miles
(E-A) 7 miles
(E-A) 10 miles
Rest
Intervals 4x800, 4x400, 4x200 meters w/equal jog rest (T-I) zone
(E-A) 7 miles
(E-A) 7 miles/strides
(T) 3 miles
(E-A) 7 miles
(A) 12 miles
Rest
Fartlek
15x60 sec. w/equal jog rest (T-I) zone
(E-A) 7 miles
(E-A) 8 miles/strides
(T-I) 4 miles progressive
(E-A) 7 miles
(A) 14 miles
Rest
Intervals 5x1000, 4x200 meters w/equal jog rest (T-I) zone
(E-A) 7 miles
(E-A) 7 miles/strides
(T-I) 4.5 miles progressive
(E-A) 6 miles
(A) 10 miles
Rest

Fartlek
10x90 sec. w/ 2 min. jog rest
(E-A) 6 miles
(E-A) 5 miles/strides 8x200 meter fast w/ 200 jog
(E-A) 4-5 miles
Easy jog 3-4 miles w/ strides
10k Race
Rest























Notes: Blue denotes a recovery week.  Week 1 was denoted a recovery week because I just raced a half marathon the day before.
Heart Rate Training Zones:
(E) - Easy/Recovery Zone:  70% LT - 84% LT*
(A) - Aerobic Maintenance Zone:  85% LT - 95% LT*
(T) - Threshold/Steady Zone:  Lactate Threshold HR ± 2%*
(I) - Interval Zone: 102% LT - Max HR*
*To make this plan as generic as I could, I converted the zones to percentages of Lactate Threshold.  You will have to either get a LT test done or make some educated guesses to obtain desired heart rates.  One estimate to determine LT is to take 85% - 90% of your max HR.  My LT is about 88% of my Max HR.  If you want to throw out all this Lactate Threshold and heart rate stuff, you could simply think of the 4 zones as slow, medium, fast, and fastest.

One of my pet peeves of a lot of other training plans found across the world wide web is they only give minimal information like distance and maybe a 2 word description.  They might say nothing about intensity or specifics of the speed work.  Hopefully I can fill in the gaps.
  • E-A runs start in the Easy zone, finish in the Aerobic zone.
  • Jog between intervals.  Allow HR to dip below Easy zone before starting next one.
  • For all Interval, Threshold, or Fartlek days add a 2-3 mile easy warm-up and a 2-3 mile cool-down to what's listed in the chart.
  • The fartlek repetitions should get gradually faster (progressive) so that although they might last the same duration, you should cover greater distances as the workout goes on.
  • Strides are 100-200 meter accelerations at 80-95% max speed with a short 1-2 minute rest between. Aim for 4-8 repetitions and relaxed but fast running.  Do strides at the end of the day's run with no jogging in between.
Feel free to contact me if I left out any details.  Maybe this training plan will be helpful to others who are needing to mix things up a bit like I did.  In my final post for my coaching series, I will go over what all this advice has been costing me.  Thanks for reading.



Go To:
Part 1 of 5 (My New Coach)

Part 3 of 5 (AlterG)

Part 5 of 5 (Coaching Costs)


9 comments:

Coy Martinez said...

This is a ton of math for an art brained person like. I do enjoy following my heart rate zones while I run. I find that most of the time I run at about 70 - 80%. I really don't enjoy speedwork, if I'm gonna get any better I think I need to learn to love it a little more. :)

You're gonna BQ and then you'll be forced to rename your blog :)

Johann said...

This looks really good. What time are you going for in the 10k?

Robin said...

Sounds like a good plan. I too like that you have the extra info on speeds etc.

On the Right Track said...

wow...it sounds like you are learning a lot ;)

sounds great!

Meghan said...

I think I need a coach to figure out all this math!! I can't wait to hear about your results @ the 10K

Char said...

It's going to be fun to watch the changes as you train - seeing if all this good science is more effective than just running by feel.

Anonymous said...

It is fun reading your blog and will be interesting to see you change as you train...blessings

Terzah said...

This is such a great series! I think this will be a really great 10k for you. How often do you and your coach check in with each other? Will the plan change if you get sick or something else comes up?

Cory Reese said...

That looks like a great plan. I like how it takes all the guess work out of what someone is supposed to be doing.