This week’s new development in the 10K training plan is the tempo run. I’m basing my plan loosely on
Hal’s intermediate program – having taken with a pinch of salt his definition of an intermediate runner ("You should be running five to six times a week, averaging 15-25 miles weekly training" - ha) – and simply thrown out half of the sessions.
So based on his suggestion that the tempo run should be "a continuous run with a buildup in the middle to near race pace. (Notice I said "near" race pace. You don't want to go faster than your 10-K race pace.)", I elected for a peak of a mile at my “dream” target pace of 45 mins for the 10K (7:12 / min). As a long-term eschewer of GPS and other clever watches, monitoring spot pace isn’t really possible for me, so I braved the user interface of MapMyRun and measured out a mile in the middle of my usual short route.
I kinda knew that I wasn’t going to complete the middle mile in the requisite 7:12. Running fast in training always seems infinitely harder than in an event; the race-day bonus caused by adrenaline, other runners, the crowd, the desire to do one’s best on a one-off occasion, or whatever it is, never ceases to amaze me.
So I set out at a gentle jog, stepped it up to nearer my normal “tempo” pace after half a mile or so, then at the pre-determined point started the watch and kicked down at what felt something like 10K race pace (it’s been over a year, how would I know?)
It felt closer to fartlek sprint pace than anything sustainable, but after a little while I settled into some sort of rhythm, which clearly meant that I was going to slowly. How I was ever meant to keep this up for 6 miles I had no idea.
But the finish line approached with me not feeling too bad, I put on a little sprint, stopped the watch, lingered under a street lamp to check the time… 6:59. Well I never. That was really quite gratifying. Whether I can repeat it 6 times over while only dropping 13 sec / mile is another matter, but if I continue to work myself hard over the next six weeks it might just be possible. I gradually brought the speed down, arriving home at a gentle jog, with only a long easy run left to complete this week.
Incidentally, I notice that Hal has
written a novel. I don't wish to sound unkind, but judging by the synopsis and sample chapters, I think he'd struggle to gain entry to the RC literary circle*.
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* As would I.
The rest of 2010 - between marathons
