Tempo length for Bolder Boulder 10K training

I am running a tempo or threshold run of 5K in preparation for the upcoming 2013 Bolder Boulder 10K. I will run this once a week in May. I run them at my threshold pace of 8:51 mm except for the tempo run 2 weeks before the BB when I will run at my predicted 10K pace of 8:43. How I came up with these paces is the subject of my last post. This post is my reasons for training with a 5K tempo. Runners who train for fitness or 5K are advised to run a minimum tempo of 20 minutes duration. I run my 2.3 mi course in 22:00. I add one .9 miles lap to get a 3.2 mile or 5K tempo run.

Experts give Bolder Boulder 10K training advice

The training technique to emphasize so I will have a good time in the 2013 Bolder Boulder 10K is the Tempo run according to Mike Sandrock. His latest column in the Daily Camera quotes Melody Fairchild and Frank Shorter tips on using Tempo runs to train for the BB. In years past Sandrock has said the key to running a good BB is to run 400 meter intervals. I am not a big fan of going to the track to run 400's so the shift in emphasis to the Tempo is good news to me. My questions about the Tempo run have been how fast and how long should it be. The Tempo is also called the Threshold run because it's supposed to be at the pace where your body changes from aerobic to anaerobic. Running at threshold pace increases your anaerobic threshold with minimal wear and tear on your body. The problem has always been how do you know what this pace is? Some writers advocate run at a pace that you do not have to breathe hard, that is you can sense if you are at the threshold. I can, sort of, but I come up with widely varying times for different days. Other coaches say just subtract 30 seconds or 20 seconds from your latest 5K pace. Every coach seems to have a different way to to establish the threshold pace and I chose Jack Daniel's method because he has put his formula on the web here. I highly recommend his calculator that does a lot more than just calculate threshold pace.

Running Plan for 2013

This is my running plan for 2013. It is driven by two races I want to run, the Bolder Boulder 10K on Memorial Day and the Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving. Significant changes from the previous year are I aim for 13.5-19.5 miles a week, run 4 days a week, use my Bowflex resistance machine 3 days a week, use the E Boulder Rec center for treadmill workouts and modified my weekday workouts to have a longer warm up. On Tuesday and Thursday in December and January I warm up with a 1.5 mi run to the turnaround point, then 8 10-20-30 intervals or 1.0 mi threshold run back to the 2.5 mi point followed by a .5 mi cool down. I increase my weekly mileage every month by 10% and peak at 19.5 mi/wk for the month prior to my race. A 10% increase is 1.5 miles distributed equally among the intervals, threshold and long runs. I run an easy 3 mi on every Saturday. My long run is 33% of weekly mileage. The 3 off days from running has allowed my damaged knee to recover to the point I do not notice it at all. It may be a different story in May when I am running my maximum mileage.

Completed 6 weeks of training

I finished 6 weeks of base training today. I ran 18 10-20-30 intervals, 2 mi tempo, 4 mi long run and 3 days of 2 mi recovery every week. I ran the last 4 mi 2 minutes faster than the previous 5. My next race is the Thanksgiving Day 5K at Pott's Field in Boulder, CO. I will continue with the same training schedule and not increase the number of intervals or the mileage of the tempo. I plan on increasing the long run to 5 mi and the easy recovery runs to 2.5 mi.

October Running Plan

I finished three straight weeks of training for the Turkey Trot 5K at Potts Field. I know I said I would add distance to the Long and Tempo runs now but I am going to lower their paces instead. I cannot continue running my Long run at 10:40 min/mi. I cannot run that slowly, it is just not natural. For October I will run Long at 10:00 min/mi and Tempo at my anaerobic threshold of 9:00 min/mi. I am going to run 18 10-20-30 intervals on Tuesday. This is down from the 20 per day I ran in September because I am changing from resting after 5 min into jogging at the 55th St underpass and Wellman Ditch bridge. That knocks out one interval for the outbound one mile but I will take a good rest when I turn around. Taking the Easy runs as a recovery run after each of the hard days (Intervals, Tempo and Long) has worked very well. I'll do three more weeks of this and then find a Halloween 5K to see where I am at. Then I will have three more weeks of training for the Thanksgiving 5K. I hope not increasing my mileage keeps me injury free until then.

I Need More Recovery Time

The old adage of taking one day off from running for every mile you raced does not apply to me anymore. I raced 5K eight days ago and I am still hurting. It was my first race in 2 1/2 years and I lost the ability to land on my forefoot at about 1 mile. My knees took a pounding for the last 2 miles and I felt twinges in my damaged left knee on this morning's run. I did run 4x5 10-20-30 intervals four days after the race and that was a mistake. Since then I have stopped intervals and have just been running easy 2 miles. I may continue that into next week if the knee pain persists. I also have reassessed my September training plan to address my lack of endurance in last weeks 5K. I will go back to Tempo runs in place of one of the 10-20-30 interval days. My week will be: Mon-Off, Tue-2mi Easy, Wed-2mi Tempo, Thu-2mi Easy, Fri-4x5 10-20-30 Intervals, Sat-2mi Easy, Sun-4mi Easy.

September Running Plan

I looked up my VDOT in Daniels' Running Formula Chapter 3 Measuring Your Starting Point. For my 26:24 time, 8:30 min/mi pace, in yesterday's 5K race it is VDOT = 36. Then I went to another table in the book and found my Easy and Long run pace should be 10:40 min/mi. I have been doing Easy runs of 2 mi three times a week at around 9:40 min/mi and Long runs of 4 mi once a week at around 10:20. The Easy runs have been way too fast to allow for adequate recovery from the 10-20-30 intervals and Long runs. I did not know that until yesterday. My Easy runs in September will still be 2 miles but at a 10:40 pace. The actual Long run pace is only 20 seconds per mile too fast and I plan on increasing the Long run from 4 mi to 6 mi by the end of September. This should slow my pace down to 10:40 and increase my endurance because of the increased distance. I do not plan on changing my paces in my 10-20-30 intervals because running the 90%-70%-30% of maximum speed in each phase is overkill. I will continue to sprint for 10 seconds, concentrate on my form for 20 seconds and jog for the 30 second recovery. I do plan on increasing my number of 10-20-30 intervals from 3x5 twice a week to 4x5 twice a week by the end of September. The total distance, warm-up + intervals + cool-down, for Intervals will stay at 3 mi because I will add the fourth set to the cool-down. The subjects in the Danish 10-20-30 training study ran between 3x5 and 5x5 sets so I will be right in the middle. There is no local 5K race in September and I will have to wait until October to see if I can improve my 5K time.