run 10k in less than an hour

Went around the 10km course the other day and shaved 5 minutes off my overall time. How? By not stopping to walk!

So I’ve finally managed to continuously jog 10k and did it in 1hr 7m, which means I’m 7 minutes off my goal. Which means I have to somehow bump up the pace. The cycling seems to help with this because I can power around the place and so long as I keep in a high gear my legs are getting good rotational exercise which makes my hips and thighs stronger leading – hopefully – to a faster running pace.

What is demoralising, though, is when you’re wheezing your way along and some expert comes scooting up and passes you like you’re standing still without breaking a sweat and talking on their mobile headset about commodity futures.

Spoke to a friend the other day who suggested finding the slowest pace that you can maintain without keeling over gasping for air, and then just keep going.

So off I went (full of bounce at the start of course) then a slow degeneration into slightly above walking pace finishing with a walk after only 2 miles. The main problem isn’t the breathing, it seems to be the strength in my legs – they get tired and the movement is repetitious. Anyway, I walked for about 100m or so and then got back into the jogging pace and kept going for as long as I could but then dropped back into walking again.

This carried on for the whole circuit, except that this time I managed to walk less and run/jog more (progress!) and I hit the 10k mark at 1hr 12min. So now I have a time and position to aim for.

My friend’s advice about finding the pace is important because it keeps your average speed up and strengthens the running muscles gradually.

I’m also alternating between running and cycling each day with 1 day off per week and I’ll see how that goes.

Managed to drag my sorry flabby carcass 12km but it took 1hr 40m with a mixture of running and walking. Thankfully more running than walking, but still a very slow pace – 7.5kph.

Need to continue interval training to build up speed.