After the Darlington half last weekend I was buoyed and ready for another race to continue my comeback from the year from hell that was 2018. Seven months of no speed work what so ever had certainly taken it’s toll but the Elliptigo commuting ( http://www.elliptigo.com ) had kept my aerobic fitness and running around like a headless chicken in Kings Park has also helped, albeit on trails and as slow as Jon Pendse running Darlington with a hangover!

Rocking up to the start of the Peninsula I decided that, unlike last year when I set off like a scolded cat,  this year I would try and hang onto the leaders and work my way into the race, hoping the time on the Elliptigo would give me enough cardio base to finish strong. I had tried this at the Point Walter 16k last year and it seemed to work, from what I remembered. Looking at the splits below it does look like we went out too fast but at the start of the race I was running within myself and I’m surprised the first kilometre was so fast. There was a 5k runner taking point but it was obvious he was not in the longer race,  so ignored. At about the 2k mark the different race distance part ways and I was disappointed to see three runners ahead of me take a right turn indicating they were racing the 10k like myself.  That put me in my least favourite position, 4th, the first person to win nothing (assuming the top 3 get medals , which in this case they do.) Worse still one of the runners ahead was a 12 year old running prodigy and who had never beaten me and I had boasted to the boys on many occasions that no runner less than 13 would ever beat me, was today going to be the day I ate my words, again !

Right, 3k in and fourth position, nestled a 100m’s or so behind the leading pack of three runners. Things took a turn for the worst when another runner over took me and I was relegated to 5th place, with the thoughts of a medal disappearing fast. It was at this point I decided to roll the dice on my fitness and put in three fast kilometres to try and get back into medal contention. The game plan was to establish a buffer for the last 2k which would be used to hang on to 3rd place. Digging in from the fifth to the seventh kilometre achieved this and I was confident the gap was enough, assuming I didn’t blow a gasket, to get me to the podium.

As it turned out the plan worked perfectly and the last two kilometres , although still very ‘trying‘ (and that’s putting it nicely),  were do-able and there was no time blow-out as such. That’s not to say it was easy and that is the point of this post.

What is the best way to run a good 10k ? First of all I believe you need to either race quite a few 10k races, on a regular basis, to nail them or in training put yourself in the 10k ‘pain box‘ once a week and continually improve your time. This could mean starting 2-4 minutes outside your PB time but getting to within a minute in training, once a week,  on tired legs. Thus when you get on your racing shoes (I assume you’ll have the Nike Vaproflys 4% ?) and you’re rested , together with the racing mentality of a bib on your chest or training chip on your shoe. you can produce the time you need. As with all things running experience and practice play such an important role. The more you run 10k the better you will become at running 10k, it really isn’t rocket science. (I’ve lost track of the number of times I have said that .) This , of course, goes for all distances.

Looking at my ‘regressive’ splits above you’d be right in thinking that today was probably not the best way to run a 10k but I was more interested in the medal,  not the time. At 52 years old my days of getting on the podium are probably limited and I treat every time now as the possibility it may be my last, especially at the shorter distances.  Today I worked very hard to get that third place but I was always have that reminder in my medal collection and it will bring back all the happy(?) memories of the race. (Well I enjoyed the last 100m’s ?)

You can break a 10k down into three stages, the first 1-5k you should be able to maintain your desired pace, if you can’t the second 5k ain’t going to be pretty. The hardest part of the 10k is then upon you, maintaining your race pace through kilometres 6-8k, this is where the 10k is won or lost in relation to reaching your required time. The last 2k you can normally find something and the mind will release the last bit of energy left to get the job done, bye bye fatigue , hello ‘sprint to the finish’ and vow never to do this again. !

Why is the 10k so hard ? A 5k is a hard race but worst  case scenario, you won’t hit the wall until 3k so only have to hang on for the final 2k. In the 10k this can be double that distance. So many runners set of , full of beans, at their 5k pace. The one problem with 5k pace is at 5k you suddenly realise why it’s 5k pace. Your body reminds the mind that 5k pace is good for, well, 5k ? Not surprise there, leaving you with maybe 1-2 kilometres to digest this information from body to brain and then unfortunately  four kilometres to reflect on your mistake , deep, deep in the pain box. To compound your mistake your body starts to remind your mind that its time to shut down vital bits to survive your earlier exuberance, starting with your legs , lungs and eventually mind. Trust me it ain’t pretty.

Is a 10k harder than a half marathon ? Yes, because for a half you’re a tad more sensible. No 5k pace for a half and also no 10k pace because a half isn just too long to fall apart before half way. The same for a full marathon, these are planned and people are usually sensible enough to set a goal pace and stick to it, at least for the first half of the race. Of course the marathon is a 10k race in itself , albeit with a 32k warm up ! Anyhow the half and full lend themselves to sensible pacing.

So whats the answer to run a good 10k ? As I said earlier practice and this can be either run a 10k race once a month or try and run within 1-2 minutes of your 10k PB once a week. Another option is running a park run every Saturday because if you can get to the end of a 5k and still feel fresh you can certainly last a few more kilometres before hitting the wall. Also if you can get to 8k you can always find something for the last 2k, surely ?