10K Training - Week 3 - My Runner's Life

After last week’s interrupted long run I’ve been trying to take it easy this week, which is not as easy as it sounds. My back is still not okay and I have physical therapy appointment scheduled for Monday morning. Hopefully he has the magix fix!

Training 9 – Speed Workout

The plan was to have a final speed workout before my 10K PR attempt on Sunday: 4 times 800 meter at goal pace followed by 400 meter recovery. My usual 30 minute lunch walk was painful within 10 minutes on Monday so I decided at that moment that Tuesday’s run would be cancelled. I did go to my aquapower class which luckily had a little less jumping around as normal, so that went well.

Training 10 – 4K easy

By Thursday I was feeling a bit better and I was getting restless, so I set my alarm, put on my running shoes and went for a run. As you may know by now (I may have mentioned it somewhere), Garmin updated their Garmin Coach plans this week and added the 10K and half marathon distance. I’m a big Garmin Coach fan since I’ve done their 5K plan and I’ve been hoping they’ll add more distances soon. I’m starting my half marathon training in June and I will be definitely be using Garmin Coach for that. For now, I’m playing around with the 10K plan a bit and decided to do the benchmark run, just to see if there are any interesting changes made in the plan. I ran the 5 minute benchmark at 6:37 min/km, which is half a minute faster as the benchmark I ran for the 5K plan in January.

Training 11 – 30 minute easy run

This training was not planned, but Coach Greg made me do it! Yesterday’s benchmark run meant that there was now an easy 30 minute run planned on Friday. I felt good enough and told myself if I’d stay on the trails, avoiding the high impact of the asphalt routes, it would be fine. I ran slower as usual (8:45 min/km) and definitely slower as Coach Greg wanted me to! I had made a small mistake while setting up the Garmin Coach plan. It asked me what my average running pace was and I picked a pace somewhere in between my goal pace and my easy pace. Don’t do that. This pace will be set as your easy pace during your training plan. And, you are only able to change your goals after starting the program, not your current abilities! I am now stuck with a training plan that wants me to run my easy runs at a not-so-easy pace! Hopefully Garmin will provide the possibility to change this setting in the future.

10K race

As I already mentioned when I announced my 10K training plan, I wouldn’t end it with an actual race as I couldn’t find a suitable 10K race near me. Instead I would pick one of my favourite routes and run it as fast as I could. This would have the disadvantage of no crowds to cheer me on, no aid-stations and no medal. But, it’s a route I know by heart so I know exactly what’s to come. The original goal of running 10K at a 7:00 min/km pace had already been postponed to later in the year, but in my head something between 7:30 and 8:00 min/km should definitely be possible if everything went well. So, nothing went well and I didn’t even start. As mentioned my back pain and worn-out shoes are currently preventing me from running the way I want to, so I’m trying to do the smart thing and take it easy. At least until I have had my physical therapy appointment.

I will be doing a 10K race somewhere in June or early July when I might be aiming for a 70 minute time, but I’ll decide that later!

Summary

I’m glad that I was able to get some short runs in this week despite the pain I’ve been having. In a few days I’ll be off to Florida for some well needed time off. I’ve read a lot about parkruns, but unfortunately they don’t seem to exist in the Netherlands where I live. So, next Saturday, in the Florida heat and humidity, I will do my very first parkrun at Clermont Waterfront. I’m not looking for a PR, I just want to enjoy the experience and see what all the parkrun fuzz is about!

I will be planning some fun runs while I’m out there as well, but the weekly updates will probably be on hold for a little while. Follow me on Facebook or Instagram to stay updated!

I’ve also created a Garmin Coach Community Facebook group that you are welcome to join! It’s a community for anyone using or thinking of using Garmin Coach where workouts can be shared and questions regarding the plans or training can be asked. Come have a look!

My Runner's Life

10K Training – Week 3

Training 9 – Speed Workout

Training 10 – 4K easy

Training 11 – 30 minute easy run

10K race

Summary

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