10k training in 2 weeks - HELP!

In article <[email hidden]>,
Jaq <[email hidden]> wrote:

[trim]

Quoted message said:

Today I was given a target by the 'chairman' of our company's two
teams (he's on a bit of a power trip with most of us), I have to
finish a 10k in less than 60 minutes.
Currently I'm managing to just about get through 3k in one piece with
a time of 18-19 minutes (rubbish I know but I have been a smoker since
I was 16 and just quit in January). At some point in my training I ran
a hilly 9.2k run in 64 minutes.

I'm currently doing 3 runs a week, plus some other bits and pieces
like a team spin class and a couple of dance classes. I have a
personal trainer in our work gym on a special offer and will be seeing
him again on Monday morning when I will discuss this with him.
My eating could definitely improve.

Does anyone have any useful tips to get me from where I am (rubbish)
to where I need to be (a million times better) in TWO WEEKS?!?! I was
planning on another 3k in the morning but might up that to a 5k and do
an extra 3k on Sunday or would that be pushing it?

We're missing a lot of details (what are you doing in your 3 runs,
how long are the spin classes and how often, ...) to make serious
training suggestions.

But, as to the race, it's pretty much irrelevant. You can't do
anything material to change your 10k race time less than 2 weeks out
in terms of physical training.

The bit you can do is some mental training. 60 minute 10k is
2:24 per lap pace. Try doing 3-4 repeats of 1600m in 9:36, with a
5 minute walked recover in between this week, and again next week.
It won't train your body to race faster (the body's capabilities are
pretty well set at this point), but it might train your mind that
the pace is indeed manageable. This should be a moderately hard day,
and you'll need an easy day following.

--
Robert Grumbine http://www.radix.net/~bobg/ Science faqs and amateur activities notes and links.
Sagredo (Galileo Galilei) "You present these recondite matters with too much
evidence and ease; this great facility makes them less appreciated than they
would be had they been presented in a more abstruse manner." Two New Sciences

On 2007-04-20, Jaq <[email hidden]> wrote:

Based on your 9.2km run, you have a reasonable shot at it.

You're not going to transform into a super-athlete in two weeks, but
you don't need to for this goal -- you're pretty close already, and
the race setting will probably give you the boost you need to run a bit
faster than you would in training.

Over the next two weeks -- just keep doing whatever you've been doing.

Good luck,
--
Elflord

You don't mention your age or other (possibly ongoing) health situation.
But anyways, here's my take on it....

I was 59, diabetic, cancer survivor of a few year --
I did my first 10k on a whim, a week after my second 5k & I hadn't even
trained for the distance -- I just did it on a whim (all of them, actually).
I did fine -- but did not have any time pressures & certainly not a boss
threatening me! My 5k time had been 30:xx & my 10k was 1:05:xx & I wasn't
collapsing at the end. I'd been running about 5k around my neighborhood,
thus my first 5k-race-on-a-whim...several months earlier -- and the only
reason I waited several months to do-it-again was that I was sick all
winter. I still have periodic layoffs for injury or illness or medical
treatment & have to back-track several steps on any "running program" I'd
been planning, or skip events altogether.

It doesn't seem very "Intelligent" to demand a particular time goal of
someone who hasn't had the training for an event *&* has had injury &
illness problems recently. But you should be able to complete the
distance -- which was all I asked of myself, thus being pleasantly surprised
at how well it went.
JMO.

Anyway -- why do you say where you are now is "rubbish"?
bj

"Jaq" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi,

I've joined a team at work for an "Intelligent Sports" event later
this year. I got into the team based on my ability to solve puzzles
and build things mechanically.

Unfortunately, my body lacks the level of fitness my fellow team
members have. I have been training for the last 4 or 5 months but have
had a spate of issues - colds, flus, a family funeral, a back injury,
and so on - which hindered my training.

Today I was given a target by the 'chairman' of our company's two
teams (he's on a bit of a power trip with most of us), I have to
finish a 10k in less than 60 minutes.
Currently I'm managing to just about get through 3k in one piece with
a time of 18-19 minutes (rubbish I know but I have been a smoker since
I was 16 and just quit in January). At some point in my training I ran
a hilly 9.2k run in 64 minutes.

I'm currently doing 3 runs a week, plus some other bits and pieces
like a team spin class and a couple of dance classes. I have a
personal trainer in our work gym on a special offer and will be seeing
him again on Monday morning when I will discuss this with him.
My eating could definitely improve.

Does anyone have any useful tips to get me from where I am (rubbish)
to where I need to be (a million times better) in TWO WEEKS?!?! I was
planning on another 3k in the morning but might up that to a 5k and do
an extra 3k on Sunday or would that be pushing it?

The only thing you can do in two weeks that will have a big effect on
your chances is to get injured. You're as fit now, essentially, as you
will be in two weeks so the most important thing is to make it to the
starting line. So I'd avoid any training that has a big injury risk,
like intervals or very fast or long runs, because you're just not
going to see any benefits in time to be worth it.

Is the 10k a race (and not a time trial)? If so you should be
encouraged by your time in your 9.2k training run. Almost everyone
runs faster in races than they ever can on their own.

You might want to do a 10k training run soon to reassure yourself that
you can do the distance (although I'm sure you can). Perhaps mix some
short faster segments (but not all-out sprinting!) into some training
runs to acquaint yourself with the pace you'll need in the 10k.
Otherwise, just keep doing what you're doing and relax.

Congrats on quitting smoking and have a great run.

"Jaq" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
| I'm currently doing 3 runs a week, plus some other bits and pieces
| like a team spin class and a couple of dance classes. I have a
| personal trainer in our work gym on a special offer and will be seeing
| him again on Monday morning when I will discuss this with him.
| My eating could definitely improve.
|

My personal experience tells me you can do it, but don't push too much to
get under 60 min. As our Lord of the Elves has pointed out you are more
likely to get under 60 min with competitive atmosphere. Don't keep track
of the time, but run as you feel. Treat it as a new beginning, not the end.

PS:
(If it is any help, you have more training than I did for my first,
happened to be a 10K. You haven't mentioned your age,
but at 39 yrs young I ran a total of about 15 miles in 2 weeks period
before the race. Being in the local race was more important than
the time, but finished in 63 min without any expectations.
Got serious about running the following year.)

Jaq said:

..., I have to
finish a 10k in less than 60 minutes.

Try some pace training as Robert suggests, don't over do it and get
injured in these last two weeks and cut WAY back in the 3 days before
the race.

PD