Alex Reuneker

After yesterday's intervals, today's the time for an endurance run.

The workout

This workout is simple: a steady 14K run in heart-rate zone 2, which for me, most of the times, comes down to a pace around 5:00/8:03. Before starting, there's a warming up of 4 minutes, consisting half a minute of knee lifts, butt kicks, cross passes, and arm swings intertwined with half minutes of jogging.

Afterwards

I felt a bit tired from the previous day and a full day of work, but running was fine and steady at 4:55/7:55 with a high cadence (190spm).

If you want to see the workout, check it on Garmin (you can see it without an account) or on Strava (you need an account).

So, today I got started with my first workout for a faster 10K time. (See previous post.)

The workout

The first workout is a speed workout and consists of 10 times 400m at 3:20/5:22 pace at the track, with a 3000m easy jog before and after the interval set. In between the intervals, a 200m easy jog.

Afterwards

Although the track was really crowded and some trainers didn't seem to have their pupils under control, the workout felt good and the pace did too, albeit I went a bit to fast the first few rounds. I used a metronome at 198bpm to maintain form and a high cadence. I've been using a metronome for a while now and while the beeping starts off as really annoying, you'll get used to it.

If you want to see the workout, check it on Garmin (you can see it without an account) or on Strava (you need an account).

I'm going to train for a faster 10K. My current PB on that distance is 36:26 and I'm hoping to shave off a minute. While this may not seem like much, it actually is – it's the difference between an average pace of 3:38/5:51 and 3:32/5:42.

The program I've created a program, loosely based on Pfitzinger & Latter's 10K plan in Faster Road Racing: 5K to Half Marathon. The 11 week plan has five workouts a week, with one day of cross training and one day full rest. The first week has a total of 75K and it peaks at 88K in week 6.

The guidelines I'm following in this program are:

• Each week consists of a tempo workout, a speed workout and two endurance runs, each with its own benefits. (More on that later.)
• The hard efforts account for approximately 20 percent of a week's total, the other 80 percent of the kilometers are at easy pace (whether it be a long run or the warming-up to a speed workout). This guideline is based on Matt Fitzgerald's 80/20 Running.

Let's hope I can do this and let's also hope I do not forget to continue this series here.

I'm the last guy there, with the yellow shirt. It was very, very hot this day, so I was quite happy to run a 10K in 37:24