10K start pace

Is this a troll post? Based on that workout, you should easily be at 37 minutes, if not faster.

Probably go out 6:00 to 6:05ish. And plan to negative split the race. You should be able to push pretty hard that last 3-4k.

It is not a troll post. This is my confusion exactly. I have never raced 10K before and doing mostly easy runs and tempos at around 6:50 which is my target HM pace(which may also be rethinked).
Now i put on new vaproflys and run much faster than expected and not even pushing it. I ran easy 6 miles on Friday and Saturday before this Sunday workout instead of usuall 10 miles to rest a little bit.
Of course i would be happy with 37 but i was not even sure in ability to go under 40 until 2 days ago. Actually i still am not :D

my strava:

strava.com

Strava Runner Profile | Gregor Kvas

Gregor Kvas is a runner from Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia. Join Strava to track your activities, analyze your performance, and follow friends. Strava members can plan routes, participate in motivating challenges, and join c...

Link:www.strava.com/athletes/32769886

Hm that sounds fast. You suggested to go out faster that average workout time and also finish strong? My strava mile record is 5:59. it i true i never try to run just one mile as fast as possible but still sound a bit ambitious :)

Ok, I just looked at your Strava. Sub-40 minutes will be a breeze for you. I still think you could run in the 37 minute range right now.

Based on what I see, I suggest going out at 6:07 pace and try to negative split to give yourself a chance to get under 38 minutes. Make sure you are well rested for the race, taking it easy in the days leading up to it. Sub-40 is not a question.

I'm curious how you get on in this race.

When I did 37 for the first time my workouts were 12x300/400 at 45 miles per week. 3x2 miles is a much harder workout lol... (in fact I have never done this workout) and if you are averaging 2 miles around 6:05 I would be very surprised if you don't run 37 or 38 minutes. Bear in mind sub 40 is 6:25 pace.

It might be a touch fast. But honestly, I think you're going to surprise yourself. Races are not workouts. That first mile at low 6 pace is going to feel slow. You will most likely have to hold yourself way back to do it. Especially if there is a decent crowd of strong runners in the race.

Also, I don't think you realize how strong that 3x2 mile workout was. You did each set faster, closing in 6:02. You could have easily set your mile PR in the last mile of that workout. So 5:59 is not really your mile pace. You're probably around 5:10-20 depending on how speed comes to you. With a little specific speed training, you might be much faster than that.

I'm a big proponent of not going out too fast and thus not suffering into a terrible positive split at the end of the race. I honestly think you could start this race around 6:00-6:05 and be fine. If you want to go out a little slower, that would also be fine. Racing is tough, and it takes time to learn to listen to your body when you're working that hard.

You could do a sub 40 in your sleep. Aim for 37:20, coming through 5k at 18:40 (just over 6 minute mile pace) so if you're feeling bad you'd be able to keep the 37:20, but if you're feeling good you can negative split it.

On a flat course with good weather, sub-37 is a real possibility. I'd start off right around 6:00/mile and see if your pace drops a few seconds/mile around mid-race.

Thanks for all the advice. I guess i underestimated my ability.
I will go out at 6:05-6:10 and see how it goes. Will report my finish time here after the race.

Sub-40 should be in the bag. 60-70mpw is solid. 3x2 miles is a good prediction workout. It can sometimes even be a little too hard for some runners to execute at goal pace. Maybe open up at 6:15 through mile 1. I think sub-38:00 is a completely reasonable goal.

You also said that easy runs & tempos are at 6:50 pace? Fix that. Ease up on the easy running. You should probably be going 7:30-8:00+ pace. Then see if you can do more threshold running around 6:30-6:40 pace. Let your body recover. If you're doing 3x2 @ 6:00ish pace but running 60-70 with every run sub-7 then your heart rate is probably elevated every time you go out the door. It might work for a while but it'll be hard to run a lot faster than 6:00 pace if you don't let the body recover.

I wanted to say that my tempos are at around 6:50 pace. My easy running is much slower between 7:45 and 8:15 depending how long it is from the last workout. The day after workout easy pace is closer to 8:15 and next day is usually closer to 7:45.

I looked at some more of your training. You train really smart, especially for someone who has not run for very long or ever raced.

You must really enjoy training. Sometimes I go years without racing and run similar volume to you. However, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised how much more you can push yourself in a race.

As promised, is my result for the race: Finished in 35:27 :D But there is a big BUT. The race was shortened before start without notification, due to some construction work. I do not know the actual length of the race. GPS of me and fellow runners showed between 9,13km to 9,6 km. Differences are probably due to race being in the center of the town and thus lousy GPS signal. There was heavy rain until 5 minutes before the race so it was very wet surface. And part of the race was through the road under construction with very bad light (night race) and poor lighting of that part.

Anyway if i try to estimate, my result would be in the low 38 minutes which is superb for me. In ideal conditions, I would have probably have no problems going 37:xx, but 36:xx is definitely out of the reach for now. My average pace was around 6:09 per mile.

Since this was meant as tune up race for HM in October, i am now thinking what pace should i go for HM. For now i have a plan going out around 6:25 and than see how it is going.

Thanks for all the comments, seems all of you were quite spot on predicting my time.

I'm looking at it on strava now - 6:15 pace for 5.67 miles.

Why didn't they cancel the race?

Anyway well done that is a good result for your first race. Your 3x2 mile workouts suggest you could be much faster so something is not quite right... maybe fuelling or tiredness.

Like said in the previous post. It was in the middle of the city and GPS was off. 5,67miles was on my watch but was the lowest reading i have seen. Some had even 5,96 miles. The distance was probably somewhere in between. We will never know :D
And the conditions were far from ideal. I guess i picked a wrong race for my first 10K :D

Nice work!

I think your half marathon plan is spot on, just aim to run 6:25s. There's a good chance that if you stick with that pace you will feel good in the later stages and pick up the pace a bit. Please update this thread to let us know how it goes.