10K training for marathoner

First of all, make sure that you allow yourself time to recover from the Marathon. Take ~1 week off, then take 1-2 weeks of easy jogging with nothing over 10-13 miles. Try out your 70-80 range again, but with no workouts, but you can mix in some strides.

You should have a great base from the Marathon, so once you get back to that milage level, you might want to try alternating a format like this:

Week 1

w/o #1 shorter tempo-run

w/o #2 fartlek of 15-X-(1 minute fast w/ 1 minute recovery)

Week 2

w/o #1 longer tempo-run

w/o #2 fartlek of 6-X-(3 minutes fast w/ 2 minutes recovery

1-2 5K races is also a great idea, but make sure that you use them in place of a weekly workout, not in addition to them.

Mile repeats are a staple workout for milers through marathon runners. Adding them to just about any schedule will help. I'd replace the 20 miler with mile repeats. You can still run 20 milers, but there's no need to do them weekly for a 10k, maybe alternate between the two (workouts) every other week.

If you've never run track, chances are you never developed much speed/power. Try tacking on 4-6 minutes worth of hill work onto the end of your 6-10 mile tempo, it should help.

Good luck.

Yeah, I'd only do a true long run once every 10-14 days...that 20 miler will be enough for the 10k- and you don't want to go too hard on it.

Save your energy for more 10k specific work:

5-6 by 1600m @ goal 10k pace w/2-3min rest

8-10 by 1000m@ goal 10k pace w/2 min rest.

12-20 by 400m @3k-5k pace w/1:30 rest (or about 3-5 sec/400m faster than goal 10k pace)

6-8 mile Tempo-like run (at about Marathon race pace)

4 mile true Tempo run (10k goal pace+ about 10-15 sec/ mile or

4-5 by 2k at 10k goal pace+ 2-3 sec/400m with 2-3min rest or

3-4 by 3200m at half marathon race pace w/2-3min rest.

http://www.geocities.com/sagecanaday/

S. Canaday wrote:

Yeah, I'd only do a true long run once every 10-14 days...that 20 miler will be enough for the 10k- and you don't want to go too hard on it.

Save your energy for more 10k specific work:

5-6 by 1600m @ goal 10k pace w/2-3min rest

8-10 by 1000m@ goal 10k pace w/2 min rest.

12-20 by 400m @3k-5k pace w/1:30 rest (or about 3-5 sec/400m faster than goal 10k pace)

6-8 mile Tempo-like run (at about Marathon race pace)

4 mile true Tempo run (10k goal pace+ about 10-15 sec/ mile or

4-5 by 2k at 10k goal pace+ 2-3 sec/400m with 2-3min rest or

3-4 by 3200m at half marathon race pace w/2-3min rest.

http://www.geocities.com/sagecanaday/

Thanks for some very specific workouts, paces, and recoveries. Couple more questions:

When in 10K training, do I run 2 or 3 of these kinds of workouts a week or just 1 or 2?

Also, how many weeks of this kind of training should I run to expect to get to my peak? I don't want to peak too soon or too late. I'm planning 3 weeks of recovery after my marathon.

Like most coaches, I think you want to divide your season into phases (or training blocks etc.) and within each phase you focus on a specific aspect of your training.

So, take that goal 10k race (or couple races) and start with that calendar date...then count BACKWARDS to map out the rest of your training weeks all leading up to that 10k.

Perhaps the last 2 weeks leading up to the race you want to just do some light threshold workouts (those Tempo runs/workouts, but not at a higher intensity). You may also want to keep some 400s in there, but tone the volume down (ie instead of doing 20 by 400m you do 12). So you are resting up , maybe only doing those kinds of workouts 2 times a week and your last long run 2 weeks out. That last "2 week taper phase" could have a slight drop in overall mileage as well.

Then on your calendar before the taper phase you have your most intense training phase (could last anywhere from 3-8 weeks according to most programs). Maybe you have a 5k race in there, maybe a half marathon tune-up also. During this phase you are doing those 1600m repeats or 1000m repeats (one of those once a week) another day you are doing 400s and another day you are going long and another day you are doing some Tempo workout. So 3 workouts a week...and easy days inbetween. If you race, sub out one of the workouts.

Moving before that intense phase you could have a couple build-up phases (in your case a 3-5 week recovery after your marathon) At this time you want to take it easy, build your mileage back up slowly and start with one or two workouts a week...the tempo runs at marathon pace and maybe some strides and then some easy 400s.

So all that is moving backwards in time...from your goal 10k back to your marathon recovery.

How long that training program is depends on your schedule, etc. You could get into really good shape in about 4 weeks or hard intense training...but its not a good idea. Your marathon base should help you maintain a "peak" better than most though. The best idea is to devote a month to easy running/marathon recovery and then spend at least 4 weeks in each phase after that. Then you have established some base elements in your fitness (lactate threshold then V02max) and progressed through a logical cycle of training before you race the 10k...and then you could continue racing probably at a high level for another month or so.

Thanks. I really appreciate you taking the time to post all of this.

No prob. Sharing training ideas and information is what makes distance running so great. For further explanation I've posted my complete training philosophy under the "training" section of my website:

http://www.geocities.com/sagecanaday/