Taper caper !!

[Fit4life]

Hi guys !! So, whats the ideal last week, 'taper down' to a 10K (charity) run ? Here,s the thing, this will potentially be the first time we will actually be running the 10K distance although with our training schedule well on course (we are at present up to slightly over 5K) we should be capable of running continuously for 95 minutes by the weekend prior to the run .Any and all advices welcome !!

[Irishprincess Graduate10]

For a 10K race I generally run a 5K and a 3/4K in the last week and I don't run at all for two days beforehand. This works for me but everyone is different. The important thing is to run a little on the normal run days and drink plenty of water in the days beforehand.

And don't forget to enjoy it all! It's a fabulous experience and the crowd and atmosphere will carry you along. Walk if you need to and don't forget to post a photo of the bling 🏅

Good luck 🍀

[Fit4life Graduate10 in reply to Irishprincess]

Thank you IP, sounds solid advice !! Will take onboard and apply !! The distances you mention just ring right for me ; enough to keep the machinery ticking over whilst holding something in reserve for the big push on the weekend !! My wife and I plan to run the whole distance but will be sensible, because as we know, nothing is a given where running is concerned , too many variables involved !! Oh , and re 'the bling', piccies ARE a given !! Lol

[Irishprincess Graduate10 in reply to Fit4life]

Good luck to both of you and have a blast....oh and don't start off too fast. It's very easy to do as you get carried away in all the excitement but don't otherwise you'll have no puff left for the latter part of the race! I'll watch out for your post and the bling photo 🤗

[Fit4life Graduate10 in reply to Irishprincess]

Ah, thank you !! We are at present maintaining a one pace strategy for the race as we have no set time in which to finish or personal best to reduce. The sheer joy of running and the fund raising aspect which fuels our desire to complete the run successfully is more than enough , for now !! We both have longer term goals in mind the other side of our 10K run in May , one of mine being to get a sub 30 minute 5K !!

[Coddfish Graduate10]

I would do my last long run 10 days or so before the event, parkrun or similar a week before, and then just go out once 3 or 4 days before hand running no more than 30 minutes. Do all of these fairly gently, you don’t want to pick up am injury.

[Fit4life Graduate10 in reply to Coddfish]

Thanks CF !! Again , your advice too makes sense .We,ve done nothing in a hurry in our build up from C25K through thus far on B210K0 .Come race day the finish line will be there when we get there, it won,t be moving anytime soon - so the pace at which we are training at present we will maintain throughout the 10K charity run come May.Ive just had a close encounter with injury and with just 10 weeks till race day we both need to press on, albeit steadily, with our training schedule !!

[Coddfish Graduate10 in reply to Fit4life]

10 weeks is a decent amount of time. It’s worth trying to get a bit past 10k in training if you can. Training plans always seem to suggest you can train to somewhere short of the event distance and then bridge to it on the day. I think that’s probably true if you are the standard runner that training plans are aimed at. However if like me you are no longer a spring chicken (I am in my 60s) then pushing both extra distance and extra pace on event day is a sure fire way of not being able to walk for several days afterwards! I know, it happened to me when I ran the 10 mile Great South Run having only trained to 15k (and still struggling at 15k) beforehand.

I am signed up to do a 10k in late May (London Vitality 10k) and am working on being comfortable at 12k before I get there. I also then plan to carry on with distance training so I can do GSR under a little less stress this October.

[Fit4life Graduate10 in reply to Coddfish]

Thanks CF !! Ye , at present as a, 'team' , myself and my wife have reached the point where we are running 5K in aprox 51 minutes , very slow ,I appreciate, but if we increase our, 'big', run of the week by 5 minutes this will/should, take us up to the 10K distance ie 100 minutes ,just prior to the 10 K run with not much opportunity to get a few runs in excess of the 10K .May be if we play it by ear and listen to our bodies ,as it were, then we can increase our runs by 7-8 minutes once a week thereby pushing on through past 10K !!

[Runningfit Graduate10 in reply to Coddfish]

Hi Coddfish I am also signed up to vitality London10k....! (I am.based nw london) ...10 weeks to.go.... I am at 7.5 km ...so need to push ahead....

See you there.....

[Coddfish Graduate10 in reply to Runningfit]

I am sure you will be fine, some people will only be starting training now.