I started running in April last year and by July I was running 5K. After posting a PB of 29 minutes during a Parkrun in September, I set my sights on doing a 10K. The furthest I ran was 8K but then sadly I developed a hamstring problem in October.
After taking a break, I returned to running in December, mainly doing 5K runs. Once again, I have set my sights on a 10K event in May. But whenever I try to run a bit further, I seem to struggle. I've tried reducing the pace but I'm finding it difficult to go much further than 5K. I run with a group once a week, who do about 5K / 6K and I sometimes feel like I could go further with them, although their pace is fairly slow. I don't understand why I'm struggling more when I run alone and try to run a bit further.
When I tried this last September, before my hamstring problem, I was building up my distance quite nicely, getting up to 8K. That's just not happening right now. Is it because I'm alone and have nobody to pace against? Is it because it's winter? Is it physiological because I'm trying to run a bit further? Is it because I didn't run for a month when I had my hamstring problem? Any advice greatly appreciated.
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5210Runner
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Running slower has to be the answer. Try at least 1 min/k slower than your current comfortable parkrun pace. My OH can happily run parkrun at 6'30" pace, but struggles to better 7'30" if she's aiming for 8k or beyond, although she can maintain that out to 10k. And she does run quicker than this in a group (10k in around 72 minutes), though unfortunately just the two of us does not seem to constitute a group for this purpose.
I was thinking a lot about my hamstring when I returned to running, especially since I could feel it sometimes, like it saying "I'm still here, don't forget about me" 😅 But recently I've started to forget about it more because I don't feel it.
Thanks for your advice, I think trying to run slower when I'm running alone might help. It's just difficult to do that without someone to pace against. I'm used to running somewhere between 9 to 11 minutes a mile. I find I try to run slower then I forget and suddenly I'm back in my normal rhythm. Then I wonder why I'm starting to struggle 😅 And inclines and little hills don't help as I find that takes it out of my legs. So I think I'll try and stick to flat routes!
Yes, running slower is much easier if you're running with someone who is naturally slower than you. When I was first looking to extend my distance beyond 10k, I often ran more than halfway with Dexy5 at her happy pace, which meant I was confident I could then get the distance I wanted without hitting the wall …... doing it at the speed I wanted came later.
As UpTheStanley says, the key to running longer is to run more slowly. If you find it too hard to maintain a slower pace, you could try the run/walk method. It’s the only way I have ever reliably added distance. It helps with the monotony of a longer run by giving you the focus of your current interval. It might be that you can keep your usual pace on the running bits if you do that - with the walk intervals giving you recovery time.
I agree with the run walk strategy. I’ve been using it to get to half marathon distance and it does slow you marginally but gives you something to concentrate on plus I find I recover more quickly so I can continue to do two shorter runs each week. Currently I run for 105 secs then walk for 30 secs. It works for me but you can do whatever interval suits you. It’s worth a try. Good luck. 🏃🏻♀️😊
Lots of good advice on here. You could try doing juju’sagic plan later this month and you can gain lots of support and advice along the way. Many of us used it to get to 10k.
I agree with all of the above. I deliberately slowed down to 7.30 /km ish on Friday to get to 14k. In order to run that slowly I had to shorten stride, but my breathing was as easy as it is on a slow stroll. 👍
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week3run1 ✅. 3 x 17 mins with 1 min walks. 
How did your parkrun or (not)parkrun go?
week 2 begins! 
