I run 3 times a week and swim twice weekly. During the winter (I hate the cold), apart from a Parkrun on Saturday morning, I run on a treadmill in the week. One of my sessions is fartlek - I run at 7.5kph for 1 minute then up to 10kph (the fastest my treadmill will go) for another minute. I do this 12 times in succession, which is hard work. My stats on my Garmin Forerunner 265 say that my "Training Status" is "Unproductive". It's indicating that I need to do more anaerobic, but when I'm doing my fartlek on the treadmill, it's hard work so I thought that would count. I also do strength squats 3 times a week (mainly for my bone strength). Just wondered if and what I need to be doing to get more anaerobic training ..... my first race of the year, is a 10K in March.
This forum is full of like minded people and I always value the suggestions and advice people propose, so thanks in advance for any advice.
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adnewg73
Graduate10
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Flipping garmin. Are you happy with what you’re doing? Did you feel unproductive until it told you off? I would just ignore it. The best thing you can do to be ready for your race is to run regularly following a plan (or a gradual build) in a way that suits you. One harder run with some easier runs including a long run is a great way to hit 10k. You’ve been there before and you know your own body best. Ignore the garmin!
While you’re asking about strength, I’d be looking for a wider range of exercises than just squats. When I’ve seen a physio, they’ve recommended core work, a bit of upper body and a variety of lunges/deadlifts as well which helps you keep running strong. There’s a nice article here…
I agree with MissUnderstanding , numbers on a watch aren't the full story.If you work on gradually increasing your distance you'll get to 10 k. The NRC app has a training plan, and we have our Group 10k if you want some virtual support,
This is where I'm glad I've got a cheaper Garmin watch that doesn't tell me off, I don't need the negativity 😂
Interestingly Garmin's own support page says this about training status: "Unproductive: your training load is at a good level, but your fitness is decreasing. Your body may be struggling to recover, so you should pay attention to your overall health including stress, nutrition, and rest."
My guess - bear in mind that I had to Google the above - is that your current "fartlek" sessions are both too long and at insufficient intensity to produce the sort of training effect that pleases the algorithm. That might be why the watch is suggesting you need to do more anaerobic.
Personally I'd ignore it. I'd do at least one run without the watch (and ideally without the treadmill numbers too) and run by perceived effort, concentrating on how I felt.
10km/hr seems a bit on the slow side for a running treadmill. (6min/km equivalent, 5km in 30 minutes)
As to the Garmin watch, you're probably overdoing it.
Look at the graph of Training Load. Is it pushing against the boundaries a lot? What's your load ratio? Is it higher than 1.1? These are the stats your watch will be using.
And if you're feeling fine, you can ignore the watch.
I'd suggest doing more long slow run sessions in the mix. Your target is 10km, not doing 100m sprints. At least half your sessions should be targeting aerobic endurance (slow twitch) rather than anaerobic power (fast twitch muscles).
If you really want to satisfy the watch's anaerobic hunger, finish a longer run with a sprint of no more than a minute.
One point of disagreement nowster - for some of us 6 mins/km is flat out! I can barely maintain that pace for 30 seconds, let alone 30 minutes.My age, sex, height, weight and overall fitness means my comfortable 6/10 effort pace is way higher than that.
Most women run slower than most men, doesn't mean we're working any less hard.
In fairness to Nowster, that's exactly what he wrote. If a runner wants to be able to train anaerobically by running on a treadmill at maximum effort in short bursts, they need a treadmill that's faster than their fastest pace.
For the vast majority of runners, myself included, a 10kph treadmill wouldn't meet that criterion. I'm by no means a fast runner, it's years since I last ran a sub-30 minute 5k, but on a gentle downhill or flat road my uncomfortable, unsustainable, bat-out-of-hell pace starts with a 4.
Good point, I'm not that familiar with treadmills so it's interesting to find this out.Just wanted to reassure other runners for whom 6 mins/km is a seemingly unattainable goal that they're not alone. Not being able to reach this pace easily doesn't tell us anything much about you as a runner. You're a runner because you run.
My own pace has been trending slower than 6min/km recently, but I do often end a longer run with a spurt of a couple of hundred metres at a much faster pace.
An athlete doing a 3 hour marathon (and that's considered slow for the elites nowadays) would be doing a sustained 14km/hr (4:17/km pace). That's a sprint pace for me.
As I often say, as long as your stride has a point in it when both feet are not touching the ground, you are running and are a runner.
I've never been on a treadmill in my life, I'm just looking at the arithmetic! Nor did I make any comment about who is or isn't a runner. I responded to a specific question about anaerobic training, and the maximum treadmill speed that would be necessary.
Having looked at a couple of the OP's previous posts, they've run more than one sub-30 5k parkrun. So a 10kph maximum treadmill is too slow to enable them to reach their fastest pace.
As per my original reply, I personally would dump the watch and ignore its diktats. I also agree that more longer, easier-paced runs are more likely to benefit the OP.
Thanks everyone for the advice. My treadmill is only a cheap one, which folds up. It doesn't have an incline and I only bought it, for the specific purpose of adverse, cold and dark weather over the winter period. It will be folded up and tucked away, once the evenings get lighter.
I never took into consideration that women run slower than men generally (unless you are elite etc), but I'm pretty consistently running 5K under 30mins. I've only done one "official" 10K race, which I did in 1hr 11seconds. If I can get my 10K under an hour, I'll be happy with that !!
The best way to get faster at 10km is to get used to doing that sort of distance, and eventually go beyond it.
Unlike longer distances (like marathons) where often the only time you'll be doing that distance will be the day of the event, a 10km run can be done regularly.
A good mix of long slow runs, with a few more intense intervals runs will help.
But don't chase the speed for its own sake. That's the way to get injured.
Although before my break last year I was much faster, I can nowadays do a 70 minute 10km run and at the end feel like I could continue on for much longer. When training, most of your longer runs should feel like that.
If your aim is to get faster at 10km, one trick is to get yourself used to doing a longer distance (eg. 12 or 15km) a few times a month so that 10km doesn't feel as long.
When you get to run outside again, I can certainly recommend the NRC app with its guided runs . There are several Fartleks sessions on there, and they don’t talk about speed, but effort. 5 out of 10, 8 out of 9 etc . So you run at your 10k pace, 5k pace, sprint pace. I find them great fun too. Thankfully, my old Garmin isn’t as sophisticated as yours.
A foldaway treadmill sounds good for winter, but hopefully you will be able to get out again soon.
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A Tricky Tempo run !
Any run up to HM tips?
Trying to reach 10K
