Best way to train for a 10k?

[Hoopla]

Those of you who have done a 10k race, how did you train for it?

I have just started following the Bridge to 10k mile. Week 1 is 4 x 10 mins with a minute's walk in between. Next week it's 12, then 14 etc. By the end you're supposed to be running for a full hour. Thing is, I've got 9 weeks to follow the 6 week plan and it makes me stupidly nervous that I won't get all the runs in and feel like I've 'failed'. So I'm wondering if I'm maybe better just doing week 1 over and over but adding a an extra ten minute run as I go along? Or trying to progress with the plan till I get to the week I feel most comfortable with? My walking pace isn't that much slower than my running pace.

I just want to do this right!

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Yesterday I was talking to a marathon running mate about training and he reckoned that if you can do twenty miles in training, you can do a marathon on the day, but admits that the last five miles of his first marathon was tough. I have not run more than ten miles, but my philosophy for a race is to try to get the distance under your belt, at least once, before the race, so that you don't come up against the psychological barrier of a distance that you have never completed.

I increased my long run each week to get up to ten miles. The recommended weekly increase is 10%, to keep injury risk minimal. I admit that I exceeded this and as a consequence, I believe, suffered lower back pain. Core strength exercises are a very good idea if you are increasing your distances.

There are plenty of plans online to get you up to 10k. Some of these, in my opinion, are structured more like a pro's training scheme, and while they may deliver optimum results they may push harder than you need to just arrive at 10k, in whatever time. The Myasics plans at my.asics.com/ will arrange a plan to fit your race date and you can adjust them as you go. I find sticking rigidly to training schedules is very difficult and have devised my own based on reading others, and fitting them to the reality of my life.

You have time, so don't push too hard and enjoy it.

[misswobble Graduate]

I use bridge to 10 k by sami murphy which is available free from here.

I also use myasics plans and find them spot on but do,pick the beginners option!

i use 3 days a week, average, but i would go for the "easy option" to start with as you could find it too difficult if you plunge in ahead of your capabilities

Chill a bit! You sound quite stressed about it. Rome wasn't built in a day

[no-excuse Graduate]

I found it quite easy to get to 10k by adding a bit on to one run a week. Not very technical I know, but I think I went to 6k, then 7k, 8.5k and then 10k. I kept to just one longer run a week and the other two were shorter, a 5k parkrun for a bit of a push and 5k with a few hills and 'speedy' bits. I wasn't looking at running my race in a particular time though, I just wanted to go out and do it. I wasn't fast, I'm still not, but just make sure you enjoy what you're doing and don't overdo it x

[Rob_and_his_westie Graduate]

It depends what your ant from the 10k. If it's your first one, then like my first one, it might a question of making sure you can do the distance. That probably being the case, the general advice of adding a little more on each time is pretty sound. Like IannodATruffe,

[Rob_and_his_westie Graduate in reply to Rob_and_his_westie]

( I didn't press submit before!) ..... Like IanodaTruffe, I personally do the distance before the event merely because of the confidence it brings. Once you've got one under your belt, you'll want to up the pace a bit next time, but for now getting home by gradually increasing your distance is the way to go..... Not unlike C25K of course.

In my opinion, 10k is the king of distances. Enough to be an hour long challenge for most of us, but not too much that it requires lots of time and preparation. All the very best.

[c4ts Graduate]

I tried bridge to10K but did not like going back to walking as I knew by then I was happy running for perhaps 40 mins etc, so I just kept on running and time wise kept adding a bit more.

[misswobble Graduate]

Bridge to 10 k has short walk breaks in it but you DON'T have to take them if you don't need to. I ran some of it today and found the music through the 60 second walking break was dead fast! (Bangles - Hazy Shade of Winter)

[Alex62 Graduate]

I have just started Nike+ coach, it is free but only has distance and pace. However it does really build up distance and has beginners, intermediate and advanced for 5 and 10k!