Uh oh! What on earth have I done?

[Saruma]

After a couple of glasses of wine with my sister (12 years younger than me and a seasoned runner), I somehow thought it was a good idea to sign up to run a 10kwith her in June!

In the cold, sober light of day, I am now wondering, WHAT ON EARTH WAS I THINKING?!? I'm one run from graduation and am nowhere near hitting 5k in 30 mins yet, never mind thinking about 10k.

Any suggestions for the way forward now in terms of a training plan? I am also thinking about taking out a 3 month gym membership as I am still prone to calf niggles and wondered whether some cross training to strengthen my leg muscles would be helpful?

[WepreRunner Graduate]

If you are able to keep going for 30 mins (no matter what the distance) then I'm sure you'll be a lot fitter than many others in the run. You'll probably find that the occasion will tend to speed you up a bit also and, if the 'worst' happened and you had to walk a little bit of the way, so what?

I ran a 10k last year, having only once managed 5k in training and completed it without walking (although not the best pace) and found I came about halfway, but stayed behind with many others to cheer until the last person had finished.

I can pretty much promise you that you'll love every minute of it and within a few hours of finishing, will be scouring the Internet for more runs!

[Oldgirl Graduate]

Your lovely sister got you into this, so she can help you with the training You say she's a runner so ask her to go out with you on some runs and encourage you to work towards your goal. You can do it, you have plenty of time, but you will need to put in the work. There is no law by the way that says you have to run every step, you can walk some of it if you need to. Good luck

[notbad Graduate]

As Wepre says loads of people do 5ks without training. Years ago I did an 8k with virtually no training at all - no way could I have run for 30 mins non-stop & boy did I ache the next few days afterwards... You will be fine, a bit more training & you'll be even better.

[morningglory Graduate]

You do have plenty of time so don't panic, also don't worry about not being able to run 5k in 30 mins. What you are aiming for is to be able to finish the 10k. Obviously the faster the better but in my opinion the objective is to get over the finish line.

I suggest doing a few Park Runs - you will then get some idea of your racing pace. You can then use that to set up a training plan. Some people on here have downloaded podcasts for 10k training. I have just gone online and printed on out.

Remember when training you need to mix up your runs so some should be shorter faster runs, some hilly runs when you get nearer your race date, but your long runs should be at an easy pace (you will be surprised at how slow these are). It's all about getting your body, legs, lungs used to running for longer distances.

I decided 4 weeks ago to enter my first 10k which I did online then realised I only had 8 weeks to train. I have upped my mileage in December I ran about 30 miles, January I ended up running 50 miles. The only thing I have found hard is having the time to fit it round the family.

There are quite a few of use training for 10k's on here so you can now join the gang - good luck!

[OldNed Graduate]

Important thing to remember - you once couldn't run 5K!!! You're now a whisker off running 5K (time doesn't matter) so by June (up to 5 months away) you'll be able to run 10K with no bother. Seriously, you will. Just keep cranking it up a bit, regularly, just like you have been doing already, and it's do-able. No sweat (well, probably a fair bit but worth it!).

[alliec Graduate]

I'm in a simular situation. I graduatd in November and my friend at work has signed me up for a 10K in June too.

Since gaduating I have been doing my local Parkrun once a week (well since just before christmas) the speed podcast and then another run slowly increasing the length. I'm now at 7.65K and can honestly say i could probably make 10K now with other runners spuring me on.

As OldNed says there once was a time when we couldn't imagine running 5K I'm guessing after graduation a 10K is the most natural next step.

Good luck, Allie

[alliec Graduate in reply to alliec]

Oooh I forgot to say on the longer runs concentrate on runign slowly and getting the distance rather than worrying about the time. I'm constantly thinking run slowly and keep going, well when i'm not doing the Speed podcast that is

[Lynds Graduate]

I'm on week 7 of the c25k and hoping to do a 10k in May 2013. I figure that if I add 3 minutes on each week I'll be running for an hour in 10 weeks from graduation... so loads of time! I know an hour is not going to be 10k for me, but thinking the adrenaline and camaradie will carry me through!