I Would Think A 10k Race Would Be Harder Than A Half Marathon

Triathlon Forum
1

I was about to enter a 10k tommorrow morning, after my dismal marathon performance, but I’m afraid of throwing in a stinker.

Although I have never run a 10k running only race, I think the 10k length poses a pre-race decision unlike all other racing lengths. Its: (a) Gun it-Hope I Don’t-Die And “FADE” The Last 2 Miles or (b) Kind of Gun It And Hope I Don’t Have A Bad Time From Not Letting Myself And Pace Go Hard Enough.

The rational runners will say something like, “you should run a 10k a little less harder but not much less than you run a 5k.” 75% or something.

In a 5k, which I’m fairly below average at—not hardly comparable to many of you gazelle’s but —in a 5k, it seems to me that this is not a race length at all posing much complications about pace. In a 5k, you just run like a son of a bitch, a screaming banshee, as fast as you can go. No looking at the watch, you can’t even talk, you are just hauling ass, gasping for air, about to blow up; its just one controlled wreck going out of control forward, ready to die; and, at the very least, you know that that excruciating discomfort, the incredibly high heart rate, respiration, and struggle will end, thankfully, in 16-25 minutes, or so, depending where you are in the Mr. Fast scale.

And that’s it. Race over. Hop back in the car and go home.

I think the human body was set up just to take that 5k shit for 17-25 minutes.

A half marathon isn’t too complicated, either. First of all, 13.2 miles is way too far to run like a 5k Screaming Banshee. You want to run a half, not too hard, but you are forced to “cruise.” So, let’s say you are a 3:30 to 4 hour marathoner, you could say and plan out a Half pretty easy, “I’m going to run every mile anywhere from 7:45-8:15 or something.” And you set your watch and there you go.

I have never run a 10k running race, not connected with a triathlon. My guess is that such distance, 6.2 miles, would be absolutely SET UP FOR DISASTER without coming up with a firm plan in your mind on how you are going to run and regulate yourself for 6.2 miles. Its a perfect distance to get your mind to wobble back and forth on what you should do.

It presents both a carrot and stick.

Its too far to do a 5k pace, but way too short than a half marathon. Yet maybe YOU COULD keep your 5K pace THAT DAY ALL THE WAY. I mean its not that far. It could be your day.

OR, maybe you WILL NOT BE ABLE TO.

2

It’s definitely the more perplexing distance for me. I’m making another attempt tomorrow to break 40 minutes. Each time prior, I’ve gone out way to fast…only to crumble at the end.

Plan for tomorrow is to go over 7:00/mile for the first two, then see what I can do.

It’s supposed to be torrential rain here in the NE, so it should be interesting.

3

I concur with a lot of your thoughts. I think running a half marathon is a much more pleasant prospect than a 5k or 10k for many of the reasons you discussed. Those reasons are why I haven’t run a road race shorter than a half since 1998. I am scared of them. That is also why I am shooting to do more road races next year (once I get past IMFL). I am scared of them, so I need to face them again. I need to see if I can get faster. I like the endurance I have, but I hate my lack of speed.

4

Whoa. 7 pace for the first two miles is probably too conservative for breaking 40. You’re a minute down after two miles. That might be tough to make back.

Good luck though. Let us know how it goes (I too want to notch a sub 40!).

5

A rule of thumb is add 16 secs per mile to your pace when you double the distance. This would the best pace you could hope to maintain. But, it obviously requires a good result from a recent shorter distance race.

6

It seems to me to perhaps, pound for pound be the most uncomfortable race distance out there. I’ve run halfs and one marathon and not one time have I ever felt like I was even close to having the discomfort of a 5k.

Half and Full Marathon provide a different discomfort, which in some ways, or in a lot of ways is very bearable, compared to that 5k Full Body Woes.

A sprint discomfort is TRULY UNCOMFORTABLE, it is compressed physical hell. In a 10k, I suspect that race just drags that 5k body and lung hell out another 20 minutes.

7

I agree. It really is pretty tough to figure out the correct pace. It’s also fast enough to produce some suffering which means that it hurts almost as much as a 5k but for at least twice the duration. We used to race 5 miles in college cross-country. It was really hard to switch to 10k. Maybe it was mental as one was less than, and one was over a half hour.

Good luck on the race.

8

If you have a sports watch use the timer function. Set it to beep every 6:27 (40 min 10 pace). If you go out to hard throttle back, too easy pick it up. Assuming that 40 minutes is about your capabilities on a good day, they starting out with 2 7 minute miles will doom you to failure, as will 1 6 minute mile.

Styrrell

9

I guess I have enough “experience” to chime in on this topic. First, a straight 10k probably falls into the same realm as a half marathon in terms of “beating” on the body. Yes, it’s shorter, but you go harder. That’s why most of the elite runners don’t do more than a couple of 10ks per season.

In terms of pacing, go about the race like this…break it into 3 2-mile races. The first two miles you’re going to run about 5 seconds faster than your goal pace.(this doesn’t mean a 6:00 and a 6:30 to avg. 6:15). This is relatively easy considering that race adrenaline will carry you for a mile or two. The key here is to NOT go out too hard…which is easy to do. The second 2 miles back off to your goal pace…settle into it. The last 2 miles is all about feel. If you feel really good, drop your pace 5-10 seconds per mile. The last .2…your best impression of Carl Lewis. However, if you really have a sprint kick…then you should have a faster goal time.

10

First of all, 13.2 miles is way too far to run like a 5k Screaming Banshee.

I can help you shave some time off your Half Marathons by stopping when evryone else does at 13.1 Miles. Watch for a big electronic sign, a timing strip, people cheeering and something that says “FINISH”. The “FINISH” line is not a gathering place for scandinavians.

11

“It seems to me to perhaps, pound for pound be the most uncomfortable race distance out there.”

That’s perhaps why it is, such a great distance to race. Infact for many rec runners and triathletes, it may be the perfect distance to race. Assuming proper pacing, it forces you to really stretch the aerobic envelope over the last 20 - 30 minutes, and you don’t beat your body up any where near as much as you do in a 1/2 Marathon. If I was coaching I would be having my athletes do a 10K race almost once a month year round.

Fleck

12

I vote for (b). In my 10K PR, the first 2 miles felt very easy, it started getting tough at about mile 4, and the last 1.2 miles seemed to take forever. I negative split the race, but just barely. All of the mile splits except the last were within 1 second.

13

A 10K is a miserable distance to race. It hurts like nothing else. The most intense discomfort I’ve ever experienced in a standalone running race came in a 10K. 5K’s hurt, so do marathons and half marathons. But the pain in a 10K is acute, intense, and it seems to last forever. That’s why it’s such a great distance to race. It takes a good combination of endurance, speed and racing strategy. Maybe that’s why I’ve never been very good at 10K’s – I have little endurance, no speed, and I’m an idiot when it comes to pacing.

RP

14

Splits from Saturday’s 10K: (A MOP’ers tale of mediocrity)

6:26/6:48/7:05/7:03/7:01/6:42/1:27

42:32 for 9/21 (35-39 AG), 47/265 overall

Once again I demonstrate how NOT to race a 10K.

Goal was to start out slower this time. I seem to have a little trouble with this!! :slight_smile:

Compared to last year:

6:32/6:43/7:06/6:54/6:49/6:58/1:28

42:30 for 12/36 (35-39 AG), 85/600 overall

I’m nothing if not consistent at least.

So basically I made no improvements on a year made up of very mediocre run training at a volume of just over 800 miles. (One track session since the fall, two weeks ago). One other difference was that this years’ race was run in a steady rain/wind, with lot’s of standing water on the course.

It’s also interesting to see what the bad weather does for turn-out, and for age-group placing. Seems like only the hard-core runners show up for sure!!!

I guess it’s back to work. My kids are a year older now, so with a little more sleep, maybe I can climb closer to that sub-40:00 goal.

15

10k pace should be close to your 5k pace, maybe 10s/mile slower. The sensations should be the same, definitely a screamer…