Howdy all,
Next weekend I’m doing my first-ever, stand-alone 10k race. It’s more of a training barometer than anything else, but I’d like to do as well as I can. So, I was looking for input as to what you would recommend as a pre-race warmup, and pehaps also what I should do (or not do) the day or two beforehand, sort of a mini-taper. (The race falls at the end of a recovery week, so I should be pretty well rested for it in general)
Also - has anybody used Slowman’s ‘How to Kill your 10K PR’ protocol? How did it work for you? I did the first 2 suggested workouts so far; today’s 4x800m @ 2:45 was tough - I haven’t run 800m that fast since HS (20+ yrs ago - of course, back then 2:45 was a walk in the park)
I’ve got my 10k in training at “race-pace” down to 39:XX (and haven’t done any speed work at all yet), so it is a pleasant coincidence that he wrote that training plan for somebody shooting for a 37:XX 10k, which is where I hope to be.
Thx in advance for your input. Wish me luck…
You really don’t need to taper for a 10K, just no hard workouts the week of the race. I presume your race will be on a Sunday morning…if so, do 2x400 2x800 2x400 at race pace on the Thusday evening, easy 4-5 miles Friday same Saturday and you’ll be good to go.
I like to get up really early the morning of a race and jog a few miles to wake up. Then I get in the car and drive to the race and for a 10K I’ll jog 2 miles warmup…the last mile of the course out and back so I’m familiar with it and so I can plan my strategy for the finish.
10 minutes before the gun start some strides, 50-100m controlled speed, building up to about 80% of a full sprint. This will elevate your heart rate sufficiently so that you aren’t gasping for air halfway through that first 6 minute mile.
Take the first mile easy and try to find a pack to run in thats going at your pace. If you’re lucky and find one just settle in and let the miles roll by. Unless someone gets pissy just sit at the back and let those who want to do all the work.
Good luck
I pretty much agree with the above post.
Last meal about 3 hours before the race begins. 100 to 200 calories of carbs 1/2 hour before the race. I then begin a 10 to 15 minute warmup, take a short break to pee, then a couple more minutes warmup with short, controlled-speed strides, finishing about 10 minutes before the start. From that point, I try to stay loose until race time. If necessary, I’ll throw on sweats to stay warm.
Thanks for the info fellas! Good stuff.
Surprizingly, this race is at 1:00pm on a Sunday, I don’t know why on earth they don’t do it in the am like every other race in the world.
Apparently they have had over 1,000 participants in some previous years. Last year there were “only” 550+ And here I was thinking the swim starts for Tri’s were bad…