If you have been running 5K for ages and felt that it’s time to
challenge yourself a bit, then a 10K run is perfect for levelling up. 10K is a
mid-distance run which can be comfortably completed below 90 minutes if you do
a run-walk sequence. Faster runners can easily bag this below 60 minutes or a
decent finish between 60 to 70 minutes, but we are not going into that
territory for now.
I have been running 10K for a few months, every weekend in fact,
since I decided to resume clocking more running hours to get fit and live a
healthier lifestyle to compensate for my caffeine and junk food fix. The upside was that my sickness-prone self improved significantly.
It was not easy resuming the training after a seven-year hiatus. I started running when we lived in Singapore and my friends encouraged me into running for leisure. The
effort to start all over again required patience and a great deal of commitment
to get to a point where running 10K becomes a breeze. You need patience because you have to accept
that running from zero for the first 200 meters would leave you breathless
already on that first day; tenacity and determination- because running for 10K
means making that time, whether it is on a hot summer weekday afternoon or
waking up at 4:30 A.M. on a cold, rainy weekend instead of being able to grab extra
hours of sleep.
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| 500 meters away from the finish line of the Skechers Performance Run where I ran my 3rd 10K and my best time so far! photo credits: Starting Line PH |
Here are a few tips I can share to beginners like me who decided to
make that next big step and level up to 10K:
1. Find a comfortable pace
and stick to it. I started running
for fun. In fact, I still do. I happily
run with my turtle-paced 9 min/km while listening to my favorite go-to music
and simply enjoy watching life around me.
When running an official race, I stick to my training pace while everyone
else were running past me. Don’t give in
to the temptation of trying to run with the bandwagon (i.e., everyone else’s
pace) if it is simply not your pace. It will wear you down and zap all your
running energy in no time. I find that
when I stuck to my pace, I finish the race while maintaining a healthy heart
rate level and without any trace of muscle soreness the next day.
My husband who is also into running coached me into getting into a
faster pace via this strategy that he researched about and tried it in his own
21K run which he finished below his targeted 2hr 30 minutes (!), but that is
another story I will write about someday.
2. Consistency is the name of
the game. Once you made up your mind
to run for 10K, be prepared that to finish it comfortably meant clocking in at
least 50% of the distance for about 2-3 days in a week in training. This will help build your strength and endurance
which you will definitely need when hitting the grounds for about 60 minutes or
so. I wouldn’t recommend trying to wing
it or train less than what is required as this leads to injuries and very sore
muscles after the event. The target is to finish strong and not almost dead!
When I trained for my first 10K, I ran 3x a week for 4 weeks running
5K on a treadmill. In my second 10K
race, I was able to run up to 8K on regular training days prior to the event at
my comfortable pace. In my last 10K run at the very first Skechers
Performance Run in SM by the Bay, I have been running 10-12K for the last 5
weeks prior to the event itself. I was very happy on the outcome of that run,
ending 9 minutes faster than my usual training time and hitting my best pace so
far. I enjoyed the run and appreciated
that my last 2K stretch before the finish were my fastest pace and more
importantly, I sustained a healthy heart rate throughout the run with no
shortness of breath, no fatigue or any other cardiovascular drama during and
after the run. Note also that there are many apps that can be downloaded which
can give you a training plan to follow.
3. Maintain a healthy diet regimen. I admit this is the most challenging
part. We are often psyched to believe
that because we run and burn calories as we do so, it gives us the license to
eat just about anything we want. I make
a conscious effort to not fall into that trap.
I realized though that when I started running consistently, the
temptation to give in to sweet cravings went zap and it was easier to regulate
the quantity of what I eat. Quality over quantity, as they say. Same is true on the race day itself- stay
hydrated at the right intervals. If you
have been training prior to the race day itself, you will have a good baseline
on when to hydrate and when to take extra fuel.
Before running a 10K, my ritual includes eating a slice of toasted bread
with peanut butter, banana and wash it down with water. The part I found daunting was having to cut
down on caffeine and chips several days prior to the run ☹ During the race day itself, we
found that what worked for me was to refuel every 4K, so I bring power gel or
chocolates with me. It worked perfectly
so far.
So, there’s my ten cents worth! If you are planning to level up to
10K soon, stick to the training plan with rigor but most importantly, enjoy the
process! You are making an important investment to your health and well-being,
and those are priceless.
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| My 1st Philippine 10K run at the Runrio Trilogy 2018 races |
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| My best 10K run so far. I ran several weekends of 10K prior to the race day itself. It was a very happy run day for me and felt light and good through out the race. |
