WEEK 8: HALF MARATHON 2019

WEEK 8 HALF MARATHON 2019 with SAINTS DAYS 5k &10K TRAINING PLAN STARTS!
At the end of this week some may be running or walking an early St. Patrick’s Day-themed 10K RACE.

If the 10K is your GOAL race you will be running or walking it just to finish or to achieve a decent time. The EARNED RUNS ‘Saints Days’ walking and running plans do not aim to prepare trainees for speed, specifically a personal record (PR), but once you’ve recorded a 10K finish time it is something to consider for the future!
 
A strategy that many runners follow to insure they will not quit mid-race but cross the finish line in good form is to start it comfortably slow and end it with best effort.  The plan is to hold back initially, pick up speed gradually, sustain an increased effort for miles 4 and 5, and dig deeper for the final 1-1.25 miles.  The general plan is to cover the second half of the race distance, just after passing the mile 3 marker, in less time than the first half, which is referred to as a ‘negative split’.
 
A benefit of starting at a slower than normal pace, in spite of other runners enthusiastically passing by on either side, is a strong finish. You’re likely to be passing some, possibly many of these same people as you pick up speed later in the race. The strategy has worked for me in both walk and run events.
 
Those who are training to run or walk the HALF MARATHON later in the spring, will treat this 10K as a ‘tune-up’ event rather than a goal race.  You’ll plan to hold back a bit, hold a steady pace, and not push hard with an all-out effort at the finish.  For this reason, there wasn’t a scheduled taper or a ‘peak’ for this distance

If you don’t remember the BLOG post that introduced the running and walking  plans, explained the concept of training or “tune-up” races, and linked to a Runnersworld.com article, you might check it out.
 
The advice given in that article was to run the ‘tune-up’ 10K evenly all the way through, finishing as if you felt you could have run faster. This race is about gently testing yourself before the half marathon. It provides you with a ‘practice’ race that should build confidence. In other words, easy-does-it, especially at the start.  Don’t blast out of the gate and wither before the end.
 
Also, there’s an article in Competitor.com “How to Use Races to Train for Other Races” by Kelly O'Mara that provides more explanation.

Enjoy St. Patrick’s Day with this tune-up.
 
RUN & MOVE HAPPY!
 
http://running.competitor.com/2016/04/training/use-races-train-races_148413
 
http://www.earned-runs.com/blog/fun-tune-up-races
 
http://www.runnersworld.com/race-training/tune-up-for-successful-racing
 
https://running.pocketoutdoormedia.com/the-art-of-10k-pacing_7449
 
https://www.realbuzz.com/articles-interests/running/article/10k-race-tactics/
 
http://www.tips4running.com/10K-Race-Strategy.html