10k Running and Weight Training

by John
(South Africa)

I run 10k races for recreation almost every Saturday, but I do not train. I do weight training 5 days a week and I do not want to put my body in a catabolic state.

If I train every Wednesday for the race on Saturday and run Saturdays that aren't race days would that be sufficient training?

I want to train the minimum necessary. 10k time: 56 min


Answer by Dominique:
Hi there,
Thanks for your question about your 10k running training. It is a little unclear to me what your goal is with your running or your overall fitnes regime. If I understand correctly your goal is to do weight training predominantly and do the minimum bit of cardio required.

It sounds like you have the basic fitness to run the 10k races as you do these regularly. And once you have that fitness, maintaining it with two runs a week is quite okay as long as you do not start going much longer distances than the 10k.

56 minutes for a 10k does not make you the fastest runner in the pack, but running races probably makes the whole running experience a lot more fun for you, so keep on going with what you are doing.

If you have a goal to become leaner and faster, then one or two extra cardio sessions in exchange for the weights would be great. Another thing I would then consider is replacing some of the weight trainig with bodyweight exercises.

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I hope this answers your question.
Kind regards,
Dominique