I Want to Get My 10k Time Down to 36 Minutes

I've been running now for some 8 months and have recently joined a club. I'm 6ft, slim and weigh 11 stone. Perfect running physique. I've done a few competitive races with the most recent race being a 10k where I got a time of 38:48.




I set off on this run doing splits of under 6 minute miles for the first 5k and then my legs start to go heavy and I have to drop my pace.

I would like to know what it is.

... Whether it could be just inexperience and I need to just keep running and it will come?

... Whether it is to do with training?

... Maybe I need to look at weight training for my legs?


Answer by Dominique:
Hi there,
Thanks for your question about your 10k running time.

I think, for someone running just eight months, you are doing well.

And I don't think you are doing something wrong necessarily.

What was happening in your race is the following: a 10k race gets run at a speed faster than tempo pace. Tempo pace is also known as lactic acid threshold pace. This is the pace at which your body can just about get rid of the lactic acid building up in your muscles.

When you run faster than tempo pace, the lactic acid starts building up in your legs. Run too fast and the lactic acid builds up too quickly. And that's exactly what happened to you.

After 5k there was too much lactic acid build-up and your muscles stopped functioning properly, i.e. heavy legs and you had to slow down.

How to fix this?
Do more tempo running. Over time as you do your tempo running, your lactic acid threshold will improve and you will be able to run faster without the lactic acid build-up.

Tempo running is not the only ingredient to a successful running program. Check out the running training section for a lot more information.

You'll obtain the best results with running training at a variety of speeds.

Best of luck. Without a doubt, you'll get faster over the next few months and years!
Kind regards,
Dominique

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