The 10 km race is the most versatile running event - a social event, a challenge for the beginner, a performance event for experienced runners, and also an excellent training event for runners looking to peak at any other distance.
Experience and fitness are the two key factors that will determine your potential. Most good runners will seek to dip below 40 minutes, whilst most beginners or intermediates will look to beat 60 minutes. Incredibly, the male and female world records stand at a staggering 27 minutes 02 seconds and 30 minutes 21 seconds respectively!
Your training programme should reflect your running experience and current level of fitness through the manipulation of training type, duration, intensity and frequency.
Beginner (<60 minutes)
Your focus is to increase the length of time (duration) that you can run without stopping. This is done through continuous running (2-4 sessions/week), slowly increasing the duration of your runs whilst maintaining intensity at an easy to moderate level.
Intermediate (<50 minutes)
Your focus is to blend your continuous runs (30-60 minutes duration: easy/moderate intensity) with interval based training, i.e. 4-6 bouts of 2-4 minutes at race pace interspersed with 30-90 seconds jog recovery. The number of sessions per week will vary from 2-5.
Experienced (<40 minutes)
Your focus is to find the right blend of continuous, interval and speed sessions (i.e. 10-12 bouts of 200-800 m reps with 30-60 seconds recovery) so that you can keep pushing your race pace to the next level. The number of sessions per week will vary from 3-6.
As you progress towards your 10 km race, use feedback from specific training sessions to understand your race potential, i.e. target time. From this target time you can now calculate your pacing strategy to ensure you don't run too slowly, or perhaps even too fast risking fatigue.
In addition to a well balanced diet, carbohydrate to fuel the muscles and fluid to hydrate the body are the two most important areas to think about in preventing fatigue and thus ensuring the quality of your training and maximising your race day potential.
Before
Always begin hydrated by consuming 5-7 ml of fluid per kilogram of body weight (~ 200-500 ml) 2-4 hours before. In addition consume a high carbohydrate meal 3-4 hours before and if necessary top up your carbohydrate stores up until you start running.
During
- For training sessions that are > 60 minutes and are low to moderate intensity or < 60 minutes at a high intensity it is important to consume both fluid and carbohydrate. Drink 125-150 ml every 15-20 minutes of Lucozade Sport, whilst a carbo gel every 45 minutes is a great addition for extra energy.
- For training sessions that are < 60 minutes at a lower intensity fluid replacement as opposed to carbohydrate intake is your primary aim. Drink 125-150 ml every 15-20 minutes of Lucozade Sport Hydro Active.
- When racing your 10 km it unlikely that you'll stop for either fluid or energy unless it will take you longer than 45 minutes. If you do, then Lucozade Sport Hydro Active would be a good choice.
- Caffeine has been shown to be a powerful performance aid in running, helping athletes increase their work rates. Drink one bottle Lucozade Sport with Caffeine Boost 60 minutes before the start of the race for maximal benefits.
After
Try to replace 150% (~ 500 ml) of the fluid lost in sweat in addition to approximately 1.2 g of carbohydrate per kilogram bodyweight. A combination of Lucozade Sport Recovery and other food sources is an ideal choice.
REMEMBER: Always trial your nutrition and hydration strategies in training before you use in races.