This is a great question posted on my Facebook page by Simone, so I thought I’d share it on the blog:
Hi Chris. I’ve been reading your advice today, and I’m keen to get some extra help, but worried that the plan you suggest is beyond my abilities.
I’m just starting out as a middle distance runner. I don’t expect ever to get brilliant times. I can run about 8km in 52 minutes at the moment. I want to gear up for c2s without breaking down..
The idea of running 10k midweek just kills me though… any advice?
My response:
Hi Simone, well done on your 8k run.
I believe the trick is to do the distances even if you walk it. Because what we are doing is conditioning our bodies to the distance. Don’t worry about times at all at the moment. Trying to get good times now is much more likely to lead to injury.
Frankly I wouldn’t start striving for good times until much closer to the event. If you have prepared well, the day of the run is when you will do your best time.
I recommend a walk/jog for beginners at this stage of preparation (9 weeks to go) and jog/run for the more experienced runners.
It is surprising how easy a 10k jog/walk is if you aren’t in a hurry. If the idea of 10k midweek ‘kills’ you, you are right, it is the idea that kills you. Don’t think about it.
Two strategies – either walk for 5k away from home and jog back (10k) or do a 5k jog in the morning and another 5k jog in the evening on the same day.
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Update April 2013
My City2Surf Training Program is now an eBook
‘How to Break Your Fitness Slump and Comfortably Finish a Fun Run’
My full City2Surf training program is now available as an eBook from all leading online bookstores and contains a link to download the training schedule as an iCal file, so you can import it into your calendar.
Also, feel free to join my free Facebook training group the City2Surf 100 day Challenge.