10km Race Strategy

go a lot slower at the beginning than you think. I don't race the 10k but thats pretty much what every single one of my teammates say to do. first mile or 2 should be even a bit off of goal pace, you can't bank time but you can bank energy. the fresher you feel with 2 miles to go, the better.

Thanks - for reference I am just an older hobby jogger looking to do some local road races, not racing on a track. Should I look to pace for maybe ~35 minutes (little bit slower than my 5k tempo)

10k pace is about 10-15 seconds slower per mile than 5k pace. for most people, that also falls about 10-20 seconds faster than tempo pace. I'd just make sure the first 2 miles feel very easy. cause even if they feel easy, its likely that you'll still be running pretty fast.

It just depends on how accurate your tempo/threshold paces are. Your mileage is low but your sessions are fast. Endurance could be a problem for 10k but you're cranking out fast (medium) long runs. I think 35:00 is too slow of a goal.

I like the thought of adding in some hills (I would combine them with tempo work: 4x1:00 hill, 2M tempo, 4x1:00 hill, 2M tempo, 4x1:00 hill). I think you could benefit from some pace specific work with more volume than you've been doing and/or a threshold workout with more volume than the race. 10x1k or 6xmile @ 10k. 12x1k or 8xmile @ T. 3 x 2 miles or 3/2/1 x mile(s) @ T. Stuff like that. The long runs don't have to be fast like that every week. I'm guessing your easy runs are similar. Would rather see more specific workout sessions, a few more miles, and slower easy paces than fast sessions with ~5k-6k in volume with a 10k goal.

As far as race strategy goes, out in control through 5k. I always tell myself to put in a surge (sometimes this means just holding pace) from mile 4-5. Once you're at mile 5 you know you can hold form to the finish.

Thanks for the feedback. I think you are right, what I called "tempo" is definitely too fast / not a true tempo effort. Same with my "easy" days I struggle to pull the pace back, something I need to work on as well. Running specific endurance could be an issue, but I also supplement a lot of my running with cross training (not apples to apples, I know, but I usually hope on the bike or arc trainer immediately after a run just to save my knees etc.). I don't usually do long runs like that every week, more just a couple weeks where I turned the LR into a harder effort workout and just to gain some confidence over a longer distance as I hadn't done a lot of Long efforts recently.

If you are thinking 10xK, 6xmile @10k, based on some of the sessions I've provided should I maybe shoot for like ~5:20/mile pace on those? What kind of rest?

Cruise the first four miles, then turn on the burners and pass people the rest of the way.

For a 10k maybe something like 90s-2:00 rest for reps 1600 & above. :45-60s for reps 1200 & under (can do 90s for 1k-1200 reps). I think doing a workout like that will help you determine race pace. You can shoot for 5:20 pace. Maybe start off closer to 5:30 & cut down to 5:20.

Thinking something like 10x1km w/ 60s rest then? Would 3:20 avg indicate something like 33:20 fitness then?

Set my 8k PR (XC) by doing just that. I came through 1 mile in 5:00 and 2 in 10:00 and felt very comfortable.

Yeah 10 x 1k on 60s rest could even be faster than 10k race pace. You would do 12-15 x 1k @ T on 60s rest. Might need 90s for 10k effort. If you did 10x1k @ 3:20 on 60s rest then I'd say you can run 33:20, maybe even 32:59.

Ended up doing 6xmile at about 5:15 average on ~60s rest this weekend, pretty surprised with it. I'm sure that is probably a fair bit faster than I could actually go in an overall 10k race since I haven't been used to racing the distance, but I'll try to use that as a gauge and start out a little conservatively and hopefully cut down a little in the back half. Thanks!

Great workout. That should be pretty close to 10k pace. 60s rest isn't a ton of time. Maybe it'd be a 1:1 if you progress that to 2k & then to 3k reps. I think if the weather's good you take a crack at ~33:00. Go out through the first mile @ 5:20 to be safe. Feel like you're holding back. Better to do that then get carried away with a 5:10 or something faster.