Improving 10 Mile Race Time, Preparation for First 10K Race
Dear Coach:
I would like to break 65 minutes for 10 miles. My previous best time is 70 minutes. My next 10-mile race is in two months. What guidance do you have for me?
Tim

Dear Tim:
You certainly have set yourself a lofty goal. You are already averaging seven minutes per mile and it will take a lot of work to drop your pace to 6:30 per mile to run a 65 minute 10-miler. I recommend that you do the following anaerobic threshold workouts for the next six weeks.

Once a week after warming up for at least one mile, run three one-mile repeats at eighty to eighty-five percent effort on your heart rate monitor with a one-minute recovery between miles. If you do not have a monitor, this effort should feel very hard, as if you are on the edge of your capabilities and if you ran any harder, you would want to quit. In terms of pace, it should be somewhere between your current 10-mile and 10K race pace.

Also, once a week, your training should include a 20-minute anaerobic threshold run where you run for 20 minutes nonstop at eighty to eighty-five percent effort. For more information about anaerobic threshold training, visit the Coache's Corner at the Montgomery County Road Runners Club web page at www.mcrrc.org.

Dear Coach:
I have been running since September 2001. I started out walking at 3.2 mph for 20 to 30 minutes and by December 2001 had built up to a little over 5 mph for about 45 minutes. Since this past July, I now run four times per week at 6.5 mph for 30 minutes and sprint the at 7 mph for the last 1.5 minutes. I am now training for my first 10K in three months. I do most of my running on a treadmill. I would be grateful for any tips you could provide.
Diane

Dear Diane:
First, congratulations on embarking on a running program. You have started very sensibly by walking and then gradually building up your running. Now that spring is here, I would suggest that you do some of your running outdoors to prepare for the race because it is a very different feeling running on the roads compared with a treadmill. I also recommend that you do a couple of things to get ready.

First, you need to start doing a long run once a week. Most runners find it easiest to do that on the weekend. I would suggest building up your long run to five to six miles. Currently, you are running about three miles a day on the treadmill. Add a half-mile to your weekend run every other week so that for two weeks your long run is three and one-half miles, the next two weeks it is four miles, etc.

The second thing that you need to make sure is that you are running at sixty to seventy percent effort, or at conversational pace. If you are running too fast, you will increase the chances of getting injured. Do not worry about any speed work right now. Once you have your first 10K under your belt, then you can begin 10K race training. For more information about 10K race training, see the Web site mentioned in my previous answer.

Dear Coach:
I have a question about heart monitor training. Do you take a straight percentage of one's maximum heart rate or do you use a method that takes into account resting heart rate?The numbers come out quite differently depending upon the method you use.
Mike

Dear Mike:
That is a good question. It seems that every gym and fitness center has one of those charts that straightlines maximum heart rate (MHR). While those numbers are probably good guides for the general population that is out of shape, they can cause nothing but problems for fit runners who might try to apply them. There is never any mention of resting heart rate (RHR).
I use the Karvonen formula as follows: (MHR minus RHR) times percentage plus RHR. For example, 70% effort for a runner with a resting heart rate 50 and maximum heart rate of 190 is (180 - 50) X .70 = 91 + 50 = 131. The Karvonen formula more closely approximates VO2 MAX and is a better guide for training.

Coach Kirt West is a private coach for motivated adult runners. Questions for him can be sent to kirtwest@erols.com.