10km: You should train for one

If you don't know about Bruce Fordyce, and you consider yourself a serious runner, you should be ashamed of yourself. He has won the infamous Comrades Marathon in South Africa eight times and the London-to-Brighton race three times. Dr. Timothy Noakes, whose opinion on running I respect more than anyone's, writes of Fordyce, "Never before had the Comrades seen such poetic running, such effortless mastery, and such athletic perfection- indeed, such complete excellence" (Lore of Running, Noakes, 332). Coming from the man who literally wrote the book on running, that's quite a statement.

In his book, Dr. Noakes outlines some of the principles that Fordyce trained by to achieve his unprecedented success in ultradistance running. Of the 9 points, which you should purchase the book to learn, #8 is to Gauge Your Fitness by Performance in Short-Distance Races and Speed Sessions. Noakes writes, "Bruce wrote that when he can run 8km in close to 25:00 (at altitude), he is ready for the Comrades (Fordyce, 1984). American marathoners Frank Shorter and Alberto Salazar have said essentially the same for the standard marathon (Noakes, 339)."

This principle is fundamental to swim, bike, and run training. Simply put, by pursuing speed work, the athlete can raise their 'cruising speed' for longer distance races. As an extreme example, take the course record setting 6hr 32min finishing time at the most recent White River 50 Mile Trail Running Championships. Anton Krupicka, a by-all-appearances incredibly humble and likable elite ultrarunner, ran the final 6.6 miles, over very technical single-track trail, averaging 6:49 min/mile (after running the previous downhill segment averaging 5:45 min/mile). You can bet that having a background racing 5km's certainly supported Krupicka's phenomenal performance. In his blog report of the race, he cites a marathon PR of 2:42 and a PR of 2:21 for second place finisher and defending White River champion Mike Wardian.

Krupicka on the White River 50 Course, Photo credit to Glenn Tachiyama

If you're reading this blog, you're most likely training for an Olympic distance race or an Ironman. Having the speed derived from 10km training will be invaluable when you come across the 'race to T2' warriors halfway through the marathon of your next Ironman.

I have the a Turkey Trot 10km on November 26th. I'm excited for the race and as I've mentioned previously, it has helped get me out the door when it's dark, rainy, and 40 degrees outside. My goal is to continue to train for a 10km race each year, as this will both help me track my progress in running and also prepare me for longer distance races.

But more than that, I'll get a T-shirt with this logo on it:

The best race logo in the world