Our 10K Training Program is designed to further runners and walkers toward their fitness and running goals. It will include education on different training techniques and tools in order to further enjoy running and improve performance. The workouts will last about an hour to an hour and a half as we increase mileage throughout the season.  The 10K program is focused on participants that are looking to complete their first distance event, it is open to all levels of runners or walkers who are able to complete 3 miles at the start of the program. This program will conclude with the Fort 4 Fitness10K on September 30, 2023.

Important Dates:

• Season Starts: Thursday, July 13, 2023
• Season Logistics: Thursdays at 6:30 PM at Fleet Feet Fort Wayne North and Saturdays at 8:00 AM at Fleet Feet North, and or Fleet Feet Fort Wayne Southwest, and alternating locations
• Goal Race: Fort 4 Fitness 10K , September 30, 2023

What to expect at Weeknight Workouts:

The focus of the weeknight workouts is to work on our speed and power when running. When you’re looking to finish your first distance race - building a speed workout into your training is important. You work different muscle groups (fast twitch vs. slow twitch muscles), build endurance in your legs and lungs, and helps to keep your workouts from getting stale. We’ll cover a variety of workouts such as Speed Repeats, Hill Repeats, Fartleks (Swedish for ‘speed play’), tempo runs, etc. We focus on pace and effort during these workouts. Below is an example workout:

• Welcome/Announcements/Find your pace groups
• 10 min Warmup Easy Jogging
• Hill Repeat workout: on a steep hill we’ll do bursts of a hard effort - 15 seconds (4 times), 30 seconds (4 times), 60 seconds (4 times). You will run your hard effort and walk or jog back down the hill.
• 5 Min Cool down jog
• Optional Cool down stretching/core with your group
• Overall, you’ll have done ~2-3 miles that night, but with recovery included in the workout.

What to expect at Saturday Long Runs:

The Saturday Long run focus is on time on your feet. We use the long run to build up our endurance so that we can finish our distance races healthy and happy! Overall, these long runs should be at a very easy pace. We don’t want to race through the long runs because it will ultimately come to us feeling like we’ve ‘raced’ every weekend - our bodies will be tired and it increases the likelihood of injury. You can expect your Mentors to lead the way and help set the pace. These long runs are fully supported with a Key Drop at the store, Water on the course, turn-by-turn directions, and access to your Coaches for questions, advice, etc. 

Pace Groups:

Our groups are open to anyone! Yes, anyone. Your coaches will help give you suggested training paces once in your group! A general breakdown of our groups are as follows:

• 8:00 - 9:00
• 9:00 - 10:00 training pace
• 10:00 - 11:00 training pace
• 11:00 - 12:00 training pace
• 12:00 - 13:00 training pace (Run/Walk Interval Group)
• 13:00 - 15:00 training pace (Run/Walk Interval Group)

We recommend coming into the training being able to run or run/walk 3 Miles.

Run/Walk Interval Running:

There are many benefits to using a run/walk method in your training. We encourage beginning runners to start using a Run/Walk interval in our No Boundaries Beginner 5K training programs. But using a Run/Walk interval is not just for beginners - it’s an excellent tool to help you build endurance and help you cross the finish line of your distance race. Our Coaches will help to modify the workouts to support our interval runners - they will assist with pacing, workouts, racing strategies, and much more. Some of the benefits include:

• Decreased chance of injury. The run-walk method causes less wear and tear on the body, decreasing the chance of injuries. Continuous use of muscle will result in fatigue much quicker. This method will allow a runner to go farther and/or longer before fatigue sets in.
• Quicker recovery. With less wear and tear on the body also come quicker recover after a run.
• Breaks up distances into manageable units. Running is as much mental as it is physical – especially when you get into the distance races. Using the run-walk intervals will help with those long distances. Running 9 miles just seems impossible. But breaking it down by running for a set number of minutes, it’s much more manageable.
• Motivating for new runners. This method allows just about anyone to run any race they want. It doesn’t matter your age, weight, gender, or physical ability. You can be a runner. As you start off slow, you can work your way up to running for a longer amount of time and having fewer walk breaks.

What is included in the program?

• Access to expert coaching and encouraging mentors
• A training plan that also includes workouts for the days you do not have a group workout
• Info sessions including but not limited to good form, foam rolling, nutrition, etc.
• Access to a closed Facebook group to interact with the other participants and coaches
• Special store discounts just for Fleet Feet Running Club members
• A Fleet Feet Running Club shirt

Have questions? Reach out to Sara, our training program coordinator, at saralynnmill@gmail.com

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