Some Encouragement from the DCCT

It's Week 5, which I am relieved to discover is an "easy" week in my training plan. This means a couple of sessions of running just for 3 minutes at a time again. The week looks like this:

Run 3 walk 2 x 6
Run 3 walk 2 x 5
Run 5 walk 3 x 4

Apparently its good to have a few "easy" weeks of training here and there because it allows further recovery whilst keeping to a consistent routine. This is a better approach than just increasing the training each week as it reduces the likelihood of injury.

I was also pleasantly surprised to receive a training plan yesterday from the Derby 10k organisers, which I wasn't expecting. This is a lot more detailed than the plan I'm currently following (it's 46 pages long!), but it makes for some very interesting reading. At present, I'm nearly half way through a 12 week couch to 10k running plan that I found online, which I'm managing ok with so far. The DCCT training plan is a 24 week plan that takes me from this week right up to race day. According to this plan, 24 weeks is the optimal training time for racing, particularly if you're new to running or are a couch potato embarking on a new exercise programme (which is good because I won't feel so bad if I don't manage it in 12 then!) 


24 weeks is an interesting figure as in all my Internet searches I've never come across a plan for total beginners that advocates such a long training period. My 12 week plan was about the most gentle one out there. Other "Couch to 10k" training plans claim you can go from zero running fitness to 10k ability in 6 weeks! This doesn't seem very realistic to me. On my current plan, by the end of week 6 I should be able to run for 8 uninterrupted minutes. I dread to think how extreme the training would have been to get me running the other 52 minutes in the same timeframe. One thing's for sure. I wouldn't have stuck with it.

So, naturally I was interested in how my training plan compares with the DCCT one. I've compared the training from week 5 onwards and they're actually pretty similar in terms of minutes/distance  required week by week. I should be at 5k ability round about week 9 on both plans. The plan I'm currently on removes the walking breaks in week 10. The other plan leaves this until week 12. What is really good about the DCCT plan though is that it includes detailed recommended warm ups, cool downs, strength training, and different kinds of training such as Fartlek, hill training, negative splits and interval sessions. The training is also divided into phases. Base fitness phase is weeks 1 to 15. Peak fitness goes from weeks 16 to 23, and then there is a final week of tapering. The obvious difference between the plans is that one suggests you will be able to run a 10k by the end of week 12, and the other claims you will be able to complete the race by the end of week 21. Weeks 22 and 23 are about honing skills and getting the best time possible.

So the question now is which plan to follow. My original plan has been pretty sound and its claim that I could run a 10k after 12 weeks of training is probably correct. I'm sure if I follow it I will be able to run the distance. The DCCT plan offers much the same over a longer period with a greater variety of training approaches with the goal of making you able to reach the finish and run a half decent time. Technically I could follow both plans as once my original 12 weeks are over I still have a lot of weeks left where I was going to have to devise my own training. My original plan was to use the 12 week plan to be able to run the distance (so basically to improve my stamina and endurance), and then incorporate things like fartlek and interval training to try and improve the speed. The DCCT plan conveniently means I don't have to come up with this further training on my own.

So I have a few options.
1) Try and complete the original plan, then carry on with the DCCT plan. I'm 4 weeks ahead of the DCCT plan already, so if I complete week 12 of my training I could then move over to week 9 of the DCCT plan.
2) Try and complete the original plan but fall back onto the DCCT plan if the progression is too fast.
3) Ditch the original plan and just begin with week 5 of the DCCT plan, finish it early and then just repeat some of the more challenging weeks to improve peak fitness.

I'll probably go with option 1, while incorporating some of the DCCT recommended warm ups, cool downs, and strength training, but watch this space.