Ashwin Blogs

For those who follow my runs on Strava regularly, it must be quite obvious by now that I am obsessed with my pace in general and progression runs in particular to the point that 90% of my runs are progression runs. If you want to know what a progression run is all about and why I am obsessed with it, please read-on. What is it - Progression run is a way of gradually increasing the pace of your run from start to finish such that your first kilometre is the slowest and your last kilometer is the fastest with every kilometer being faster than the previous one. I first came across this in Nike 10k training plan and have been obsessed with it ever since. Why am I obsessed with it - I find it to be a more natural way of running as it bring s the best out of me without tiring me in the process. My recovery time is very low which allows me to continue my day-to-day activities without feeling tired all day. This is an excellent method to build endurance which allowed me to scale from 1...

Once I completed my first long run(6.4km), I quickly set my eyes on covering the 10k distance. I knew this was going to be tougher than what I have done before, so needed a plan and some guidance. After a bit of search over the Internet, I stumbled upon a document from Nike. This provided me with exactly what I needed. An 8 week plan which will help me complete a 10k run. You can find the plan here . There was a 10k event at the end of 4th week. I registered for the same even though the plan could be completed only 4 weeks later. Completing 6.4 kilometers gave me the confidence of taking on 10k in 4 weeks time. The plan includes a mix of run types and provides sufficient recovery days to improve endurance and speed. I followed the plan to the dot and added 20 minute core exercise sessions. I steadily increased my distance through the 4 week period as prescribed in the plan. On the last run before the main event, I had planned to cover 9k distance. I was unable to accommodate this d...