10K Advice From Mark Bomba

By: Karen Karnis

Mark Bomba has been a Mizuno athlete since 2005 and is the Endurance Director at Trinity Western University in Langley, BC.  He enjoys this role as he helps younger collegiate athletes learn about and build their running, and also provides some options for non-collegiate athletes to have a training group.  For example, top athletes such as Steve Osaduik can be found at some workouts.  “I do not coach Steve, but he comes out when his training works with what we’re doing,” says Bomba.  “In this case it’s a win-win situation as he gets some training partners, and having someone of his calibre acting as a mentor really adds to the atmosphere of the group.”

He understands the impact a few solid role models can have on an athlete. “When I first began running, Sue Lee, Art Boileau and Rob Lonergan actually knew my name and would ask me about some race and that was a big deal,” says Bomba.  While he never considered himself to be of the same calibre as these runners, he saw how “a simple gesture on their part left a lasting impression,” definitely a benefit to any younger developing athlete.

While Bomba is modest about his running résumé, he’s no slouch.  Some of his more recent achievements include being Canada’s top-ranked masters 10K runner in 2009 and 2010, with times of 30:39 and 30:57 respectively, and this past fall he became the masters XC Champion.

While he enjoys racing everything from the 3000m to 15K, Bomba likes the 10K because it is the “glamour event of road racing,” meaning a wide variety of people with different abilities and expectations turn out to run. For him, personally, the race is about strategy.  “It’s really all about knowing what you can do and putting that in the confines of trying to be competitive with others,” he explains, adding, “It means using your competitors to help you become a better runner.”

As a coach and one of the best 10K masters runners in Canada, we asked Bomba for some tips and advice on running the 10k.

Mark Bomba’s top 5 tips for a great 10K:

5. Set goals well in advance. This will help you to focus, and gives you time to get into a routine and overcome the desire to skip a run if you’re tired, or it’s raining or snowing.

4. Do your long runs. “The long run of at least 80 minutes is key to any 10km training as that’s the point where certain adaptations change in the body,” says Bomba.

3. Consider adding some or all of these workouts:

Tempo runs.  Any 10K runner can benefit from tempo runs of around 20 to 30 minutes at a pace you can maintain for up to one hour.

Fartleks.  These workouts involve interspersing harder running with easy running. “You can make these as simple or as complex as you want,” advises Bomba.  “I generally advocate one called a ‘monofartlek’ or do simple things like alternating 15-25 minutes of 60 seconds hard running with 60 seconds medium paced running  – or even 30 seconds of each.”

Longer intervals.  “Once again, sometimes simpler is better.  The one I often tell people to use is from a good friend of mine, and former New Zealand Olympian, Jonathan Wyatt. He does 3 minutes at around 10km pace with 2 minutes of easier running. I’ll often go up to 40mins of this, but for most people I advocate 20-25 minutes,” he says.

2. Plan your race strategy. “Some people go into races with exact plans. Many people try to be too rigid in pacing and forget that it’s an athletic competition. In a nutshell, you need to find a pace or effort that seems reasonable, as many people tend to go out too fast the first few minutes.  After that you settle in and treat it as a race. It’s amazing how people can push themselves if they are racing, as opposed to chasing a time. Focus on process and the present time as opposed to focussing on the end goal. Race and the end goal will take care of itself.”

And Bomba’s #1 tip: Be consistent. “Honestly, the most important advice I would say to anyone is simply:  get out the door and train. Consistency over time is really the key to any successful athlete. It can be easy to go for a short period of time, but to really learn about yourself and the sport it takes a lot of time of perseverance.”