The 10k is a unique distance for most athletes. It lives right in between the wildly popular 5k and half marathon races. And while the 5k and half marathon have pretty defined and well-known ways of training, 10k training can be a bit more ambiguous. Most will go with either a 5k plan or a half marathon plan and think that’s good enough. I want to lay out some 10k-specific ideas to think about as you train.
Weekly Mileage
The mileage base of any training plan is very important. It will drive the aerobic foundation of training and despite being only 6.2 miles in distance, aerobic fitness is extremely important to a 10k. I recommend beginning runners use a base of 20-30 miles per week. Advanced runners may be closer to 50-60 miles per week. Think that’s a lot? Hanson’s Marathon Method suggests that elite runners will run more than 90 miles per week training for a 10k!
Staples of 10k Training
Now that we have an idea of mileage, let’s think about what types of workouts make up a solid 10k training plan.
- Long Run – You mean I still need a long run for a 10k?! You sure do! The long run is irreplaceable for growing the endurance system and developing red blood cells which will transport oxygen to working muscles. Contrary to marathon training, the long run will not be the focus of your week, but a solid long run of about 30% of your weekly mileage will go a long way!
- Lactate Threshold Tempo Runs – Tempo workouts will get you comfortable running at a challenging pace for longer. The pace of these is important. If you run a 10k under 40 minutes, your lactate threshold pace should be around 10-15 seconds slower than 10k pace. If you are over 40 minutes, lactate threshold pace is close to your actual 10k pace. These should represent around 10% of your weekly volume.
- VO2 Max – In order to maximize your oxygen intake at faster speeds, it’s necessary to do some work at faster than your goal race pace. Sometimes that will be 5k pace or even faster and take the form of 400m or 800m intervals. These are taxing workouts, but they are shorter in length. They should take up 8-10% of your weekly volume.
- Easy running – The remainder of your miles should be spent at a very easy pace, which, like long runs, will contribute to that aerobic fitness. In addition, easier days make hard days possible.
With that as a backdrop, here’s how a typical 10k plan might unfold over the course of 12 weeks.
10-12 Weeks Out
Endurance – Keep your long runs and easy days plenty easy at this point. Introduce your tempo run by starting with just 20 minutes at tempo pace. This will slowly grow up until race day.
Speed – No need to kill yourself at the beginning of a training cycle. All that’s needed at this point are to add in some “strides” at the end of a couple easy days. For these, just accelerate close to 90% speed for about 100m. You are priming your body to run faster workouts in the coming weeks.
6-10 Weeks Out
Endurance – Add in some marathon paced miles to your long runs, perhaps ending with 2-3 marathon pace miles at the end. It doesn’t have to be much – remember, the long run is NOT your focus for 10k training. Continue to keep easy days easy.
Extend your tempo runs week by week. I like to use 2 mile repeats at this pace. At their peak, you will hopefully have about 35-40 minutes at tempo pace for a workout.
Speed – Start to lengthen your speed in this training block. You will still be running faster than 10k pace here. 400m intervals are great for this at close to 3k or even 1 mile pace. In between intervals, rest for about two times as long as the interval (time). This will keep your effort a quality one.
Later in this block of training, slow your pace to 5k pace and use 800m intervals instead. Now the work:rest ratio is about 1:1.
2-6 Weeks Out
Endurance – Put the brakes on your long run pace during this segment as your 10k-specific work ramps up. It’s still necessary, but keep the effort easy.
Your tempo efforts turn into your race-specific workouts here. I like to nail a key workout of 3×2 miles at goal pace or faster 2 weeks out from race day (3-4 min jog in between). Use the weeks before that to build up to it.
Speed – If the 800’s are going well here and you’ve extended to 8-10 intervals, continue to do them but shorten the rest interval slightly to get a new stimulus.
1-2 Weeks Out
I like my last hard effort to be 10 days pre-race. You won’t really reap the benefits from anything much closer than that. Do something with race pace or faster about 5 days before the race to keep the muscle tension strong in your legs. Decrease mileage by about 20% 2 weeks out and by about 50% in the 6 days pre-race.
Good Luck!
If you have a 10k coming up, I’d love to hear about it! Hopefully these tips will help you plan for it well and be ready for a new PR.
Hope you found this article useful! If you want to see more, consider subscribing to my weekly email list. You will get articles sent directly to your inbox as well as other valuable content not seen on the website.
