Only a month to train for your 10K? Here’s the solution
Four weeks is long enough to improve your fitness and put a little edge of speed in your legs. If you’re committed to running a 10K in four weeks’ time, this training plan looks at running three times a week. If you’re a complete beginner, that K’s might sound a little daunting, but simply focus on building up the length of your runs, rather than following the more speed-orientated structure of these schedules.
For more experienced runners, by following this training plan you should be able to achieve a 45-60 minute 10K.
Two key things to remember when following this training plan:
1. The sessions in the training plan aren’t set in stone. Be flexible with speeds and distances where you need to, especially if you start to feel tired all the time.
2. Feel free to change the order of the sessions to fit in with your daily schedule. Just be sure to follow the basic principle of not scheduling hard sessions back-to-back.
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Rest | 3km easy, then 8 x 400m or 80 secs fast, with 400m or 2-3 min jog recoveries, then 3km easy | Rest | Rest | Rest | 8-10km easy, inc 10 x 100m strides | 8km easy |
| Week 2 | Rest | 3km warm-up, then 6 x 600m or 2-mins, with 400m or 3-min jog recoveries, then 3km cool-down | Rest | Rest | Rest | 8-10km steady, inc hills | 10km easy |
| Week 3 | Rest | 3km warm-up, then 5 x 800m or 3-mins, with 400m or 3-4 min jog recoveries, then 3km cool-down | Rest | Rest | Rest | 15 mins easy, 20 mins fartlek, 15 mins easy | 11km easy |
| Week 4 | Rest | 3km warm-up, then 6 x 400m or 80 secs, with 400m or 2-3 min jog recoveries, then 3km cool-down | Rest | 8km easy | Rest | Rest | RACE |
