Many runners begin their racing experiences with the five-kilometre distance as it has the advantage of being ‘just long enough’ to be a challenge, while being short enough to be both attainable and enjoyable without requiring too much time preparing.
If you’ve completed one or more such races, you’re running regularly two to four times a week, and you aspire to move up to the 10-kilometre distance, good for you! Although this is a bigger challenge, it can also be double the fun and satisfaction with the right training.
The program that follows is designed to get you comfortably to your first 10-kilometre finish line. A simple way to get a sense of what you’re capable of on a normal day is to take your last or typical five-kilometre time and multiply it by 2.1
I’ve personally finished close to 300 10-kilometre races over the last 35 years, but I learned more from my first than from any after that. It was a cautionary tale of poor preparation and grossly optimistic pacing by going out too fast, followed by intensely painful cramping after the race.
As I subsequently learned how to train for the distance, I have never had trouble with cramps in or after a race again. In the words of Oscar Wilde: “Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.”
None of us needs to live through a day like that. The goal, particularly in a first effort at the distance, should be to have fun and finish comfortably; 10-kilometres requires a bit more preparation than does five, but it’s far from insurmountable.
Before you begin training, it’s important to consider your objectives and set some targets:
- Select an upcoming event 12-14 weeks out; for many people, committing is half the battle.
- Understand the time you can devote to training. If your lifestyle or interest allows about four runs per week, this program can be fit into it; you can even add another run per week if you feel it helps you.
- Set your time goal. This can be a broad range of times (e.g. between 45-55 minutes) or a set of conditional targets like an ‘A’ goal (45 minutes if everything goes perfectly), a ‘B’ goal (50 minutes on a good day) and a ‘C’ goal (55 minutes if it’s a tough day). A simple way to get a sense of what you’re capable of on a normal day is to take your last or typical five-kilometre time and multiply it by 2.1.
This training schedule:
- Focusses on consistent running and slowly adding mileage with 4-5 runs per week. Most of these runs should be at a steady, conversational pace (you can comfortably carry on a conversation during it).
- Includes a weekly longer run (also at conversational pace) to build endurance, gradually increasing over the 12 weeks.
- Features the main workout of the week, a 10-kilometre goal race pace run (somewhat akin to a ‘tempo’ workout in other programs) to accustom your body to running at your goal pace for several kilometres.
- Has several cross-training days (cycling, swimming, xc-skiing, elliptical training, etc.) If you feel you can fit in more running time, you can substitute an easy run for ONE of these per week.
Enjoy the journey.
10 km Marathon Training Program
Photography: Todd Fraser/Canada Running Series (CRS)
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