Your Speed/Distance Training Zones: 55 minute 10k
| Pace per Mile | Treadmill Pace mph | 400m / 800m Splits | 1km Pace | 5km Race Pace |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08:52 | 6.7 mph/ 10.9 km/h | 2:12 / 4:24 | 05:30 | 27:30min |
55 minute 10k Training Plan
| Day | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | 4 (rec week) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 45mins easy | Rest/ cross-train | 30mins easy | Rest/ cross-train |
| Tuesday | 30mins easy | Rest/ cross-train | ||
| Wednesday | Rest/ cross-train | 30mins easy | Rest/ cross-train | Rest/ cross-train |
| Thursday | @8:52 p/m (5:30 p/km) 2 min Rec | Aim for: 27:30 | @8:52 p/mile (4:24 p/800m) 90s Rec | Rest/ cross-train |
| Friday | Rest/ cross-train | Rest/ cross-train | Rest/ cross-train | 45mins easy |
| Saturday | 45mins easy | @8:52 p/m (5:30 p/km) 90s Rec | 45mins easy | Rest/ cross-train |
| Sunday | Long run, gentle pace: 60-75 mins | 45mins easy | Long run, gentle pace: 60-75 mins | Rest/ cross-train |
55 Minute 10k Training Plan Components
Breakeven Sessions – 55 minute 10k
These sessions are used for maintaining fitness & recovery. Preparing you for breakthrough sessions:
- Easy Run – this should be no quicker than 10:50 p/mile.
- Long Run – this doesn't need to be any longer than 75 minutes.
Breakthrough Sessions – 55 minute 10k
These sessions are meant to be challenging intense efforts, treat them as mini-milestones towards your target:
- Tempo Run – hard but sustainable effort, usually about 30 mins in total and aim for 09:25 p/mile pace for 3 miles with a 1 mile warm up/down either side.
- 800m Reps – should be reps at 8:52 p/m pace (4:24 per 800m) with a 90sec jogged recovery.
- 1km Intervals – 8:52 p/m pace (5:30 per km) with a 90sec jogged recovery.
- 2km Intervals – 8:52 p/m pace (11:30 per 2km) with a 2min jogged recovery.
- 5km Time Effort – run a 5k race/training run at your maximum, try and aim for a sub 27:30.
Notes on the 55 Minute 10k Training Plan
The 55 minute 10k plan has been put together so it is cyclical and can be used over a period of weeks until you feel you are ready for your 10k event. At the end of each cycle you can repeat from the beginning or tweak the plan to suit your current ability and time commitments etc. As you improve you'll maybe want to incorporate some sessions from our other 10k training plans.
If after a couple of rotations you want to make the plan harder, you could slowly increase the number of reps for the breakthrough speed sessions. Introduce changes slowly and over a few weeks, i.e., Week 1 = 3x2km Reps, Week 5 = 4x2km Reps, Week 8 = 5x2km reps, etc. Obviously there is only so far you can go with this, there would be no point in extending these way beyond the 10k distance. The other way of making the plan harder is to adjust the pace slightly and run faster!
It is recommended that after three months of using the 55 minute 10k plan that you reduce your training for a period of one to two weeks to allow your body time to recover from the impact of running. This should mean more time cross-training with a couple of nice easy runs every few days to keep the legs ticking over.
To realise improvements it’s worth remembering that training is cumulative and it takes time and dedication to follow any training plan and achieve the results you want.
Hi there,
I followed the 55 min 10k plan for my training and managed to finish the Athens (Greece) race 10k in 53.59 feeling very comfortable at the end! Thank you and looking forward to trying out the half marathon plan next!