12-Week 10K Training Plan For A PB

This isn’t your first rodeo. You’ve run 10Ks in the past, many times, and now it’s time to get serious. Forget fun runs and fancy dress – you’re going all out for a PB, and you need the plan to get you there.

Our 12-week 10K training plan is designed by running coach Ed Kerry (therundoctor.co.uk), and if you follow it to the letter, there’s no reason you can’t strip minutes off your previous best.

The plan mixes up the kind of running involved and also suggests days for strength training. This will not only keep your training interesting, but also build your speed and endurance to ensure 10K success.

Types of Run In This Training Plan

Recovery Runs

“These should be nice and easy and you should feel relaxed,” says Kerry. “Enjoy the scenery. You should be breathing easily and be capable of holding a conversation throughout the run. This will mean that you are running in the 60-65% range of your maximum heart rate (MHR) and it should be no more than 35 minutes in duration.

“This allows your body to adapt to the training workload and therefore improve. It also helps with the removal of the waste products which accumulate in your muscles after harder efforts.”

Strength Training

“Runners need to make sure they have some strength sessions in their training plan,” says Kerry. “This will make sure that your muscles, ligaments and tendons are strong enough to withstand the mileage.”

Skipping your strength sessions won’t just hit your performance, it could also lead to injury, so it’s well worth doing.

“The areas you need to focus on are the legs and core,” says Kerry.

“You need to be using light weights or bodyweight exercises and doing high repetitions. Three sets of 15 repetitions is a good base level to start at, with a weight heavy enough to make the last two reps difficult.”

RECOMMENDED: Strength Training For Runners

Out And Backs

These are a great way to mix up your training. You simply run in one direction for a certain length of time, then turn and aim to cover the distance back quicker than you did on the way out. Doing out and backs gives you an excellent workout and has the added benefit of teaching you how to start your runs slowly and building up speed, rather than flying out of the blocks and finishing at a snail’s pace.

“I find these are a nice way of building pace and they also promote slower starts, which people struggle to do on race days,” says Kerry.

Long Run

It might surprise and dishearten you to hear that training for a 10K PB involves running distances of further than 10K, but it all adds to building your endurance for faster, shorter efforts.

“Long runs are vital in your plan and key to racing well in long distance races from 5K to the marathon,” says Kerry.

“At first, concentrate on increasing the time you spend on your feet rather than worrying about distance. Start by heading out for at least an hour and run at 65% of MHR (conversational pace). Gradually build to 75% of MHR as you start to practise periods of marathon pace running.

“These runs improve your muscular endurance and condition your body to burn fat as its primary fuel source. They also prepare you physically and mentally for the task ahead.”

Cross-Training

Running can be tough on the body, so it’s worth adding some other, lower-impact sports to your training. Furthermore, once you start PB-seeking, you also need to work on conditioning your whole body, not just the legs.

RECOMMENDED: HIIT Conditioning Workout For Runners

“As a beginner it is important that your training is balanced with some low-impact activities such as swimming, cycling, rowing and aerobics,” says Kerry, “otherwise you are more likely to pick up an annoying injury that will set back your training.

“More experienced runners should also add cross-training to their regime. Endurance running requires whole body conditioning. To achieve this you should aim to work a variety of muscle groups and not just your legs.

“Remember, though, that you are a runner, so just be careful not to make the cross-training – whether it is lifting weights, using an elliptical trainer or practising Pilates – so intense that you are left too tired for your running.”

Fartlek

“This is a Swedish term that literally means ‘speed play’. It involves bursts of effort over a variety of distances with a variable recovery,” says Kerry.

“Originally the length of effort was based on the terrain, for example, pushing harder every time you came to a climb, no matter how long it was. But you can adapt it for your needs.”

Race Pace

If you’re shooting for a 10K PB, you should already have a time in mind you think you might be capable of running based on your past races. When you see race pace marked in the plan, run at the per-kilometre speed you hope to achieve on the day. Even over shorter distances than 10K, running at race pace will help get you used to sustaining that speed.

Long Hills

Long hills is a term that will rightly terrify all regular runners, but grinding up the gradient is worth the effort.

“Hill running develops strength in your muscles and tendons without putting them under the type of stress they are exposed to during faster running,” says Kerry.

“Run up a 5-10% gradient for 45-60 seconds at a steady pace. Turn immediately at the top and run down the hill at the same effort, then turn at the bottom and repeat without any recovery until the rep time ends.

“Like a tempo or threshold run, a hill session is time to concentrate. You should be working at about 80-85% of MHR and be able to utter just a word or two.”

Warm Up And Warm Down

It’s also important to warm up and warm down before and after every running session to ensure you train at your highest level and avoid injury. Use our guide on what to do pre and post-run to stay in tip-top shape.

RECOMMENDED: How To Warm Up For A Run And Cool Down Afterwards

12-Week 10K Training Plan For A Personal Best

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Week 10

Week 11

Week 12