5K/10K TRAINING PLAN

Whenever you are embarking on a new 5k or 10k training plan there are two important things to keep in mind:

#1: Make sure your plan is relevant to where you’re at in your training.

#2: Make sure that you have fun throughout the process, not only after it’s all over and you’ve hit your goal.

A relevant training plan is going to meet you where you’re at. Haven’t been off the couch in a few months? You probably don’t want to jump into 5 days a week of running. Start out slow and add a day or two a week of running for a few weeks prior to starting the training plan. A relevant training plan is also not meant to hold you back - if you’re already at 30 miles a week with a good level of base fitness then dropping down to running two or three days a week isn’t going to make sense either.

Oftentimes when we start working toward a goal we look at that goal as the end-all be-all and forget that the process is where we grow and become better. The end goal is the motivation that is going to carry us through all that hard but meaningful work. It’s important to make that process as enjoyable as possible so that you come back to the sport after you’ve accomplished that sought after goal.

Sure, getting into a new 5k or 10k training plan is meant to challenge you both mentally and physically so that you gradually become a stronger and fitter athlete. It’s not meant to break you down so that you never want to do it again.

For this training plan we’ve put together 6 weeks of running workouts that will help get you to a great fitness level for a 5k or 10k race. Remember the plan should meet you where you’re at, so if it feels like too much starting out, give it a week or two to get a few more miles under your belt. If it looks too light, increase the mileage by about 10% a week.

INTERPRETING YOUR 5K/10K TRAINING PLAN

What is an Easy Run: Easy runs are meant to be just that, easy. This should be a conversational effort with controlled breathing and a feeling like you could do several more miles at this same pace when you complete your daily mileage goal. Keep this easy. Taking walk breaks during easy runs to keep your heart rate down is perfectly fine. Easy runs are building your aerobic system and increasing fatigue resistance in your muscles so that you can run further.

Warm Up and Cool Down (WU/CD): A good warm up is imperative to performing your best during an interval workout or race. Start with a very easy jog of 10min, finish with light stretching of your major muscle groups; quads, hamstrings, calves, and glutes. This should be done before every threshold run, interval run, or race.

What is a Threshold Run: Threshold runs are meant to increase your aerobic threshold. The effort level should be a “comfortable but hard” feeling where you are running at a harder intensity than “easy” but not all out. Your breathing should be fast but controlled. The effort should be easy enough to keep for about 45min before you need to slow down.

What are Intervals: Intervals are meant to be a hard effort with frequent rests for recovery. The effort is as hard as you can go for a given interval distance (i.e. 400m). These runs are difficult and should only be used sparingly throughout the training process. Intervals are increasing the ability of your muscles to use oxygen efficiently and increasing the efficiency of your running mechanics so you can run faster.