Beginner 10k Training Plan

Since last year when we started the Nathan Run Club at work, and I encouraged her to sign up for a Christmas 5k, my colleague Stephanie has got the running bug!

As soon as we had finished the Greenwich Park 5k in December, she wanted to sign up for another and so we tackled the Battersea Park 5k at the start of the New Year. The next step was to train for a 10k, so I wrote up a Training Plan and passed it onto her.

It was just to give her a bit of guidance in building up to the distance slowly, and give her confidence that she would have run far enough before the race. Steph then passed the plan onto her friend Katie to use as well, and they’ve both been following it religiously so I thought perhaps I’d share it with you guys too!

It’s different to a lot of 10k Training Plans, in that there are only two runs per week. Stephanie goes to quite a lot of other classes, and prefers a bit of variety and I actually think that fitting in cross-training and running less is a healthier way to progress - especially if you struggle with injury like me! I’ve listed the other workouts I would do in a week such as a Yoga class, and a Spinning session but you could do Crossfit, head to 1Rebel or go swimming - whatever works for you, that you enjoy doing 🙂

Below is the plan I created. Let me know if you give it a try!

NOTE: I’m not a qualified Personal Trainer/Running Coach, I’m simply sharing what has worked for me. Please adapt according to your fitness level. Both Steph and Katie could easily run 5k at the start of this plan. If you’re taking your first running steps I suggest following something like the Couch-to-5k programme to get you going.

7-weeks to a 10k with two runs per week

Download my 10kTrainingPlan here, and let me know how you get on!

Beki x

5 comments

rheeda ali says: March 9, 2016

Him

Your story is very similar to mine: very bad asthma as a child, tried the whole les mills thing, get out of breath running less than 100m. lol. I signed up to do a 10k in june for race for life as a way to motivate myself to at least try; any advice for a very unfit/asthmatic person trying this out for the first time?

thanks!

misswheezy says: March 20, 2016

Hi Rheeda, thanks for reading! I started running using a Couch to 5k run/walk method to build up the distance slowly. I think it's important to go at your own pace and listen to your body - if you need to repeat a week, that's fine. Good luck! 🙂 x

Maria @ runningcupcake says: March 10, 2016

I love that you don't specify days- I always find plans take ages to adapt because of having to shift things around to suit that days that I can run. Just having the workouts for the week is so much easier as then you just fit them in where you can.
When I trained for my first 10k, after doing my first 5k, I had walk breaks, so I did 20 min run, 1 min walk, 20 min run, and each week increased the run time. Then I heard an interview saying that the walk break was psychological, so I stopped taking them- I did have to work up slowly though.

misswheezy says: March 20, 2016

Thanks Maria - I thought that having it more flexible makes it easier for busy people to fit the training into their lives. Run/walking is definitely a good way to start building up distance, that's how I started running.

Mike Scott says: July 17, 2017

Hi Miss Wheezy,
Just discovered your website whilst looking for running/cycling training plans.
I am a 59yo male who loves cycling but also likes to run the odd local 5 or 10k race.
My cycling week is made up of 1 long ish ride on a Sat, then commute to work on Monday,Weds and Fri,which is a round trip of 10 miles,but could be made longer if needed.
I try and run on Sundays and Tuesdays,and have a day off on Thurs. (Although I have just started Cardio Tennis on Thurs nights) .
My runs are only a max of 30mins. Would this be enough running training to race a 10k in a decent time
Thanks,
Mike Scott (Bolton)