PaceForge Training plan First 10K Plan · USD 19
Ten kilometres, 12 weeks, three runs a week
Built around Tuesday and Thursday evenings, a Sunday morning, and a fortnight in Portugal you did not want to skip.
You can currently run 25 minutes without stopping. The event is twelve weeks away. This plan gets you to 10 km having run it at least once in training, which is the thing that makes race day dull rather than frightening. It has three sessions a week because that is what you said you would actually do.
Twelve weeks is comfortable for this goal from your current base. The plan builds to a 10 km long run in week 10, holds one easy week at week 7 while you are away, and tapers for the final ten days. Nothing in it requires a gym or a track.
Shape
How the twelve weeks build
Weekly running minutes, not distance, because minutes are what your calendar actually holds and distance takes care of itself. The dip at week 7 is deliberate and so is the drop at the end.
The week
What a normal week looks like
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Session | Rest | Easy 25 min | Rest or walk | Intervals 28 min | Rest | Optional walk | Long 40 min |
| Effort | Conversational | Hard in bursts | Conversational | ||||
| Why it is there | Recovery | Volume, easy | Recovery | The only hard one | Recovery | Movement | The one that matters |
Two of the three runs are easy. If you can only do two sessions in a week, drop Thursday and keep Tuesday and Sunday. Never drop Sunday.
Progression
How the long run grows
Running the full distance once in week 10 is the whole point of the plan. On race day you will have already done it, and knowing that is worth more than any session in the schedule.
Reality
When you miss a session
You will miss sessions. Every plan that pretends otherwise gets abandoned in week five. These are the rules, written down now so you do not have to decide when you are tired.
| What happened | What to do | What not to do |
|---|---|---|
| Missed one run | Carry on with the next one as scheduled | Do not add it to another day |
| Missed a whole week | Repeat the week you missed, then continue | Do not skip ahead to catch up |
| Missed two or more weeks | Go back two weeks in the plan and rebuild | Do not jump to where you should have been |
| Sore, not injured | Keep the easy runs, drop the intervals | Do not run through sharp or one-sided pain |
| Ill | Nothing above the neck rule applies. Rest, then repeat the last week | Do not train through a fever |
| Felt too easy | Good. Easy is the point. Hold the plan | Do not add distance because one run felt fine |
Race week
The last ten days
- 10 days out
Last real session
Week 11 Sunday, 40 minutes easy. After this nothing you do will make you fitter, and several things could make you slower.
- Race week
Two short easy runs only
Tuesday 20 minutes, Thursday 15 minutes with four 30 second pickups. Nothing on Friday or Saturday.
- Day before
Walk, eat normally, lay everything out
Shoes, kit, number, safety pins, travel plan. Do not buy anything new. Nothing worn on race day should be worn for the first time on race day.
- Race morning
Start slower than feels right
The first kilometre should feel almost embarrassing. Everyone around you will go out too fast and most of them will pay for it after 6 km.
- After
Tell us how it went
What worked, what you skipped and what hurt. The next plan starts from what actually happened rather than from what was written.