Beginner's Guide to Running a 10k

Running in a 10k is often the result of many months training, dieting, and getting your body in shape. Learn the basics to training for and running in a 10k in this exercise video.

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35 to 55 minutes
Focus on endurance, strength, speed
Drill days with focus on form
Try cross training
Tempo runs to work on pace
Long, easy runs once a week

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Dave has been an endurance athlete for over twenty years and is a swimmer , runner and cyclist that has finished the Iron Man triathlon. Additionally he has represented the US at the world championship. He coaches in Newport and has seen his team win the district title. He has a great passion for racing, training and coaching.

DAVE CAMPBELL: Hi. My name is Dave Campbell, and I wanted to provide a bit of a beginner's guide to running a 10K. A 10K race, depending on your ability, it's probably going to take 35 to 55 minutes and you really going to need some significant endurance as well as strength and a bit of speed. In your weekly training, Monday can be a fairly light day, perhaps a little bit of strides and some drills, high knees, carioca, skips, things like that. Tuesday, you need to focus on short intervals, being able to run faster than race pace, probably 15 to 30 seconds faster per mile than your goal pace. And start with short intervals of 300, you can perhaps build up to 400. Any of the intervals can be done on a track or a trail or the road. You just tend to measure out the distance, equal parts rest. And ideally try to build up to about 6,000 to 8,000 meters of work. Wednesday can be a shorter, easier run or some cross-training, perhaps swimming or cycling. Thursday needs to be a long interval day. For the 10K, probably start with 800-meter intervals building up to as long as 1,200-meter intervals going for about 8,000 meters of total work, and this needs to be done right around race pace. Again, equal parts rest. As your event gets near and you want to build some strength you can do some cut-downs after those. Probably 3 X 200, each one going a little bit faster until the final one is at top speed. Friday, rest day, technique or drills, perhaps an easy swim or bike. Saturday needs to be a tempo run. A tempo run after a good thorough warmup, you would need to do--start with about 10 minutes at half-marathon pace running; and for the 10K, I will build up, up to about 40 or 45 minutes at that and that can be done in 10-minute intervals, mile intervals. But for a six-minute per mile goal pace, you do those at about 6:40. Total duration is probably 55 minutes to an hour. And then Sunday needs to be a long run then at an easy pace, probably about 70% of max heart rate, and for the 10K that can top out at about 1 hour and 45 minutes. With such a program building for 2 to 4 weeks and then backing off on having a rest week each cycle, you should be ready to run a good 10K.

Beginner's Guide to Running a 10k Video

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