Want to finish your first 10 km, or plan to set a personal record? This article offers 3 different programs for various levels – completely free! The programs target 3 time goals:
- 10 km under 1 hour (3 sessions a week)
- 10 km under 50 min (4 sessions a week)
- 10 km under 40 min (6 sessions a week)
Before starting a program, below are some good tips for running the distance and detailed explanations of the programs. It’s important to read through the article thoroughly to get the most out of your training!
What does it take to run 10 km?
10 km is a long distance, but still “short” enough to run with relatively high intensity – the faster you finish, the higher the intensity you can maintain. Elite runners finish under 30 mins, meaning they can run at interval-like intensities, at a pace close to their 5km pace.
If it takes you an hour to finish, start more cautiously.
Depending on your speed, the distance will place different demands on your running skills, and this is reflected in the 3 programs in this article.
Training volume in the various programs
The programs show a clear difference in what it takes to run under an hour vs. under 40 mins for 10 km; it generally appears to require over double the training time per week to run under 40 mins!
Some can manage with less. Regardless, I recommend starting with a program that has a training amount that’s realistic for you to complete.
Different contents in the various programs
For runners aiming for under 1 hour, the program focuses more on endurance, while the other programs gradually focus more on improving and speed – similar to programs targeting 5 km.
How to follow the running programs
To avoid too many repetitions, I’ve written a general article describing how to follow the programs here. In this article, you can also read more about why the programs are structured as they are.
You can find the article “ALL RUNNING PROGRAMS” in our inspiration universe.
Running shoes for your running program
To get the best out of our training programs, we recommend having multiple running shoes. A good option could be having a pair of for intervals and a pair of for other runs.
Find your everyday running shoes
Find your competition running shoes
Download the running programs here
Download your preferred 10 km running program by clicking on the level you wish to follow.
- 10 km under 1 hour (3 sessions a week)
- 10 km under 50 minutes (4 sessions a week)
- 10 km under 40 minutes (6 sessions a week)
