8-week 10 km plan on 4 sessions — target 50 minutes
8 weeks4 sessions a weekTarget 50 min243 km of training, race day aside
An 8-week 10 km plan on four sessions a week for a 50-minute finish: every pace given, race pace and 5 km pace alternating.
This plan is for you if…
Already running four times a week for at least six weeks, without pain.
Able to run for 45 minutes without stopping, however slowly.
A 10 km under 53 minutes within the last six months.
Able to give 3 to 4 and a half hours a week to training, long run included.
If one of these is not true, a longer plan will take you further than a short one followed halfway.
If you have to skip a session
Ill, exhausted or in pain, do not run: a plan absorbs a missed session, it does not absorb an injury. Drop the easy run first — it is the least specific. If it is the quality session or the long run that goes, do not move it to another day of the same week; pick the next week up where the plan is, never where you stopped.
Your paces for 50 min
Pace
min/km
What it feels like
Easy
6:14 – 6:43
The pace most of this plan is run at. If you cannot hold a conversation, it is too fast.
Long run
6:20
In the firm third of the easy band, never outside it. However long it is, a long run is never run quicker than this.
10 km pace
4:56
10 km race pace. The most reliable marker to recalibrate the others against.
5 km pace
4:44
5 km race pace: strong, never maximal.
All 8 weeks, session by session
Week 1
Base29 km
Set the rhythm: nothing hard, four runs settle in before any intensity is added. One easy run closes with strides — 20 s quick and relaxed, 40 s of jogging, no watch and no target pace.
1
Easy run40 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
2
Easy run49 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk. Finish with 4 strides.
3
Easy run40 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
4
Long run8 km
8 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.
Week 2
Base32 km
First meeting with race-day pace: fifteen continuous minutes, no more. Over 10 km that pace is near enough your threshold — close enough that the table publishes a single row for both.
1
Easy run45 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
2
10 km pace45 min
15 continuous minutes at 10 km pace.
3
Easy run50 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
4
Long run9 km
9 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.
Week 3
Build37 km
5 km pace enters, in 800 m repetitions. It is the only work faster than the race in this plan.
1
Easy run50 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
2
Aerobic power61 min
5 × 800 m at 5 km pace, 150 s recovery.
3
Easy run50 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
4
Long run11 km
11 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.
Week 4
Build27 km
A down week. On eight weeks it is the only one, and it is not optional.
1
Easy run35 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
2
10 km pace42 min
12 continuous minutes at 10 km pace.
3
Easy run40 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
4
Long run8 km
8 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.
Week 5
Build39 km
Repetitions stretch to 1,000 m, still at 5 km pace — strong, never all-out.
1
Easy run50 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
2
Aerobic power66 min
5 × 1000 m at 5 km pace, 150 s recovery.
3
Easy run50 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
4
Long run12 km
12 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.
Week 6
Specific38 km
The peak, and it is specific: three six-minute blocks at race-day pace, about a third of the race. That is the most a plan this length should ask outside the day itself.
1
Easy run50 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
2
10 km pace54 min
3 × 6 minutes at 10 km pace, 2 min recovery.
3
Easy run50 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
4
Long run13 km
13 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.
Week 7
Taper26 km
Taper, one week only. Ten minutes at goal pace to keep it in the legs, nothing more.
1
Easy run35 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
2
10 km pace40 min
10 continuous minutes at 10 km pace.
3
Easy run35 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
4
Long run8 km
8 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.
Week 8
Race15 km
Race week. Maintain, do not build.
1
Easy run30 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
2
10 km pace45 min
3 × 3 minutes at 10 km pace, 2 min recovery.
3
Easy run20 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
4
10 km10 km
Race day.
Put this plan in your calendar
Stibia exports this plan to your watch, on the days you run, with your long session on the day you choose, and the plan ending on your race date.