Are you seeking 10 mile training plans? If so, I am glad you have made it here to Nutrition Geeks. The 10 mile distance will demand you to be in the best possible aerobic and anaerobic shape. My goal with this post is to help you set a new personal best. I have run 50:54 for 10 miles and 2:19:35 for the marathon. So, do understand the time and effort that it takes to run fast over various distances. Your first and top priority should be a longer build up.
What I don't want you to do is to rush your fitness. I would recommend a minimum of 16 weeks and preferably 20 weeks to prepare properly for a 10 mile road race. The 10 mile training plans that I have created will help speed up your learning curve. You will know the exact workouts you should be doing and why you are doing them. I would also suggest investing in a heart rate monitor. I use the Garmin 245. It helps me to sustain the correct paces while doing my tempo and long runs.
It is a much better plan to be undertrained than to be over trained. A common mistake I see far too many runners making is running too many of their miles or kilometers too slow. In addition, running too fast on easy days. So, using a legitimate heart rate monitor can ensure that you are not over doing it.
How Long Should You Train for a 10 Mile Run?
Longer is better. Again, focus on training for 4 weeks running easy, aerobic mileage before starting a 16 to 20 week training plan. The 10 mile training plans I have created range in duration from 8 to 24 weeks. It takes between 3 to 4 weeks for the body to adapt to the stresses being placed on it. So, you can't rush your fitness. My goal for you is to help you set a new personal best over the 10 mile distance. You should be doing 5 to 6, 100 meter strides twice per week throughout your training block.
Strides are great for working on your leg turnover and acceleration. In addition, are perfect for getting your heart rate up prior to starting your faster, anaerobic workouts. The ideal time frame to train properly for a 10 mile road race is between 4 to 6 months. The shorter your build up the less prepared you are going to be. Of course, you can still get into descent shape in 12 weeks. That being said, 16 to 24 weeks will yield event better results.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR RUNNING TRAINING PLANSHow Do I Improve My 10 Mile Run Time?
I am big advocate for faster, varied paced long runs. A common mistake I see many runners making is running long and slow every single weekend. A major way to start dropping significant time off of your current 10 mile personal best is to run your long runs faster. No, the entire run itself should not be run fast. I recommend running a mixture of paces throughout your long run. Below are some examples of the types of faster, varied paced long runs I was doing prior to breaking the 2:20 marathon barrier.
Of course, you don't have to run this far for a 10 miler. In addition, your paces should not be at the intensities I was running at. It is just to give you an example of what I am writing about here…
- 2 mile jog, 7 miles@5:35 mile pace, 2 miles easy, 1 mile in 4:55, 6 miles@5:50 mile pace, 3 miles easy, 1 mile in 5:05, 2 mile jog ( 24 miles)
Remember, always follow a faster long run with an easy, relaxed long run. The real benefits of your hard training are going to come during your rest period. So, the benefits of your hard training you are doing today will be seen several weeks from now.
Run Longer Tempo Runs
The longer you can spend training at your anaerobic threshold, the better. We run between 85 to 89 percent of our maximum heart rate at this intensity. Remember, we will be racing 10 miles at or slightly faster than our anaerobic threshold.
So, it is essential that you work to lengthen the duration of time you are spending training at this intensity. Of course, a 3 to 4 mile tempo run will still provide a huge physiological boost. That being said, that is a great duration for a 5K to 10K race.
I would recommend working to lengthen your tempo run out toward 7 to 8 miles in length for a 10 miler. The faster you can run 10 miles the more competitive you will be at the longer distances. Perhaps, you are aiming to run a sub 3 hour marathon.
Well, the faster you can run at the shorter distances the better equipped you are going to be at racing in the half marathon and marathon events. The 10 mile training plans I have created are designed specifically for athletes aiming for specific race times they are aiming for.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR PRIVATE, MEMBERSHIP COMMUNITYWork On Your Speed Development
The 10 mile race distance is aerobic in nature. That being said, you still need to be very strong in terms of stamina and speed to race well. So, I would recommend focusing on doing at least 1, vo2 max workout per week.
Your vo2 max is your body's maximum oxygen carrying capacity. It is running at speeds that are so fast you can't clear lactic acid faster than it is building up. Examples of vo2 max workouts are fartlek workouts, intervals on the roads and track or hill repetitions.
Speed workouts will help you to recruit more fast twitch muscle fibers. The more of these we can recruit the more economical we are going to race. In addition, the better we will be at clearing lactic acid faster than it is building up.
Naturally, we have to take short breaks in between intervals. We are running at between 95 to 105% of our maximum heart rate at this intensity. We can only spend anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes at this effort. The good news is that it will help to make your goal 10 mile race pace to feel easier. The overall goal here is to improve your body's lactate tolerance. So, you can sustain race pace longer and slow down less.
Closing Thoughts
Make sure you are jogging on your recovery days. Again, there is only so many times you can push the body before you start to see diminished returns on your time investment. Would you like to keep in touch? If so, make sure to subscribe to the RunDreamAchieve YouTube channel. I focus on making new videos there each week to help runners such as yourself get to the next level.
Lastly, make sure to devote some time to mental training. There are far too many runners who only focus on physical training. It is also important to train the mind for that goal 10 mile race time you are dreaming about.
It doesn't take much to see significant results. You should be spending at least 10 minutes daily visualizing yourself performing at a high level. The best time for mental rehearsal is when you first get up in the morning or when you go to bed at night. I hope that this post has been helpful to you. You can check out our 10 mile training plans by clicking on any of the green buttons within this post. I have also created running courses for half marathon and marathon specialists aiming to run fast. In addition, do offer monthly coaching as well.
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