10K training plan
A 10K training plan that adjusts when your week changes
A 10K rewards patience: enough easy miles to last the distance, and enough work near threshold to hold your pace in the second half. Masir builds both from the runs you already do.
What a week looks like
| Session | What it is |
|---|---|
| Easy runs | The bulk of your miles. They should feel almost too slow. |
| Threshold or intervals | The 10K is run close to threshold, so this is the session that moves your time. |
| Long run | Longer than race distance once you are ready, at a relaxed pace. |
Later in the plan, sessions at your goal pace appear, so race day is not the first time you run it. Weekly load rises in steps with regular recovery weeks, and it never jumps from one building week to the next.
Your threshold pace
The pace of the session that matters most for a 10K, for six 5K times.
| Your 5K time | Threshold pace /mile | /km |
|---|---|---|
| 20:00 | 6:56 – 7:09 | 4:18 – 4:26 |
| 22:30 | 7:45 – 7:59 | 4:49 – 4:58 |
| 25:00 | 8:34 – 8:49 | 5:19 – 5:29 |
| 27:30 | 9:22 – 9:39 | 5:49 – 6:00 |
| 30:00 | 10:11 – 10:29 | 6:20 – 6:31 |
| 35:00 | 11:47 – 12:07 | 7:19 – 7:32 |
Calculated with Jack Daniels' VDOT formulas, for a flat route in cool weather. For any other race time, use the pace calculator.
When the week does not go to plan
A printed plan assumes you run every session on the day it says. Masir asks what happened instead.
Missed a session: you choose to move it, lighten it or skip it, and the week is reorganized around that choice. There is nothing to catch up.
Sick, injured or on vacation: you pause the plan. The sessions of the break are removed, and training restarts at a reduced volume.
Tired: when your runs feel harder than they should, the load stops climbing until you are back on track.
Runs you do outside the plan count toward the week's load, weighted by how hard they were, so an extra race or a group run does not get stacked on top of a full week.
A plan that starts from your real runs
Masir reads up to twelve months of runs from Apple Health, sets your paces from your current fitness and reorganizes the plan when you miss a run, get sick or go on vacation. Each time, it tells you what changed.
Build my 10K planiPhone, iOS 17 or later · no account, no ads · free beginner program · full plans with Masir Plus, two-week free trial
Questions
How long is the 10K plan?
It follows your race date if you set one, up to 24 weeks. With twelve weeks or more, the last two weeks are a taper.
Do I need a time goal?
No. Without one, the plan trains you at your current fitness and your predicted time moves as you progress.
Do I need an Apple Watch?
No. Masir reads runs from Apple Health, so any watch that writes there works, including Garmin, COROS and Polar. You can also enter runs by hand or record them with your iPhone's GPS. There is no Apple Watch app.
Is the plan written by a human coach?
No. The plan is calculated by the app from your runs, and it explains every change it makes.