You’re trying hard. That’s the problem.

The free 12-week 10K training plan that caps your easy days.

Most of this plan is easy running. That’s not a mistake. It’s the plan. Read the whole thing below. No signup, no wall.

12
weeks
4
days / week
Every run
zoned

For the runner who can already cover the distance and wants a stronger 10K, without going medium-hard on everything and stalling.

Why so much easy?

You can’t outrun your easy days. Run easy when it’s easy so you can run hard when it’s hard. Going medium-hard on everything, the grey middle, is where amateur runners stall and where injuries come from. This plan puts a ceiling on your easy runs and saves the effort for the one day a week that earns it.

What a session looks like

Hill reps — 90s, week 5. Every quality session in the plan is laid out this way in the app.

Session structure
Warm-up~1km · Zone 1→2
1
Easy run
~1km
Final third in Zone 2
2
Strides
4 × 20s
Fast and relaxed
Full recovery between each.
Main set~3km · Zone 4–5
3
Run to base
to the bottom of thehill
6:30 /km or slower
8×hill reps
4
1:30 min
RPE 8 · effort, not pace
Strong and controlled, not a sprint. The hill sets the pace.
5
Stand
untilready
rest
Turn around, get your breath back. No rush.
6
Jog down
~0.2km
6:30 /km or slower
1:30 min · Easy on the way down. The descent is where the damage happens.
Cool-down~1km · Zone 1
7
Easy jog / walk
~1km
Conversational or slower

The plan, week by week

Free. Take it exactly as it is.

Base

All easy. Building the engine, with no hard running yet, and that is the point.

Week 1Base — easy start
26km
Mon
Easy run — Zone 2Zone 2
6 km · 42 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Wed
Easy run — Zone 2Zone 2
6 km · 42 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Fri
Easy run — Zone 2Zone 2
6 km · 42 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Sun
Long run — Zone 2Zone 2
8 km · 56 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Week 2Base — building consistency
28km
Mon
Easy run — Zone 2Zone 2
6.5 km · 46 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Wed
Easy run — Zone 2Zone 2
6.5 km · 46 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Fri
Easy run — Zone 2Zone 2
6.5 km · 46 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Sun
Long run — Zone 2Zone 2
8.5 km · 60 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Week 3Base — aerobic development
32km
Mon
Easy run — Zone 2Zone 2
7.5 km · 53 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Wed
Easy run + strides — Zone 2Zone 2
7.5 km · 53 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Fri
Easy run — Zone 2Zone 2
7.5 km · 53 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Sun
Long run — Zone 2Zone 2
9.5 km · 67 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Week 4RecoveryBase — recovery week
22km
Mon
Easy run — Zone 2Zone 2
5 km · 35 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Wed
Easy run — Zone 2Zone 2
5 km · 35 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Fri
Easy run — Zone 2Zone 2
5 km · 35 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Sun
Long run — Zone 2Zone 2
6.5 km · 46 min · 6:30–7:30 /km

Build

Quality arrives. One hard session most weeks; the rest stays genuinely easy.

Week 5Build — first quality session
30km
Mon
Easy run + strides — Zone 2Zone 2
7.5 km · 53 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Wed
Hill reps — 90sZone 4–5
5 km · 54 min
run to the bottom of the hill at no faster than 6:30–7:30 /km
8×
1:30 min uphill at RPE 8
stand until ready
jog back down at no faster than 6:30–7:30 /km
No track, no measured loop, no pace to chase. The gradient does the work; you just have to keep the effort honest and come back down slowly.
Fri
Easy run — Zone 2Zone 2
7.5 km · 53 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Sun
Long run — Zone 2Zone 2
9.5 km · 67 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Week 6Build — extending the work
37km
Mon
Easy run + strides — Zone 2Zone 2
8.5 km · 60 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Wed
CV intervalsZone 3
8 km · 47 min · 5:21–5:34 /km
5×
4 min at 5:21–5:34 /km
jog 1:30 min at no faster than 6:30–7:30 /km
Just above threshold, not a mile off it. If it turns into VO2max reps, you have changed the session.
Fri
Easy run — Zone 2Zone 2
8.5 km · 60 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Sun
Long run — Zone 2Zone 2
11.5 km · 81 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Week 7Build — raising the ceiling
39km
Mon
Easy run + strides — Zone 2Zone 2
10 km · 70 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Wed
Continuous tempoZone 3
6 km · 37 min · 5:30–6:00 /km
18 min at 5:30–6:00 /km
Sustainable. Same pace at the end as at the start.
Fri
Easy run — Zone 2Zone 2
10 km · 70 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Sun
Long run — Zone 2Zone 2
12.5 km · 88 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Week 8RecoveryBuild — recovery week
26km
Mon
Easy run — Zone 2Zone 2
6 km · 42 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Wed
Easy run — Zone 2Zone 2
6 km · 42 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Fri
Easy run — Zone 2Zone 2
6 km · 42 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Sun
Long run — Zone 2Zone 2
8 km · 56 min · 6:30–7:30 /km

Peak

The sharpest weeks. Hold the zone on the hard days, protect the easy ones.

Week 9Peak — highest volume
41km
Mon
Easy run + strides — Zone 2Zone 2
10 km · 70 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Wed
Classic VO2maxZone 4–5
8 km · 44 min · 4:30–5:00 /km
5×
3 min at 4:30–5:00 /km
jog 2 min at no faster than 6:30–7:30 /km
Three minutes is long. Don't blow rep one.
Fri
Easy run — Zone 2Zone 2
10 km · 70 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Sun
Long run — negative-split finishZone 2
12.5 km · 88 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Week 10Peak — second peak week
43km
Mon
Easy run + strides — Zone 2Zone 2
11 km · 77 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Wed
Over-undersZone 3
7 km · 43 min · 5:29–5:43 /km
3×
3 min at 5:21–5:34 /km
3 min at 5:30–6:00 /km
jog 2 min at no faster than 6:30–7:30 /km
The under is not the rest. That is the whole point of it.
Fri
Easy run — Zone 2Zone 2
11 km · 77 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Sun
Long run — negative-split finishZone 2
14 km · 98 min · 6:30–7:30 /km

Taper

Less volume, same intensity. Arrive fresh, not flat.

Week 11Taper — trust the work
30km
Mon
Easy run + strides — Zone 2Zone 2
6 km · 42 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Wed
Progressive tempoZone 3
6 km · 39 min · 5:30–6:00 /km
6:40 min at no faster than 6:30–7:30 /km
6:40 min at 6:30 → 5:30 /km
6:40 min at 5:30–6:00 /km
Hold back early. Finish honest.
Fri
Easy run — Zone 2Zone 2
6 km · 42 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Sun
Long run — Zone 2Zone 2
11.5 km · 81 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Week 12Race weekRace week
8km + 10km race
Tue
Easy shakeoutZone 1
5 km · 35 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Thu
Pre-race shakeoutZone 1
3 km · 21 min · 6:30–7:30 /km
Sun
Race day — 10 km
10 km

This is the flat version.

This plan doesn’t know you. It doesn’t know your Tuesday got busy, what your resting heart rate is doing, or that your last race said you’re fitter than you think.

The app does. It sets your real heart-rate zones, moves sessions when life breaks the week, and rebuilds the plan off a mid-block time trial. This page is the template. The app is the coach.

The plan above is yours. No catch.

This one is fixed. The app builds the same plan around your zones, your week and your race date, and two weeks of it costs nothing.

Download on the App Store

Or see what free covers first →

Questions

How many days a week is this 10K plan?

4 days a week. Easy runs, and from the build phase a quality session in most weeks. The rest is recovery, on purpose.

Is this 10K plan good for beginners?

It suits a runner who already runs a little and wants to stop going medium-hard on everything. If you are brand new to running, build an easy base first, then start here.

Do I need a heart-rate monitor for this 10k plan?

No. Every run has a pace band and a zone. A heart-rate monitor just helps you hold the easy days honestly, which is exactly what the app adds on top of this plan.

Can I move the sessions around?

Carefully, yes. Keep the two hardest days apart. The static plan above can’t move itself. Reshaping around the week you actually had is part of the paid tier, and it keeps the easy/hard rhythm intact while it does it.

Why is so much of the plan easy running?

Because you can’t outrun your easy days. Running easy when it’s easy is what lets you run genuinely hard on the one day that earns it. The grey middle, medium-hard on everything, is where amateur runners stall and get injured.

Other free plans

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