Bolt’10K Training: Advanced Beginner Schedule

This training schedule is geared toward runners who can run 3 miles comfortably and can run 4 to 5 days per week.

Sundays and Fridays: Sundays and Fridays are rest days. Don’t ignore rest days — they’re important to your recovery and injury prevention efforts. Your muscles build and repair themselves during your rest days. So if you run every day, you’re not going to gain much strength and you’re increasing your risk of injury.

Saturdays: After you warm up, run at a comfortable pace for the designated mileage.

Tuesdays: Do a cross-training (CT) activity (such as elliptical, biking or swimming) at an easy to moderate effort for 45 to 50 minutes.

Mondays: These distances should be run at your 10K race pace. If you’re not sure what that pace is, run at a speed that you think you could hold for 6.2 miles.

Thursdays: Thursdays are active recovery days. Run at an easy (EZ), comfortable pace to help loosen up your muscles. Or, you can do a run/walk combination.

Note:
You can switch days to accommodate your schedule. So, if you prefer to workout on a Sunday or Friday, it’s fine to swap a rest day for a run day.

 

‘BOLT’ 10K Advanced Beginner Schedule

Week	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
1	3mi	CT	2.5 m run (race pace) 10 x 150m hill sprints	30 min EZ	CT or Rest	3 m run	Rest
2	3mi	CT	3 m run (race pace) 10 x 100m hill sprints	35-40 min EZ	CT or Rest	3.5 m run	Rest
3	3.5mi	CT	3.5 m run (race pace) 50,100,150m x 6 Hill Sprint	35-40 min EZ	CT or Rest	4 m run	Rest
4	4mi	CT	3.5 m run (race pace) 50,100,150m x 6 Hill Sprint	40-45 min EZ	CT or Rest	4.5 m run	Rest
5	4mi	CT	3 m run (race pace) 8 x 200m Hill sprints	40-45 min EZ	CT or Rest	5 m run	Rest
6	4mi	CT	3.5 m run (race pace) 18 x 50m Various inclines Hill sprints	40-45 min EZ	CT or Rest	6 m run	Rest
7	4mi	CT	3 m run (race pace) 10 x 100m Hill sprints	40-45 min EZ	CT or Rest	7 m run	Rest
8	4mi	CT	3 m run	CT or Rest	Rest	10K Race!	Rest

Notes about the schedule:

Cross-training (CT): Cross-training activities allow you to give your joints and running muscles a break, while still working on your cardio. When the schedule calls for CT, do a cross-training activity (e.g., biking, swimming, elliptical trainer) at moderate effort for 45 minutes. You should also do 15-20 minutes of strength-training, either using machines or body weight exercises, focusing on your lower body and core.

Tempo Run: Tempo runs help you develop your anaerobic threshold, which is critical for fast 10K racing. Start your run with 5 to 10 minutes of easy running, then continue with 15 to 20 minutes of running near your 10K pace (but not at race pace), and finish with 5 to 10 minutes of cooling down. If you’re not sure what your 10K pace is, run at a pace that feels “comfortably hard”.

Interval workouts (IW): After a warm-up, run 400 meters (one lap around most tracks) at your 5K race pace, and then recover by jogging or walking 400 meters. So when the schedule says, 4 x 400, that would be four hard 400s, with a 400 m recovery in between.

Hill Sprints (HS): Start your run with 5 to 10 minutes of easy running. Perform sprint drills and dynamic flexibility to complete warmup. (see Facebook page Runnersway for drills and dynamic flexibility.

Rest: Rest is critical to your recovery and injury prevention efforts, so don’t ignore rest days. Your muscles build and repair themselves during your rest days. So if you run every day, you won’t see much improvement. Fridays are a good day for rest because you’ll have just done your speed workout on Thursday and the next day is your longest run of the week.

Saturday long runs: After you warm up, run at a comfortable pace for the designated mileage. If most of your runs are on the road and you’re not sure how far you run, you can determine the mileage by using sites such as MapMyRun.com or Garmin Connect. Or, drive your route in your car beforehand and use your car odometer to measure the mileage.

Sundays: This is an active recovery day. Your run should be at an easy (EZ), comfortable pace, which helps loosen up your muscles.

Note:
You can switch days to accommodate your schedule. Just make sure you don’t do two speed workouts in a row.

‘BOLT’ 10K Training Schedule for Intermediate Runners

Week	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
1	4 x 400 IW	CT or Rest	3 m run 10 x 150m Hill Sprints	30 min tempo	Rest	4 m run	30 min EZ
2	5 x 400 IW	CT or Rest	3.5 m run 10 x 100m HS	35 min tempo	Rest	5 m run	35 min EZ
3	6 x 400 IW	CT or Rest	3.5 m run 50,100,150m x 6 HS	35 min tempo	Rest	6 m run	35 min EZ
4	7 x 400 IW	CT or Rest	4 m run 50,100,150m x 6 HS	40 min tempo	Rest	6 m run	40 min EZ
5	8 x 400 IW	CT or Rest	4.5 m run 8 x 200m HS	40 min tempo	Rest	7 m run	40 min EZ
6	8 x 400 IW	CT or Rest	4.5 m run 18 x 50m *Various HS	40 min tempo	Rest	7.5 m run	45 min EZ
7	6 x 400 IW	CT or Rest	4 m run 10 x 100m HS	40 min tempo	Rest	8 m run	45 min EZ
8	3 m run	CT or Rest	40 min tempo run	3 m run	Rest	10K Race!	Rest

*Various hill sprints 6 moderate incline 6 steep incline 6 downhill.