WEEK eight of our Babcock 10K training programme is similar in a number of ways for beginner, intermediate and advanced runners.

For all three, on Saturday the timed 5K run from week four will be repeated. Compare your time and how you felt with your previous attempt; hopefully you will see some improvement.

The park run on Saturday is also good practice for the race as you can get used to starting in a big group of people and not starting too fast.

Also, try and wear what you plan to wear for the race to check that it is comfortable.

You can use your time from the 5K to get a good idea of the time and pace you can expect to run for the 10K, although remember that you probably won’t be able to maintain the same pace for 10K as you can for 5K, so double your 5K time and add 2-5 minutes (1-2 mins for intermediate/advanced runners) to get a realistic 10K target.

  • Beginners, week 8: Mon – rest; Tues – 4mins easy run, 1min faster run x8; Wed – rest; Thurs – 35 min easy run; Fri – rest; Sat – 5K park run; Sunday; rest.
  • Intermediate, week 8: Mon – rest; Tues – 8x3min with 90sec recovery; Wed – rest; Thurs – 6 miles; Fri – rest; Sat – park run; Sun – 10 miles.
  • Advanced, week 8: Mon – rest; Tues – 10x3min with 90sec recovery; Wed – 1hr steady; Thurs – 6 miles; Fri – rest; Sat – park run; Sun – 14 miles.