Eight Week 10k Training Plan

The daily runs are in time and miles. This means you don’t have to have a measured course or relegate yourself to a track for your workouts. You can do them around your home, in the gym, wherever you have time.

Before each training session I want you to Warm Up. Warm up for at least five minutes by starting slow and moving into a brisk walk. After each session, stretch using the cool down stretches I’ve given you.

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday		Friday	Saturday	Sunday
29 Warm Up 5 Jog 20 minutes Alternate light jog with speed bursts (j1.5,Sp1 min) Cool down Stretch	30 Cross Train --Stretching --Strength Training --Swimming, etc.	31 Warm Up 5 2.5 mile or 30 minute run Cool down Stretch	April 1 Cross train		2 Rest	3 Run 4 miles	4 Active Rest Cross training or Play
5 Warm Up 5 Jog 20 minutes Alternate light jog with speed bursts J1.5-Sp2 J1.5-Sp2 J1.5-Sp2 J1.5-Sp2 (total 20 min) Cool down Stretch	6 Cross Train	7 Warm Up 5 2.5 mile or 30 minute run Cool down Stretch	8 Cross Train		9 Rest	10 Run 4.5 miles	11 Active Rest Cross training or Play
12 Warm Up 5 Jog 23 minutes with speed bursts J3-Sp 2 J5-Sp3 J3-Sp2 J5 Cool down Stretch	13 Cross train	14 Warm Up 5 2.5 mile or 30 minute run Cool down Stretch		15 Cross train	16 Rest	17 Run 5 miles	18 Active Rest Cross training or Play

J=Jog or brisk walk, depending on your training. J5 = jog 5 minutes

W=Walk. If you’re running, brisk walk. If you’re doing the walking program, slow your walk at this point.

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
19 Warm Up 5 Jog 25 minutes Alternate jogging with bursts of speed J5-Sp3 J5-Sp3 J5-Sp3 Cool Down Stretch	20 Cross train	21 Warm Up 5 3 mile or 35 minute run Cool down Stretch	22 Cross train	23 Rest	23 4 miles	24 Active Rest Cross training or Play
25 Warm Up 5 Jog 30 minutes Alternate jogging with bursts of speed Jog 8 Sp2 x 3 Cool down Stretch	26 Cross train	27 Warm Up 5 3 mile or 35 minute run Cool down Stretch	28 Cross train	29 Rest	30 4.5 miles	May 1 Active Rest Cross training or Play
2 Warm Up 5 J40	3 Cross train	4 Warm Up 5 3 mile or 35 minutes Find some hills and run hills Cool down Stretch	5 Cross train	6 Rest	7 5 miles	8 Active Rest Cross training or Play
9 Warm Up 5 Jog 45 Cool down Stretch	10 Cross train	11 Warm Up 5 3 mile or 35 minutes Tempo (run at the speed you want to run on race day) Cool down Stretch	12 Cross train	13 Rest	14 5.5 miles	15 Active Rest Cross training or Play
16 Warm Up 5 J60 Cool down Stretch	17 Cross train	18 Warm Up 5 3 miles or 35 minutes easy run Cool down Stretch	19 Cross train	20 Rest	21 6 miles	22 Active rest or play

Continued Base Building Training

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
23 Warm up 5 Jog 50 Cool down Stretch	24 Cross Train	25 Warm up 5 4.5 miles or 50 minutes Cool down Stretch	26 Cross Train	27 Rest	28 5 miles	29 Active rest or cross train
30 Warm Up 5 Jog 45 minutes Alternate jogging with bursts of speed Jog 8 Sp2 x 3	31	June 1 Warm up 5 4 miles or 40 minutes	2 Cross Train	3 Rest	4 7 miles	5 Active rest or cross train
6 Warm up 5 Jog 30 Cool down Stretch	7 Cross Train	8 Warm up 5 Find some hills Hill work for 30 minutes Cool down	9 Easy 20 min run	10 Rest	11 8 miles	12 Rest
13 Jog 35 min	14 Cross Train	15 Warm up 5 Easy 30-40 min run	16 Easy 20-30 min run	17 Rest	18 7 miles	19 Rest
20 Jog 45-60 min	21 Cross Train	22 Warm up 5 Easy 20-30 min run	23 Easy 30-40 min run	24 Rest	25 Team Dinner Spaghetti Factory in Seattle	26 Rock and Roll Marathon Join us for part of the route!

Warm Up Stretching for Runners and Walkers

The first ten minutes of your workout should be your warm up. Start out slower on colder days to give your muscles a chance to slowly warm up. During this ten minutes where you ease from a walk to a brisk walk to a slow jog, do the following:

1. March high for 10-20 steps. Do not come down hard. Come down easy warming up your quads.
2. Shrug your shoulders up to your ears and let them drop. Do this slowly three or four times. Feel where your shoulders naturally fall and remember this position for running.
3. Turn your head slowly from side to side as if you are looking over your shoulder.
4. Swing your arms forward three times. Swing back three times. Shake out your arms and let them fall naturally into a 90 degree angle. Pay attention to the relaxed feeling of your arms hanging from your shoulders.
5. Take inventory of your body. How does it feel? Are there any areas of tightness? If so move that area just enough to loosen it. Do NOT stop and stretch until you are completely warmed up.
6. At this point you should be ready to move into a slightly faster walk or even a light jog if you’re running today. Get into proper running form.
1. Imagine your spine aligned in a straight line from your hiney to the top of your head.
2. Tuck your chin just SLIGHTLY.
3. Tilt your pelvis up. (To feel this put your thumbs on your pointy parts of your hip bones with your hands wrapping “backwards” around your pelvis and concentrate on moving the thumbs up slightly.)
4. Arms loosely at side, hands relaxed, movement should always be forward…watch for arms crossing your body.
5. Lean slightly forward at the ankles.
6. Allow your position to carry your forward and “fall” into your stride.
7. Smile! This is the most important part! This is supposed to be fun!
7. If you move into the brisk walk (for walkers) or slow jog portion of your warm up and you feel tight anywhere, you may now stop and stretch, but keep the stretching slow and careful. Your muscles are warm, but not fully warmed up.
8. Now you’re ready to begin your workout!

Cool Down Stretching for Runners

Your cool down portion of your run is as important as your warm up. Your body has been under a great deal of stress during your workout so you want to slowly return it to “normal” before going on with your day. Cooling down properly will help the body return to a normal state, reduce chances of injury, help alleviate soreness and stiffness, and allows your heart to return to a slower pace.

Begin by slowing down. So let’s say your workout today was a three-mile run. You warm up for ten minutes (you may or may not include this in your three miles), and then run your mileage. When you have completed your mileage (or your time) I want you to slow down gradually before you stretch. If you’re on a track, you might slow your run to a jog, your jog to a brisk walk, and your brisk walk to a slower walk. If you have a heart rate monitor, watch your heart rate begin to return to normal. This should take no less than two minutes, best is 3-5.

Now don’t just grab your water bottle and head to the couch! Head, instead, to a wall, the side of the house, a low fence, or even the car. Perform the following stretches, holding each for at LEAST a slow count of 15 (one and two and three and four…).

Rules:

1. Do Not Bounce!
2. Pull gently to the point of feeling the stretch. If you feel pain, back off slightly.
3. Do not hold the stretch by placing your hand on a joint (for example, when you do the quad stretch do not hold right at your ankle, hold slightly above).
4. Breathe normally.

Quad Stretch: Stand with one hand holding onto something for balance Stand on one leg. Grasp the other leg behind you above the ankle or at the foot. Hold.	Pull the leg down for more stretch. You can also do this on the floor:	Gastroc and Soleus (calf muscles) stretches: Stand against a wall. Bring one leg forward bending at the knee. Other leg back, straight. Lean into the forward leg, watching to make sure the knee does NOT go over the toe Hold. Now lift the back heel slightly, bending at the knee. This will stretch the soleus.	Gastrocnemous Soleus
Gluteals Stretch: Sit with one leg forward. Bend other knee and bring foot to lateral of straight leg Twist gently feeling the pull through the IT and piriformis		Hip Flexor Stretch: Stand straight and bring front leg forward to 90 degree angle. Squat down feeling the stretch through the front of the hip.
Hamstring Stretch: Stand straight and bend slightly at hip. Put one foot out in front so leg is straight. Place your hands on your thighs to support your body weight You should feel this in the back of your legs	You can also use a step, a low fence, or the fender of your car for a deeper stretch.	Other: Shoulder rotations (shrug shoulders rotating forward, rotating back) Ankle rotations (rotate ankles clockwise, then counter-clockwise) (get on knees, sit back onto feet, lean forward with arms in front and head touching ground) Neck rotation	Other: Upward facing dog Down dog Child pose