How To Hit A New 10K PR

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Senior Fitness and News Editor

The 10K is the perfect distance for many runners.

It’s long enough to pose an impressive challenge for new runners to work up to finishing their first 10K and short enough that more experienced runners can typically fit the training into their weekly routine, even with a full-time job.

Once you have finished your first 10K, you have a benchmark to guide your training, and you can start training with the purpose of chipping away at your personal best time and running faster.

In this guide, I will discuss how to hit a 10K PR and share my expert coach training tips on how to get faster at the 10K distance.

A silhouette of a person running and a 10k mark.

What Does a 10K PR Mean?

There’s a good chance you’re aware of what a 10K is, but to cover our bases, the “K” component of the 10K distance stands for the metric distance of a kilometer, so a 10K is 10,000 meters.

For runners in the United States who are more accustomed to miles, this converts to 6.214 miles.

For simplicity, most people shorten the 6.214 miles to 6.2 miles when they discuss 10K, but the distance of any official 10K event will be the full 10 kilometers or 6.214 miles.

Your fastest finish time for the distance is referred to as your personal record, PR, or personal best, PB, depending on where you live.

For example, if you’ve run three different 10K races and finished in 52:04, 50:51, and 49:12, your 10K PR is currently 49:12.

People trying to run their 10k pr.

What Are Effective Training Strategies For Achieving A 10K PR?

How do you get faster at the 10K?

While some race strategy tips can help you improve your 10K race performance, the bulk of the improvements in your 10K race times will come down to the work you do in training. 

The following training tips can help you work towards a 10K PR:

#1: Develop Your Base

You need a solid endurance base to run this race distance well. Running 10K takes even the fastest runners at least 30 minutes, taking most runners closer to 40-60 minutes or more to reach the finish line.

In fact, according to Running Level,110k Times By Age And Ability – Running Level. (n.d.). Runninglevel.com. https://runninglevel.com/running-times/10k-times the average 10K time across all ages and sexes is 49:43. The average men’s 10K time is 46:43, while the average women’s 10K time is 54:13.

Therefore, to run a 10K PR, you must be comfortable and accustomed to running at least 6-8 miles or 45-60 minutes or more without stopping.

Distance runs, such as long runs and base-building runs, build cardiovascular and muscular endurance so that tackling the 6.2-mile distance is not particularly taxing.

A running coach with a whistle and clipboard.

#2: Use a Training Plan or Work With a Coach 

The most successful journeys tend to follow a roadmap or plan. In the same way that you wouldn’t begin a transcontinental road trip without consulting a good roadmap, hoping to hit a 10K PR without following an appropriate training plan is a recipe for poor results.

Working with a running coach or following a smart 10k training plan that’s both appropriate for your level of fitness and experience and geared toward achieving the 10K time goal you have in mind will help ensure you’re on the right track to reach your goals while minimizing the risk of overtraining and overuse injuries. 

The training plan should employ a gradual progression in intensity and volume so that you continue to improve without increasing the risk of injury. 

In most cases, you should heed the 10% rule, meaning you should only increase your mileage by a maximum of 10% from one week to the next. For example, if you currently run 40 miles weekly, run no more than 44 miles next week.

People running on a road.

#3: Go Long

A solid weekly long run is a cornerstone in most 10K running plans. As mentioned, you need a strong aerobic base to support the cardiovascular fitness and muscular endurance to run a 10K PR.

To hit a 10K PR, aim for a long run of at least 6-8 miles, potentially peaking at 10-12 once in your training cycle, depending on your experience as a runner and your fitness level.

#4: Vary Your Workouts

One key to injury prevention and getting faster as a runner is varying your workouts. Running the same, moderate-intensity pace day after day is less effective than incorporating a variety of paces, distances, terrains, and intensity levels.

Include long runs, speed workouts, recovery runs, cross-training, and strength training workouts. Run different routes and distances on different terrains like grass, trails, roads, and tracks. 

Varying the training stimuli is usually a more effective approach to continually yielding improvements. Your progress can plateau if you keep doing the same runs repeatedly.

A person cycling on the road.

#5: Don’t Forget Speed Workouts

Even though the 10K is a relatively long race, speed workouts are essential if you want to run fast. 

Speed workouts will improve your fitness, allowing you to run faster and longer. They also train your body to be more metabolically flexible so that you can use fuel more efficiently and burn fat at higher effort levels. 

Good speed workouts for the 10K include fartlek runs, longer hill repeats, and intervals like 10-12 x 800 meters, 8-10 x 1000 meters, mile repeats, 5 x 2000 meters, 3 x 2 mile runs, and various other ladders and pyramids run at race pace or faster.

#6: Go Easy

Many runners get competitive with themselves and fall into the trap of trying to run every run faster than the last. This is particularly common amongst runners who use Strava or a GPS watch to capture all their workout stats. 

Your easy runs are supposed to be easy for a reason—your body needs to recover—so pushing yourself through them is actually counterproductive and can lead to overtraining and injuries. 

Make sure your recovery days are actually easy efforts so that you can attack the speed workouts fully recovered and ready to give your best.

People running on the road.

#7: Increase Your Training Volume

Gradually increasing your training volume can be a good strategy for running faster and hitting a 10K PR, but it must be done carefully.

If you are already running relatively high mileage or are an injury-prone runner, it’s probably ill-advised to run more mileage.

Instead, you could consider increasing your overall training volume by adding low-impact cross training activities like deep water running, cycling, rowing, swimming, and the elliptical machine.

These activities reduce the stress and strain on your bones, joints, and connective tissues while still giving you a cardiovascular workout and encouraging circulation to recover from runs.

Cross-training also subjects your muscles to different motions than the same repetitive running stride, so incorporating cross-training is a good way to correct muscle imbalances caused by running and develop yourself as a well-rounded athlete.

On the other hand, if you’ve been running 15-20 miles per week and feel healthy enough to handle more running, gradually building up to 25-35 miles per week is often ideal for performing well on race day. 

A person running on a track.

#8: Increase Your Lactate Threshold

One key tip for hitting a 10K PR is to increase your lactate threshold with tempo runs and threshold intervals.

Threshold workouts are designed to increase your lactate threshold, or the point at which your body can no longer clear lactate from the muscles as quickly as it is being produced. 

For most runners, the threshold run pace is somewhere between 10K and 15K race pace, so increasing it will help you improve your 10K goal pace and PR.

Threshold workouts involve any work done at threshold effort. For example, you might warm-up and then run 4 x 5 minutes at a threshold pace with 2 minutes of recovery pace in between each interval, then, cool down.

Tempo runs are specific threshold workouts that involve maintaining threshold effort (usually run around 10K or half marathon pace) for a sustained 20 minutes or more and are a great way to improve your 10K PR.

A person running on a gravel road.

 #9: Run Long Hills

Hill sprints are great for shorter races like the mile and 5Ks because they build strength, power, and speed. Hill repeats can also be helpful for 10K runners, but it’s often best to do slightly longer hills and work them at 5K race pace. 

Hill workouts are also a good opportunity to work on your running form and prepare yourself for tackling hills during your 10K race.

#10: Stay Sharp With Strides

Strides involve sprinting from 50-200 meters, using your best running form, often accelerating your pace throughout the strides. 

Running strides after an easy run is a great way to add speed work and improve your technique and running form without taxing the body as a full interval workout would.

Running strides conditions your neuromuscular system to handle faster paces in a controlled and coordinated manner, which can help you increase your turnover or running cadence.

Sometimes, putting in a lot of miles of training for a 10K can leave you feeling a little sluggish and flat in terms of your speed. Running strides can help you get comfortable moving your legs faster. 

The quicker your foot turnover, the more strides you’ll take per minute. Your stride length and your cadence determine your running speed. Increasing both or either will result in a faster running speed.

People running a road race.

#11: Don’t Neglect Rest Days

It’s important to take at least one to two rest days per week to allow your body to heal. Running causes micro-tears in your muscles, and they need time off to repair and rebuild back stronger. 

One key to running faster and nailing a 10K PR is consistency, and regularly including rest days in your training program enables you to train consistently by reducing the risk of injuries.

It’s better to voluntarily take planned rest days than have your body force your hand because you’ve overdone it in your workouts and overall training volume.

#12: Include Mobility, Stability, Flexibility, and Balance Work In Your Routine

Mobility, stability, flexibility, and balance work can prevent injuries and leave you feeling limber and loose rather than wound up and tight. 

Foam rolling, single-leg drills, core exercises, dynamic stretching, yoga, Pilates, and massage are great accouterments to a running program, especially when you’re pushing your body and striving for a 10K PR.

Think of these modalities as “prehab” practices, bulletproofing your body to reduce the risk of running injuries.

A person doing a lunge with dumbbells.

#13: Strength Train 2-3 Times Per Week

Strength training two to three times per week with total-body workouts is one of the most effective ways to improve your running speed and hit a 10K PR.

Strength training helps prevent injuries, correct muscle imbalances, and strengthen legs for a more powerful running stride.

Good strength training exercises for runners include squats, lunges, deadlifts, step-ups, planks, push-ups, pull-ups, rows, bridges, hamstring curls, calf raises, lateral lunges, side steps or clam shells, and other core exercises.

#14: Live Like an Athlete

Any time you want to hit a PR, the lowest-hanging fruit to work on—where you’ll get the biggest bang for your buck—is adjusting your training.

However, once you’ve optimized your training program, are doing the right workouts, and are hitting your goal pacing strategy, you will need to expand your efforts to lifestyle improvements that can support your overall athletic performance.

A variety of fruits and vegetables and lean meats with the words healthy diet in the center.

Lifestyle choices—the things you’re doing when you’re not running—can actually have a significant impact on your performance, and optimizing them can sometimes be the difference between a good race and a 10K PR.

Examples of things to look at include your diet, alcohol intake, smoking or drug use, how much sleep you are getting on a routine basis and overall stress level. 

You should eat a nutritious diet with minimally processed foods and a wide range of healthy natural foods, get at least 7 to 8 hours of quality sleep every night, drink plenty of water, limit alcohol and soda, and minimize stress. 

Live your life like a champion athlete by maintaining a positive mindset, making healthy choices, and having a focused vision of your goals.

If you need guidance training for your 10K PR, look at our 10k training resources:

References

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Amber Sayer, MS, CPT, CNC

Senior Fitness and News Editor

Amber Sayer is a Fitness, Nutrition, and Wellness Writer and Editor, as well as a NASM-Certified Nutrition Coach and UESCA-certified running, endurance nutrition, and triathlon coach. She holds two Masters Degreesโ€”one in Exercise Science and one in Prosthetics and Orthotics. As a Certified Personal Trainer and running coach for 12 years, Amber enjoys staying active and helping others do so as well. In her free time, she likes running, cycling, cooking, and tackling any type of puzzle.

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