10K Advanced in 8 Weeks – 3 Days per Week
Magic Training
About the plan
An 8-week plan for an advanced runner who wants to perform in the 10K while training three days a week. There are three runs per week — Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday — and all three count: one interval session, one threshold workout and the long run. There is no filler run, because someone with three days can't afford to waste any. The other four days are rest or the sport you already do. Intervals range from 800 m to 1600 m, the threshold work reaches three 2 km (1.2-mile) blocks and week 7 brings a 5K time trial at race pace. The Sunday long run goes from 5 to 7 miles (8-12 km) and volume ranges from 16 to 23 miles (25-37 km) per week, a range that fits people who train before work. Week 4 is a recovery week and week 8 ends with the race. Paces come from your times in the magic calculator; update your reference race time in your profile before you start so that threshold, interval and race pace are calibrated.
The plan in numbers
- Duration
- 8 weeks
- Runs per week
- 3
- Weekly volume
- 16 mi → 23 mi
- Longest run
- 8 mi
Week 1 starts at 16 mi and volume builds to 23 mi in week 6, the heaviest of the plan.
A typical week has 3 runs, and the longest session reaches 8 mi (Interval, week 6).
Over the final 2 weeks volume drops from 23 mi to 9.2 mi so you arrive at the race rested.
Race day (6.2 mi) falls on Sunday of week 8; the week holds 9.2 mi of running before it.
There is 1 tune-up race on the way to the goal race.
Key workouts
The quality sessions that come up most in this plan:
- Interval7 sessions across 7 weeks
- Long7 sessions across 7 weeks
- Threshold7 sessions across 7 weeks
- Repetition1 session across 1 week
Who it's for
Advanced level. To start safely you should already be running about 16 mi per week and be comfortable with a 6.2 mi session — that is what week 1 asks for.
Week 1 — workout preview
16 mi this week
6.2 mi
5 mi
5 mi
Week 6 — the heaviest of the plan
23 mi this week
8 mi
7.7 mi
7.5 mi
Plan Structure
8 weeks · 24 workouts · 32 rest days
See the full plan
Create your account to unlock every week, sync with your watch and get personalized paces.