How Many Miles is a 10k

How Many Miles is a 10k?

If you’re new to running or have just completed your first 5k and looking to step up your training, we can help you take that next step today! 

So, just how many miles is a 10k? 10k in miles – 6.2-miles or 6.21371 who like the attention to detail! 

What is a good time for 10k?

Depending on fitness levels, the average finishing time for 10k is 50-70-minutes. If you’re of good health you might be looking to run inside 40-minutes, which is a common barrier for the distance. 

To compare this with some of the fastest times in the world, the world record currently stands at an incredible 26:24 set by Kenyan Rhonex Kipruto in Valencia. The equivalent women’s world best is Joyciline Jepkosgei also a Kenyan running 29:43. Joyciline also ran a 5k best on route to her 10k record. Inspiring stuff! 

10k is a nice step up from running 5k events and the natural progression of c25k runners. 

The best 10k training session

What is the best training session for a 10k? 

My personal favourite 10k training session is 6×1-mile on the track or road, with 2-minutes recovery. It’s not an easy workout to complete but if you can nail this session at target pace, you’re ready to run a fast time. However, you will need to build up towards this sort of session and this will be ran approximately 2-weeks – 10-days out from your goal race. In the lead up to this session you will need to complete a range of workouts to enable you to complete the session. To do this I gradually increase the duration and volume of repeats during the training block and follow the principle of specific adaptation. 

So, how do we get to 6×1-mile at goal 10k race pace?

In the lead up to running the best 10k training session, you should start off by aiming to run 12-16×60-second efforts at 10k pace or slightly quicker. Once you can do this, aim to increase the distance of the rep for example 8x800m efforts at 10k pace or slightly quicker. In between you can include what I can transition or intermediate sessions such as 6x2mins, 6x1mins, 6x30secs aiming to run 10k pace and getting down to faster than goal 5k pace. Another key 10k workout is 8x1km at 10k pace or slightly quicker, before moving onto 6×1-mile. This should be supported with different workouts, easy running and a weekly long run.

 

For all sessions, you should include 15-20-minutes easy jogging to warm up, followed by drills and strides, either 4x15sec strides or 2x30sec strides with jog back recovery. Once you’ve completed your session don’t forget to warm down with 10-15-minutes easy jogging before refuelling and recovering for your next hard workout. 

Do you want to see this progression in action and try for yourself? A range of 10k training plans for all ability and fitness levels are available here or please get in touch with the team to see how you could take your training to the next level working with an online running coach. All plans are powered by TrainingPeaks and include training tips and advice, plus full access to JM Run Club.