10km Taper Program

Detailed below is a five-week 10km taper training program leading up to the race at the end of the 5th week. This program must be supported by general and specific strength training, mobility and psychology programs.

Before you start

Before starting any training, you must have a medical examination to ensure it is safe for you to do so. Before commencing the five-week program, it is also recommended that you complete a 6-month general strength training and endurance training in which you run between 15 to 30 miles a week.

Week 1

4 x 800 metres at 10km pace - 5%: recovery 400 metres jog
10 x 100 metres hill: recovery walk downhill
3 x 2000 metres at 10km pace: recovery 4 minutes
50 minutes of easy, steady running

Week 2

4 x 800 metres at 10km pace - 5%: recovery 400 metres jog
3 x 2000 metres at 10km pace: recovery 4 minutes
50 minutes of easy, steady running

Week 3

4 x 1200 metres at 10km pace - 5%: recovery 600 metres jog
12 x 100 metres hill: recovery walk down the hill
3 x 2400 metres at 10km pace: recovery 4 minutes
50 minutes of easy, steady running

Week 4

4 x 1200 metres at 10km pace - 5%: recovery 600 metres jog
3 x 2400 metres at 10km pace: recovery 4 minutes
50 minutes of easy, steady running

Week 5

3 x 2400 metres at 10km pace: recovery 4 minutes
Five days before the race: 5 x 1200 metres at 10km - 5%: recovery 400 metres jog
Four days before the race: 4 x 1200 metres at 10km - 5%: recovery 400 metres jog
Three days before the race: 3 x 1200 metres at 10km - 5%: recovery 400 metres jog
Two days before the race: 2 x 1200 metres at 10km - 5%: recovery 400 metres jog
The day before the race: Rest
RACE

Warm-up and cool down

Each session should start and end with a 10 minutes jog, followed by stretching exercises.

Extra training days

If you wish to do more running each week, then only carry out sessions of 50 minutes of relaxed running. It is recommended that you have at least one rest day per week.

What are the benefits?

Sessions at a 10km pace will improve Max VO₂ and increase your resistance to fatigue.
Sessions at 10km-5% will improve leg speed.
Sessions at a steady 10km+5% pace will improve your lactate threshold.

How do you calculate 10km - 5%?

Let us say your target 10km time is 36 minutes. This equates to 400 metres in 86.4 seconds.
400 metres at 10km-5% pace is: 86.4 - (86.4 ÷ 100 x 5) = 82.08 seconds

10km Training Speed Calculator

Enter your 10km target time, the training distance and then select the 'Calculate' button.

10km target Time: mins		Training distance: metres
10km-5% Pace: min secs		10km Pace: min secs		10km+5% Pace: min secs

Free Calculator

10km Training Speed Calculator - a free Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that you can download and use on your computer.

Page Reference

If you quote information from this page in your work, then the reference for this page is:

MACKENZIE, B. (2001) 10km Taper Program [WWW] Available from: https://www.brianmac.co.uk/longdist/10ktaper.htm [Accessed