Initially it’s about getting back into the groove with your running, easy runs, some tempo runs etc. My advice would be to start slowly, largely forget about what you used to be able to run that’s in the past now and has no bearing on how you are going to train this time around. Hi David, it certainly is possible and you have the commitment to achieve it then that is half the battle. To realise improvements it’s worth remembering that training is cumulative and it takes time and dedication to follow any training plan and achieve the results you want. This should mean more time cross-training with a couple of nice easy runs every few days to keep the legs ticking over. It is recommended that after three months of using the 40 minute 10k plan that you reduce your training for a period of one to two weeks to allow your body time to recover from the impact of running. The other way of making the plan harder is to adjust the pace slightly and run faster! Obviously there is only so far you can go with this, there would be no point in extending these way beyond the 10k distance. Introduce changes slowly and over a few weeks, i.e., Week 1 = 3x2km Reps, Week 5 = 4x2km Reps, Week 8 = 5x2km reps, etc. If, after a couple of rotations you want to make the plan harder, you could slowly increase the number of reps for the breakthrough speed sessions. As you improve you'll maybe want to incorporate some sessions from our other 10k training plans. At the end of each cycle you can repeat from the beginning or tweak the plan to suit your current ability and time commitments etc. The 40 minute 10k plan has been put together so it is cyclical and can be used over a period of weeks until you feel you are ready for your 10k event.

Download 10k run miles