Respected coach and Saucony UK ambassador James Thie shared with us his go-to 5 and 10k sessions.

I’m sure every athlete and coach has their favourite or ‘go-to’ workout for different distances. Most are borrowed, or personally tried and tested.

I wish they guaranteed a fast time, but there is always more to it, than just one session. But, if you’re looking for some hand me down sessions, here’s a couple of my mine you can have. Pass them on if you like!

My belief is that to have confidence in your race day pacing plan… you need to train at goal pace. The way to best do this is through interval sessions, with breaking down the race distance.

Here are a couple of simple session suggestions for 5km and 10km distance.

Saucony UK and James Thie coached athlete Tom Marshall literally flying to a finish line. Photo: Robert Gale (@awv)

5km:

Session 1: 4 to 5 day before race day: 5 x 1km aim @ 3 to 5 seconds under goal pace.

• 16min aim or under: 2mins rest after each 1km.

• 16 to 20min aim:  2.5mins rest after each 1km.

• 20min plus aim:  3mins rest after each 1km.

Session 2: To sharpen for important track 5km race, 5 to 7 days before race day: 3 sets of 1200m (@2sec per 400m faster than goal 5km pace)  then 400m @1500m/mile pace.

• 16mins or under aim: 1min rest after 1200m & 4mins after 400m.

• 16 to 20mins aim: 90secs rest after 1200m & 5mins after 400m.

• 20mins plus aim: 2min rest after 1200m & 5mins after 400m.

Going a little longer

10km:

Session 1: 12-14 days before race day: 10 x 1km @ your goal race pace.

• 33mins or under aim: 60secs rest after each 1km.

• 34 to 40mins aim: 75secs rest after each 1km.

• 40mins plus aim: 90secs rest after each 1km.

Session 2: 9-12 days before race day:

• 33mins or under aim: 7 x 4mins with 90secs rest after each rep.

• 34 to 40mins aim:  6 x 5mins with 2mins rest after each rep.

• 40mins plus aim: 5 x 6mins with 3mins rest after each rep.

For more 10km chat… join me on the 9th June @7pm for a Welsh Athletics Webinar. Aimed at all athletes and coaches looking to grow their knowledge of art of 10k training and racing.

The webinar won’t just be about single sessions but cover a much wider look at the 10k distance. This will include:

• Explore the physical and mental components required to run a 10k.

• Discuss training for a 10k including session examples and training block planning.

• Explore 10k race preparation.

• Dissect the executing the race.

Saucony UK ambassador James Thie is supporting the launch of the Endorphin Pro. He is also hosting home-based circuit training sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays at 6pm. You can find the sessions here. 

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