Now entering week 2 of your running plan, we will start to slightly increase the intensity for all levels.

In week 1 for the beginners, we focused on just getting you moving. This week will be similar as remember we still have 9 weeks of training to build toward a strong first-time 10k.

Beginner

Session 1 will be interval based again but just looking to stretch the time frame from 20 to 30 minutes sticking with the 1 minute walking followed by 1 minute run.
Session 2 is your long run. Again the target here is to run continously but changing on last week, we are now looking at the distance not the speed. See how far you can get without having to stop. You can track this on apps such as Puma Trac (this stores all your data from previous runs which inform you of your continuous progress). You are looking to cover 8k in this run with as little stopping as possible. Write down at what point you had to stop. Your goal next week is to beat this.

Intermediate/Advanced

For our intermediate to advanced runners our main difference now is we will throw in a short 5k recovery run that will be done midweek along with our intervals early in the week and our long run at the weekend.

Session 1 will be interval based covering a distance of approximately 6-8km – 1 minute steady jog (about 60% of your max), followed by 30 seconds of a 75% pace. This session again should last about 40 minutes including your warm up and cool down.
The benefit of this session again is that it improves cardiovascular fitness but over time will increase your speed over a 10k distance. It also helps with training different energy systems to improve your running ability being able to really kick on in the later part of the run.
Session 2 will be a recovery run which many people tend not to include in their plan but this is such an efficent way to repair the body ahead of your weekend long run. With your recovery run you go at 60% of your regualar running speed, keeping your heart rate stable. Follow this up with some stretching and foam rolling afterwards to reap the benefits come long run day.
Session 3 is our long run. This will be 10k which for many intermediate/ advanced runners is no problem but it’s about getting that personal best, smashing some records in your own book. We would advise you to hold back in the early stages and here’s why; after week 1 you have set your base time for 10k and now it’s about getting really comfortable running for that distance and maintaining your speed. Therefore, don’t treat every long run as a race in which you must beat last week’s time. We will throw in 2 more test runs in week 4 and week 7 so hold off for them. Use your long run for consistency and technique – this will stand to you come race day.

In summary, for our beginner runners just keep ticking along. Try and make a small improvement on last week and remember you’re buildling your fitness now and getting ready to run 10k. This little increase in intensity will set us up nicely for another jump come week 3.
For the intermediate/advanced group, the key is to hold back. Although you may want to go hard this is not a recipe for peaking in 10 weeks. Go hard in your intervals but the other 2 sessions should be of lower intensity.
Good luck this week and looking forward to stepping it up another gear in week 3.