[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"public-library:en-GB:workout:running-10k-pace-intervals":3},{"slug":4,"sport":5,"category":6,"level":7,"intensity_unit":8,"modified_at":9,"author":10,"head":11,"equipment":14,"sources":16,"content":22,"facts":207,"blocks":363,"related":376},"running-10k-pace-intervals","running","threshold","intermediate","pace","2026-10-25","Pierre Halloo",{"title":12,"description":13},"10K pace intervals: 5 × 5 min at race pace","10K pace intervals: 5 × 5 min at your race pace with 2 min jog recoveries. Paces for a vVO2max of 14 to 18 km\u002Fh, and the usual mistakes. 58 minutes.",[15],"gps_watch",[17,20],{"citation":18,"url":19},"Fédération française d'athlétisme, plan d'entraînement 10 km (athle.fr)",null,{"citation":21,"url":19},"Daniels J., Daniels' Running Formula, Human Kinetics",{"h1":23,"summary":24,"purpose":35,"execution":79,"feel":101,"mistakes":108,"not_for":145,"faq":152,"evidence":198},"5 × 5 min at 10K pace, with 2-minute jog recoveries",{"type":25,"children":26},"root",[27],{"type":28,"tag":29,"props":30,"children":31},"element","p",{},[32],{"type":33,"value":34},"text","10K pace intervals: five 5-minute reps at 92–96% of your vVO₂max, your race pace, with 2 minutes of jogging between each. 25 minutes of work in a 58-minute session, for runners with some threshold training behind them who are building towards a 10K.",{"adaptation":36,"for_whom":48,"when":72},{"type":25,"children":37},[38,43],{"type":28,"tag":29,"props":39,"children":40},{},[41],{"type":33,"value":42},"This session teaches you your race pace. A 10K sits between threshold and vVO₂max: too fast to feel comfortable, too slow to feel like a sprint. On race day the classic mistake is going off too quick, dragged along by the crowd. Rehearsing the pace in 5-minute reps drills it into your legs and your head, until you recognise it without checking your watch.",{"type":28,"tag":29,"props":44,"children":45},{},[46],{"type":33,"value":47},"The aim isn't to rack up time near VO₂max, as in long intervals, but to hit a precise pace, rep after rep. Two minutes of jogging gives enough recovery to stay accurate through to the fifth. No trial has tested this exact format: it's race-specific work, as used in training plans.",{"type":25,"children":49},[50],{"type":28,"tag":29,"props":51,"children":52},{},[53,55,62,64,70],{"type":33,"value":54},"Runners building towards a 10K, or a half, who have already been doing threshold sessions for several weeks, such as a ",{"type":28,"tag":56,"props":57,"children":59},"a",{"href":58},"\u002Fen-GB\u002Flibrary\u002Frunning\u002Fthreshold\u002Frunning-tempo-run",[60],{"type":33,"value":61},"tempo run",{"type":33,"value":63}," or ",{"type":28,"tag":56,"props":65,"children":67},{"href":66},"\u002Fen-GB\u002Flibrary\u002Frunning\u002Fthreshold\u002Frunning-cruise-intervals",[68],{"type":33,"value":69},"cruise intervals",{"type":33,"value":71},". You need a recently measured vVO₂max, or a realistic 10K pace from a recent race: that's what sets the session. If your last 10K was more than a year ago, do a test first.",{"type":25,"children":73},[74],{"type":28,"tag":29,"props":75,"children":76},{},[77],{"type":33,"value":78},"Once a week at most, mainly in the last few weeks of your build-up, when race pace becomes the priority. Before that, threshold and VO₂max sessions do most of the work. Put it after an easy day or a rest day, never the day before a long run, another hard session or a race. To progress, keep the pace and stretch the reps: 4 × 6 min, then 3 × 2 km; or cut the jog to 90 seconds.",[80,87,94],{"type":25,"children":81},[82],{"type":28,"tag":29,"props":83,"children":84},{},[85],{"type":33,"value":86},"10 minutes of easy running at 60–65% of vVO₂max, then 5 minutes at 66–72%. Add two or three strides at the end: going straight from an easy jog to 10K pace is a jolt.",{"type":25,"children":88},[89],{"type":28,"tag":29,"props":90,"children":91},{},[92],{"type":33,"value":93},"Five 5-minute reps at 92–96% of your vVO₂max, with 2 minutes of jogging at 58–65% between each. At 16 km\u002Fh that's 4:05 to 3:54\u002Fkm, or 1,227 to 1,280 metres per rep: just over three laps of a track. If you have a recent 10K time, use it: the range is wide, and your race pace is just one point inside it. Aim for consistency: all five reps should cover the same distance, give or take a few metres. The jog covers 309 to 347 metres: keep moving.",{"type":25,"children":95},[96],{"type":28,"tag":29,"props":97,"children":98},{},[99],{"type":33,"value":100},"10 minutes of very easy running at 55–65% of vVO₂max. Note your average pace for each rep: it's a good guide to what you can aim for on race day.",{"type":25,"children":102},[103],{"type":28,"tag":29,"props":104,"children":105},{},[106],{"type":33,"value":107},"Breathing is heavy from the second rep, without tipping into gasping. You can still get out two or three words, not a sentence. The 2-minute jogs feel short, and that's deliberate: you never fully come down. The fourth rep is the real test. Guide: 7 to 8 out of 10.",[109,118,127,136],{"title":110,"body":111},"Running faster than race pace",{"type":25,"children":112},[113],{"type":28,"tag":29,"props":114,"children":115},{},[116],{"type":33,"value":117},"The first rep feels easy, so you nick a few seconds. But the session is there to learn a pace, not to beat it: one rep too quick blurs the reference and costs you on the rest. Stay in the range, at the same rhythm, to the end.",{"title":119,"body":120},"Pacing for the 10K you hope to run",{"type":25,"children":121},[122],{"type":28,"tag":29,"props":123,"children":124},{},[125],{"type":33,"value":126},"Set the session on your current pace, not your target. If you slow noticeably from the fourth rep, the target was too ambitious: reset it from a recent race rather than forcing it.",{"title":128,"body":129},"Walking the jog",{"type":25,"children":130},[131],{"type":28,"tag":29,"props":132,"children":133},{},[134],{"type":33,"value":135},"The 2 minutes are run, at 58–65% of vVO₂max. Walking lets your heart rate drop too far, and each rep restarts from lower down: further from what you'll face in a race with no breaks.",{"title":137,"body":138},"Doing it too early in the build-up",{"type":25,"children":139},[140],{"type":28,"tag":29,"props":141,"children":142},{},[143],{"type":33,"value":144},"Without a threshold base, 25 minutes at 10K pace costs a lot and teaches little. Save it for the end of your build-up, once threshold and VO₂max sessions have done their job.",{"prerequisites":146,"avoid_if":149},[147,148],"Several weeks of threshold sessions.","A recently measured vVO₂max, or a recent 10K time.",[150,151],"You have pain or a recent injury.","A long run, another hard session or a race is planned for the next day.",[153,162,171,180,189],{"question":154,"answer":155},"What pace should 10K pace intervals be?",{"type":25,"children":156},[157],{"type":28,"tag":29,"props":158,"children":159},{},[160],{"type":33,"value":161},"Your 10K race pace, which the session puts at 92–96% of your vVO₂max. At 14 km\u002Fh, 4:40 to 4:28\u002Fkm; at 16, 4:05 to 3:54\u002Fkm; at 18, 3:37 to 3:28\u002Fkm. If you have a recent 10K time, trust it over the range: aim for your average pace from that day.",{"question":163,"answer":164},"How is this different from Norwegian 4x4 intervals?",{"type":25,"children":165},[166],{"type":28,"tag":29,"props":167,"children":168},{},[169],{"type":33,"value":170},"Similar intensity, different purpose. The Norwegian 4 × 4 targets VO₂max: 4-minute reps, 3 minutes' recovery, and a heart rate that has to climb high. 10K pace intervals target a pace: five reps, shorter recoveries, and consistency as the measure of success. The first fits all year round; the second belongs near the end of a build-up.",{"question":172,"answer":173},"How many 10K pace sessions before a race?",{"type":25,"children":174},[175],{"type":28,"tag":29,"props":176,"children":177},{},[178],{"type":33,"value":179},"Once a week at most, in the last few weeks of your build-up: two or three sessions are often enough to lock in the rhythm. In race week, keep a short version of two or three reps, to keep the pace in your head without tiring yourself.",{"question":181,"answer":182},"What if I can't hold the pace?",{"type":25,"children":183},[184],{"type":28,"tag":29,"props":185,"children":186},{},[187],{"type":33,"value":188},"If you slow from the fourth rep, your target is too ambitious for now. Finish the session at the bottom of the range, then reset your reference from a recent race or a new test. Overreaching in training often foreshadows going off too fast on race day.",{"question":190,"answer":191},"Should I run 10K pace intervals on the track or the road?",{"type":25,"children":192},[193],{"type":28,"tag":29,"props":194,"children":195},{},[196],{"type":33,"value":197},"Both work. The track gives exact markers: at 16 km\u002Fh, one rep is just over three laps. The road is closer to your race, with its bends and gradients: go by your watch, and accept a few seconds' drift on the drags.",{"level":199,"text":200},"practice",{"type":25,"children":201},[202],{"type":28,"tag":29,"props":203,"children":204},{},[205],{"type":33,"value":206},"The French athletics federation's 10K plan (athle.fr, 8 weeks at 4 sessions a week, read in extract) includes blocks at 10K pace within progressive sessions, along with intervals at 90% of vVO₂max. Jack Daniels (Daniels' Running Formula, Human Kinetics) places 10K pace between his threshold and interval paces; in his tables (VDOT 50) it is about 94–95% of I pace, treated here as vVO₂max, according to secondary reproductions. The 92–96% range follows from this, widened downwards for less trained runners, whose race pace is a smaller share of their vVO₂max. No published protocol in the 5 × 5 min format with 2-minute jogs was found: the format, recovery, warm-up and cool-down are Wattson choices. Bottom line: no controlled study; this is race-specific work, widely used in training 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