10K goal attempt — sub-50 benchmark

The whole point. Time trial or any local race.

Time~50m

Distance10.0 km

DifficultyHard

Target: 49:59 · stretch 47:30

Route: Run quality sessions on the FLATTEST route you have. Your routes now average ~14 m of climb per km — nearly three times your historical average — and goal pace on that terrain is a different, much harder session than the one written.

Calibrated by your 5K best effort (23:55 on 08-27, measured by Strava): threshold 5:03–5:15 · 1K reps 4:40–4:50 · 400s 4:22–4:35 /km — trust these over the printed bands.

Ground you knowwithin reach of 10.0 km

9.4 km · steep, 28 m/km

steepest descent −23 m in km 7 · run once · best 6:02/km

9.3 km · hilly, 22 m/km

steepest descent −42 m in km 9 · run once · best 5:57/km

11.5 km · rolling, 10 m/km

steepest descent −26 m in km 10 · run once · best 5:30/km

8.0 km · rolling, 12 m/km

steepest descent −10 m in km 1 · run once · best 5:46/km

Instructions

Read

1Run this on a track (25 laps) or a certified/measured 10 km. On GPS alone a '10.00 km' reading is really about 9.8 km, so a 49:5x there is not actually a sub-50 10K. Flat course: your usual routes average ~14 m of climb per km, which costs roughly 10-15 s/km.

Work

2First 2 km controlled5:02–5:05 /km

Work

3Km 3-8 at target rhythm4:57–5:00 /km

Work

4Final 2 km: hold or accelerate4:45–4:58 /km

Read

5If the week-8 10K already banked sub-50, run this one at the stretch: 4:45/km flat for 47:30. The plan will say by then which of the two it is.