How Much Faster Can You Get In 8 Weeks? - This Messy Happy

Aug 13, 2025

Intro

This is a quick summary of How Much Faster Can You Get In 8 Weeks? from This Messy Happy. It’s a great watch — we’re breaking it down so you can try the workout today. Be sure to check out the full video for all the details.

Key Points

An 8‑week 10K training plan was built to drop a 10K time from 50 min 45 s to under 48 min, using progressive mileage, interval work, and pacing tricks.
Key workouts: 30‑20‑10 interval sets (30 sec hard, 20 sec moderate, 10 sec fast) and negative‑split long runs.
Pacing strategy: start the race at ~5:00 min/km, then gradually drop to 4:35‑4:30 min/km in the later stages, aiming for a sub‑48 min finish.
Practical tips: use hand signals for pacing, monitor heart rate to stay in the target zone, and finish strong with a final 800‑m “pain” segment that’s deliberately hard.

Workout Example

Weekly Sample (Week 8)

Monday: Easy 5 km – aim for 25 min total (5 min/km) with a negative split (first 2.5 km slightly slower, second 2.5 km a bit faster).
Tuesday: Interval session – 30‑20‑10 repeats (e.g., 8 × 30 sec hard, 20 sec easy, 10 sec fast) with 2‑minute jog recovery. Aim to keep the effort “painful but productive”.
Wednesday: Rest or easy 5 km recovery.
Thursday: Tempo run 6 km at 4:55‑5:00 min/km.
Friday: Easy 5 km + strides.
Saturday: Long run 10‑12 km, start at 5:00 min/km, gradually speed up to 4:30‑4:35 min/km after halfway.
Race Day (Week 8): Start at 5:00 min/km, aim to be under 5:00 min/km by 2 km, push to 4:35‑4:30 min/km from km 6‑8, finish the last 800 m at max effort.

Closing Note

Give this 8‑week plan a go and tweak the paces to fit your current fitness in the Pacing app. You’ve got the tools – now go smash that sub‑50 minute goal and keep pushing for the next PR! 🚀