Your Speed/Distance Training Zones: 20 minute 5k
| Pace per Mile / Km | Treadmill Pace | 400m / 800m Splits | 5km Race Pace |
|---|---|---|---|
| 06:25 / 04:00 | 9.3 mph / 15.0 km/h | 96s / 3:12 | 20min 00s |
Your sub 20 5k training plan
| Day | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Rec. Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 30min easy | 30min easy | 30min easy | Rest/Cross-train |
| Tuesday | Reps@4:00 per km/ 6:25p/m (90s rec.) | Reps@93s per 400m/ 6:15p/m (60s rec.) | Examples | Rest/Cross-train |
| Wednesday | 30min easy | 30min easy | Fartlek Examples | inc. 3m @6:40 p/m |
| Thursday | Reps@3:12 per 800 / 6:25p/m (200m rec.) | Examples | Reps@4:00 per km/ 6:25p/m (90s rec.) | Rest/Cross-train |
| Friday | Rest/Cross-train | Rest | Rest/Cross-train | 30min easy |
| Saturday | 30min easy | Reps@3:12 per 800 / 6:25p/m (200m rec.) | 30min easy | Rest/Cross-train |
| Sunday | Long run | Long run | Long run | Rest/Cross-train |
Sub 5k Training Plan Components
Breakeven Sessions – Sub 20 5k training plan
These sessions are used for maintaining fitness & recovery. Preparing you for breakthrough sessions:
- Easy/ Steady Run – this run should be according to how you feel, don't worry about the time, make sure it's no quicker than 08:25 p/m. Concentrate on recovery and form.
- Long Run – slow & steady run, this should be less than 1 hour.
- Fartlek – unstructured training. Example Fartlek sessions.
Breakthrough Sessions – Sub 20 5k training plan
These sessions are meant to be challenging intense efforts, treat them as mini-milestones towards your target:
- 400m Reps – these need to be at 6:15 p/m pace (93s per lap) with a 60sec standing recovery.
- 800m Reps – should be reps at 6:25p/m pace (3:12 per 800m) with a 200m jogged recovery.
- 1km Intervals – hit 6:25p/m pace (4:00 per km) with a 90sec jogged recovery.
- Hills: Kenyans/ Hill Sprints – alternate between Kenyans and Hill Sprints to get a balance of power and endurance training. Example Hill Training Sessions.
About this Sub 20 minute 5k Training Plan
Remember that to consider following this sub 20 minute 5k plan you should already be able to run at a target race pace of 6:25 for at least a mile (3:59p/km) and/or have a PB under 22 minutes.
The core work for the sub 20 5k training plan is set over a 3-week period with the addition of 1 week’s recovery. At the end of the first 4-week cycle you can repeat and/or tailor the plan to your individual needs to focus on your particular 5k event.
It is recommended that after three months following the sub 20 5k plan that you reduce your training for a period of one to two weeks to allow your body time to recover from the impact of running. This should mean more time cross-training with a couple of nice easy runs every few days to keep the legs ticking over.
Can the 30 min easy training runs be done on a treadmill? If so, would you add a bit of incline?
I am just about to give this a go and last week did a pb of 21.58 so just inside the 22min mark.
Regarding the Cross Training could that be indoor rowing?
Just trying to work out how this could work for me.
Cheers
Hi Jay, you can certainly do the easy runs on the treadmill. You could set a gradient to 0.5-1% to account for the lack of wind resistance. I wouldn’t increase the gradient to more than this as it would turn into a hill session! And yes, rowing would be a great cross training session to do. Cheers.
From octobre 2018 to january 2019 I made it from a 32min5k to a 21:15min5k thanks to your plans and two colds (and my wife) that prevented overtraining.
Now I am completly resting for a week, only concentrating on core workouts.
Yes your training works.
What also helped me:
-heavy legs/breathing during speed sessions is ok, puking is not
-leightweight trainers/flats become important at about 4:15min/k
-stretching is important see mo farah video on youtube
-loosing weight helps a lot
-loosing weight is easy if your main food is bananas and water (but cheat days are important, too)
-caffein is great to push you, just do not overdo it
-hard sessions make you faster, fun sessions keep you rolling
-forefoot running is NOT toerunning
Great feedback, thanks Hannes! The plans worked really well for you as you have managed to improve your times significantly, a big well done to you.
How long should the ’30 min easy’ be
Hi Daire, it should be 30 minutes or thereabouts. Don’t worry too much about the distance for this one.
Is the pace for an easy run 7:00 min per k or 7:00 min per mile ?
Hi Andy, it’s per mile.
If I can already run 20:36 , how long do you think it will take me to get under 20:00
Hi Eion, not long at all I don’t think. I’d recommend following the plan for a couple of cycles and you should be ready. Good luck.
I managed to run 20:33 after a year of following your plan from 23:14. I was running 20 mile weeks in the run up to my last PB. Since then I’ve done a few 25+ weeks and 1 30 mile week based around your plan. Would you say I should be ready for a sub 20 attempt now?
Thanks in advance
I forgot to mention I ran 20:33 at the start of September.
Where is the actually training plan? I can only find the example one for week one but not the whole thing. Also I am at the end of my freshman cross country season right now and my pr is 21:01 and I was wondering if I could start this plan at the end of my cross country season and then continue it into my track season? Or do you believe it would be too much to do these workouts and my coaches workouts?