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.
Why does the sub 20min plan do 5 x 1km, when the 22 does 3 x 1km and the 16 and 18 do 4 x 1km?
The jump from the 22 to the 20 seems SIGNIFICANT. Was this a mistype?
I’ve just managed to take my 5km down from 22:20 to 21:30. My fastest ever km is 4:03. Would this program be too advanced for me as I’m not sure I could manage 5x 4:00/km?
Ever since schools been closed I have been lazy and not completing the workouts my coach is sending me. For one they are too hard and have very little recovery time. This plan for hitting a sub 5K is perfect! It’s not too hard to follow and I know for a fact that I can get my 5K time (20:16) under for the upcoming cross country season!!
I’m finally been able to consistently make it under time for all intervals with the prescribed rest times/intervals. I’m looking forward to running a 5K and seeing if I can break 20:00. I’ll probably do one on the track by the end of the month. It’ll also be the first time this year running in race flats, so hopefully that will help. Will report back with results.
Hi. My 5k PB is 20.44. I’ve started the sub20k plan and I’m on week 4, but just completed my tempo run, in the pouring rain and my 3rd mile was 7:05, the previous two were 6:38 & 6:42, this has frustrated me. I suspect I put a lot into first mile, being an incline.
Maybe I was expecting too much too soon. I really hope, if I continue this plan, this will improve my time.
Very glad to have found this site. I’ve managed to go from 23:36 in late Feb to 21:47 in early April following the advice of doing a combination of interval, tempo runs and longer easy runs.
I’ll be trying out this plan, as well as some casual non-contact sport I play on the side, and I’ll see if I can get close to a sub 20mins. I struggle so much at the moment just to get 4:20min/km, so let’s see if I can make the movie to break another 20secs per km… That’s massive. I’ll report back later.
This program helped me improving from my PB of 21:33 to 19:30 after 2 1/2 cycles of the program.
When I started the first cycle in October 2019 my weekly mileage had not been high enough, so I had to bail out a bit over half way through as doing speed work 3 days a week gave me the shin splints from hell. After slowly increasing my weekly mileage over a few months I restarted the program, put a few more easy runs in between the intervals and successfully completed 2 cycles. On March 21, 2020 I was supposed to race but it was cancelled due to COVID-19, so I ran a 5K course wearing my Garmin Forerunner and clocked 5k at 19:30 without pushing too hard. I was ecstatic when I crossed the finish line and saw the time. I had to turn 40 before I finally cracked the magical 20!
Thank you very much, Matt!
Hi – what sort of pace did you run your easy runs at, and how did you work the interval sessions prior to being ‘ready’ for a race at your target paces? ie. did you aim to complete the 5x1km at just short of your target pace, of did you complete what you could of each interval at the target pace and then stop? I can currently do a 21:06 5k, but know i won’t yet be able to run 5x1km at 4min KMs… how did you approach the ‘failed’ runs?
I wouldn’t quit a workout because you didn’t hit your time on each interval. I would complete the whole workout as best as you can and then just keep track and try to do better the next time. I did this and failed many times, either because I didn’t run fast enough to make the time or rested too long in between intervals. Personally I think resting more in between so you can hit the times is better, then decrease the rest time each week. Over the course of a few months I’ve been able to get all the times under and not have the rest be over. Good luck.