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.
Question: On the 6×800 day does the “200m rec.” mean 200 meter recovery? And is this walking?
Hi Matt, that’s right it’s a 200m recovery and planned as a slow jog. If you are doing this on track/treadmill then I woudldn’t walk it as it would probably be too long a recovery. Obviously adapt the session to how you feel but for 800m I usually go for a slow jog or standing recovery of the same time (i.e., be stationary for however long it would take to jog 200m).
If you are outside on the road then you coudl jog/walk/stand still for the same amount of time. Hope that makes sense.
Cheers
I ran a 5k today in 19:52 for my first ever sub 20! Thanks for the plan. I enjoyed the variety. Going on 40, I’m not sure I’m ready to push for sub 18 but we shall see…
Well done, Matt. I don’t think you need to be burdened by your age at this stage. If you train smart, look after yourself, and are determined you will be able to get the time down even further, perhaps even to the sub 18 :-). Good luck!
what does rec week mean?
Recovery week.
Great training plan. I have a PB of 19.50, but want to consolidate my sub 20 time on this program before moving onto sub 18. I find with this plan I am getting more targeted, quality sessions in rather than hours of mile crunching. It has been hard work, but my fitness has improved immensely in the past 2 weeks. I am going for a 5 k race in a few weeks, and pretty confident that PB will get smashed!
Hi Paul, nice work and thanks for the feedback! Good luck with your race and let us know how you get on.
Hello, I was wondering if there is a way to adapt this training program for a treadmill. My wife and I have a 4 month old baby at home, so we find it hard to run outside these days. But we can put the baby beside us and she actually falls asleep to the sound of the treadmill. I’ve run a few 5k races over the past month and I’m stuck around 20:30 right now (my pb is around 19:30). I can run much faster than this on the treadmill, but it seems when I run outside in a race the conditions (wind, hills, etc) really slow me down. I am willing to try the 5 x 1k, 6 x 800m and 10 x 400m distances on the treadmill, but I think the speeds should be faster to compensate for it being a treadmill. I was wondering if I could do the hill training on a treadmill as well. It’s a Life Fitness (commercial grade) treadmill so high quality. What do you think? I appreciate the help. My wife is equally interested in adapting the sub 24 min program for a treadmill.
I have the same question as Marty. Any insights?
Hi Chris/ Marty, I’ve been giving this some thought and I’ll add a page to the site about following a training plan using just the treadmill. There’s a few things to consider so would like to do the topic justice. Will update the site and mail you both once it’s live. Cheers.
Dear Matt, thanks for the plan. Just to make sure I understood this correctly, it’s only a three-week plan if my time is already sub 22 min?
If so, if my time is, say, 25 mins, then I do the number of weeks of the 25 min plan until I get it to sub 22 then do this 3-wk plan? Thanks for your help!
Sorry I meant 4 wk
Hi Ali, all the training plans on the site follow a four-week cyclical method: 3 weeks hard training that is tailored to your target time followed by a week of reduced intensity training. If you can already run a 25min 5k my advice would be to follow the 24 minute 5k training plan first before attempting the 22 minute 5k plan.
Hope that makes sense, and good luck.
I was not able to do the workouts as prescribed, eg 1000m and 800m intervals were too hard (also mentally), yet I ran 19:03 in a 4.85 km race on Saturday :).
Thank you for the plan.
And at 190 lbs :).
I would like to race in a competition based on time/weight :).