So you want a straightforward sub-20 5k plan for your running endeavours?
A plan that will get you there quickly?
One for someone who probably only has three or so hours to run each week? (It’s further on in the post…sub 19 is the same training but harder to achieve).
Background:
For mere mortals, doing 5k in less than 20 minutes is an achievement. It is a trivial achievement for top athletes and even for casual amateur athletes. But you didn’t want to hear that. You wanted to know how to do it!
Can YOU realistically EVER do a sub-20 5k?
Firstly get an idea of just how easy or difficult it is going to be for you. This depends on whether or not you are male or female and how old you are. I don’t want to be sexist or ageist, but those are key factors. For a 48-year-old woman, it is a heck of an achievement, much less so for a 20-year-old man where very many of you should be able to do it from a good fitness base.
Here is a table showing the approximate age graded time that 20 minutes represents over a 5k. Most people can achieve a 70% performance with a bit of hard work and time. An 80% achievement is another kettle of fish totally. If you are just averagely fit now then to get more than 80% will probably take you a few years of hard work and continuous improvement … maybe 4 or 5 years if you are ‘getting on a bit’, whatever that means. If any of you competitive types want a 5k goal it would be to do an 80% Age Graded 5k time, it’s hard.
So 20 minutes for a 5k equals approximately:
vm45-49 71% age grade MOST DO-ABLE
SM35-39 67% age grade
sm20-24 64% age grade WALK IN THE PARK
vw45-49 82% age grade VERY HARD
Sw35-39 75% age grade
sw20-24 73% age grade
So now you know how serious you need to be in this little escapade of yours.
Hhere are short-term tips and tricks for a PB this coming weekend. Can’t hurt?
A Weekly Outline for a Sub 20 5k Plam
Here is a rough WEEKLY PLAN of what you should be doing to improve quickly over the next couple of months, to maximise the endurance base you have already built up. The 3 faster exercises should all be exhausting (and you have to know what that word means!), if not exhausting then go faster or rest less. These 3 faster sessions all work. If you are strapped for time AND DEDICATED don’t waste your time doing anything else (such as the slow easy one). Do them and do them HARD. BUT. Always, always rest the day after a hard session (ideally 2 days), always have every 4/5th week slightly easier than the previous 3; always have at least 2 days off before racing. Rest is FAR, FAR, FAR more important than you think it is, honest! PS Don’t forget to rest? (Did I mention rest and recovery?)
Obviously, I’m not claiming this, or any, plan can perform miracles. If you are currently a flat-out 25 minute 5k runner then this plan will NOT work for you to get to sub 20 minutes in a 3-month time frame. Sure it will get you faster. But you will struggle soon enough as you likely lack a proper endurance base.
So, here is a straightforward plan. Same each week. If you can’t run non-stop for an hour (however slowly) then please do not consider doing this plan. Ideally, you will already have a reasonable endurance base and what that very simplistically means is that you can run at an unchanging speed in Heart Rate Zone 2 for an hour.
Always start the new week at exercise number 1. and forget the previous ones you missed:
Day 1. 3-4x1k at >5-10 secs/km faster than next race’s target pace if you can. 2-3 minutes rest in between efforts.
Day 2 or 3. Optional SLOW/EASY recovery run, 40-70 minutes. Focus entirely on technique .You can go further and for the whole duration it should feel like you are able to hold a conversation. 5:00/km is not slow, 6:00/km is .
Day 4. 5 mins at approx. >30 secs/km slower than your target race pace no rest then 3 mins at 10secs (+/-5) slower than target race pace. Repeat both with no rest. Then rest for 6 minutes and re-do all 4 effort periods again with no further rest (5+3+5+3+6+5+3+5+3).
Day 5. Adaptation & Recovery day. Streeeeetch.
Day 6. Short speed intervals, typically 7-10x 1 minute (60-90 secs rest) at faster than target race pace. This should be faster than your 5x1km speed above, say at least 10 secs/km faster. With this one you can INcrease the recovery time up to 2.5 minutes providing you increase the effort-period pace. Aim for consistent maximum speed.
Day 7. Rest or an ‘intensive endurance long run’ of 60 minutes where you push the limit of where you can ‘just’ speak (so, 4 repeats of: 10 minutes in HR zone 2; plus 5 minutes in HR Zone 3; no rest) OR, if you don’t like ‘long’ runs, do 2×20 minutes with 6 minutes rest. Do each 20 minutes at target race pace less 30 seconds/km – this approximates a SWEETSPOT run (minimal damage/speedier recovery) OR, if you’re tired (probable) do an ‘extensive endurance long run’ of 60 minutes entirely in HR zone 2.
Periodic: Re-test your 5k PB once every 5-6 weeks after a 3 day abstinence taper and re-adjust your training PACE accordingly. Taper properly for your big race.
If you use this plan, ask questions or use this non-commercial site we would very much appreciate a donation $5/ £5 we’re always grateful. Thank you. I modify/update the plan whenever donations add up to another £50 increment (Latest Update: 26 May 2016).
That’s about it (read the caveats, below, otherwise you WILL get injured). I can go on a bit in detail but that should keep you busy for 2 months!! If you are not closing in on achieving 20 minutes with this plan after 2 months then a longer time-frame plan would be wise and this will increase longer mileage training. If your improvement stops happening with this (or any other) plan then you need to immediately re-evaluate/change your training. If this plan has not worked within 2 months then you will probably becoming psychologically fatigued with the continuous hard effort…take a rest, change your approach, review your stats to see how hard you really were trying and how well you were resting/adapting. Good luck.
Didn’t like that plan? Try this more scientific approach to a 5k plan using VDOT.
The above plan probably is a bit short on recovery time and short on strength and conditioning work with flexibility.
Caveats:
1: Do you think the plan has insufficient miles and no long slow run? Whatever you read; just plodding along in HR Zone 1 will not help you much at all – other than for recovery or technique/efficiency. Z1 is too slow even for a long slow run. Remember the above plan assumes/requires you already have an endurance base or it won’t work!
2: If you are in one of the groups where a sub-20 minute 5k is much more of an achievement then you might want to make the intensive endurance/long run (Day 7. in the ‘plan’) of higher importance each week to make sure you do actually do it weekly.
3: If you are WAY off achieving 20 minutes at present then, again, the intensive endurance/long runs will help significantly and maybe this plan is not YET for you. I would say a current level of 23 minutes for youngsters and 25 minutes for over 30s is quite a way off…you guys need to focus more on mileage/running economy…but you probably know best 😉
4: The target race pace is your next immediate, interim target NOT your ultimate sub-20 target. Be smart about setting these targets to “just a bit faster” than what you can currently do. Say 10 -20 seconds faster for your 5k time.
5: Ideally; week-on-week, you should change the exercise stimulus you give to your body. So, in my straightforward plan, adapt and complicate the plan by resting a bit less the following week or by going just that little bit faster the following week. Remember to really ease up every 4 – 6 weeks for a week and rest a bit more. Then get cracking all over again. I didn’t include this change in the plan as it complicates the broad thrust of the straightforwardness of what you need to do.
6: Don’t get waylayed by marathon runners telling you to do lots of long slow runs – it’s right for them of course; you are training various bodily systems differently to marathon runners. Basically more LSRs are of no massive, relatively immediate 5k benefit in themselves to your imminent 5k PB (you’ve already got your endurance base sorted, right? I have said that several times). One way of looking at them is to say that they DO benefit you by ‘putting miles in the tank’ this means that you can spend those miles by training more intensely at a later date. This plan is about spending those miles you’ve banked. Also consider that the Zone 2 HR runs that I point to above should not actually be that slow for you – I guess it depends on your definitions of ‘slow’ and ‘long’. & also consider that obviously I do agree and understand that LSRs are important to building up any athlete’s endurance base as well as several other physiological adaptations.
7: You will need PROTEIN and CARBS and WATER immediately after exercise – for the sake of argument let’s just say ALWAYS after every exercise in my plan. Protein repairs, carbs refuel, water metaphorically lubricates – all pretty important really. Do some research on a balanced diet. Glass of milk and a banana will do nicely; whey protein, even better. Proper diet will add noticeably to your improving 5k times – much easier than training for those extra seconds.
8: Your running technique/form is important. HOWEVER, you don’t want to try to formally change it too much in the next 3 months. You’ll get injured. Don’t waste your time on this (yet!!). Over the longer/medium term running efficiency is VERY VERY important. If I said to you to get your technique right now and go for a PB in a year’s time you wouldn’t do it would you?! But that would be good advice. Perhaps you could aim to change your cadence to 90/180 over a few weeks if yours is currently below 85/170.
9: If you find the session nigh-on impossible, even with the maximum amount of rest then instead base them on your last PB. By definition that will be slower than your target PB. Many plans base training speeds on what you have RECENTLY achieved rather than what you want to achieve and that’s not a bad thing. They may well be nigh-on-impossible because you are not leaving sufficient time (2 days) between hard sessions AND BECAUSE you are doing other sessions TOO QUICKLY.
10: This is a hard-to-execute plan, if you keep doing it for longer than 2-3 months then you MAY WELL get injured and, in any case, your body may become adapted to a relatively fixed stimulus – which you would need to change to get better benefits. Lengthen your time frame and perhaps just do two of the hard sessions a week and some easier ones, be realistic.
11: I realise that many people will ignore the caveats and macho-like follow this until they get injured. Sometimes because they ‘feel’ able to push themselves. One of the ways your body can tell you that it is NOT ready for a hard training day OR that in fact it is ready to train HARDER is to use a simple and cheap app like BIOFORCEHRV or ITHLETE or ELITE HRV (there are many others, Google: waking HRV app). You only get ‘better’ when your body is adapting. These apps measure the body’s degree of adaptation each morning. They really do work and for free-to-£5/$5 I would say a VERY wise investment.
- Over 50? Well assuming you are given the go ahead for strenuous exercise then this sort of plan is suited to you. Research shows that you will reduce the decline in your VO2max capacity by doing these kind of intervals rather than lots of LONG distance work….honest!!! You should also do weights as you get older (well, when you are younger too of course for runners).
- DNA? Apparently some people respond better to endurance training and others respond better to ‘speed’ training. Which are you? You could tailor your training smarter if you knew. Have a look at 1 Minute Review – DNAFit – Detailed DNA analysis for athletes.
Remember I never said it was an easy plan, just a straightforward plan 😉
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Hi, I recently ran my first marathon (Snowdonia) and would like to keep up the running but focus on something where the training is less time-consuming – hence I ended up here! I tested my 5k time last week – it’s 21:36. I’m 43, male. I probably only have enough time for 2 sessions per week since I plan to start triathlon training after Christmas. My question is, which of the sessions should I do. I was thinking of doing the 5x1K every week as the first session and then alternating between the 12x1min and the 5/3/5/3×2 for the second. Does this sound sensible?
Thanks,
Al
yes !
I run 27 min will this plan help me in 3 months?
in the caveats I say that you should be already at 23 minutes. instead focus on some 60 minute runs and some 1km repetitions and on the odd parkrun every few weeks.
Going to start this plan tomorrow, I only started running a few months ago and got to running 5k’s consistently in the 20:30’s to 20:50’s range in weeks, I then started going on running forum’s and got sucked in to the lots of long slow miles idea which I don’t even enjoy doing, its boring and not for me. I don’t want to run half or full marathon’s.
I want to run a few times each week for exercise and enjoyment and 10k will be the longest distance I will ever race.
I will keep you up dated with how I get on!
the long runs DO help efficiency. but in a short term plan I would focus on various types of speedier stuff if you want to improve quickly.
Is the 3x1600m, the most important of these runs each week?
it would depend on your strengths/weaknesses. but ‘yes’ would be the best answer I could most helpfully give.
If you asked me yesterday, I would have said my legs have more to give at the end of a 5k but my breathing struggles the last 1000-1200m. Typically my 5k splits are about 3:45, 3:55, 4;10, 4:20, 4:20 give or take a second or two. This gives an average of about 4:06 and a time of 20:30, I have tried running closer to my average splits (4:05) twice but ended up in the low 21’s. I lack endurance I guess!
Anyway I did plan on doing the 3x1600m today but I would have done this along a very open riverside cycle path (its the only flat safe place to do it) and it was just to windy down there so I tried the 535365353. I set my target times at 4:30(5) and 4:10(3) which is using a target 5k time that is my current pb of 20:30 just to get used to the method of the run for the first time of doing it.
Anyway the first 5353 was no problem took the 6 minute break which is not good for me, I struggle to get going after a rest period. On my second set the first 5 was okay then I did struggle to get to pace for the 3 but did manage it although it was nice to drop back to the 5 pace again but just didn’t have it in my legs to get back to speed for the last 3.
Strange thing though my breathing was good at the end going in to the last 3, my breathing didn’t have that gasping I want to stop feel I usually get at the end of a fast 5k, this time it was my legs just didn’t respond to me wanting to go faster,at the end of the run I jogged home for just short of 2k at a snails pace and did my stretches.
Hopefully will do the 1600’s on Christmas Eve and rest on Christmas day!
you are starting off too quick for sure.
rest period 6 minutes: optional of course!! but I suspect you would need it.
aim for paces based on a slightly faster time eg 20:15/20:10
buy some http://goo.gl/s2iH40 beet-it shots from holland and barret and take one an hour before your next hard session or PB attempt. look on this blog for caffeine doses/proplus comments. make sure you taper properly for a PB attempt. I think you are close but not QUITE there yet – thos e3 things may have a significant impact…or not 🙂
Okay thanks, I will aim for 20:10 so 3×1600 around 3:52-3:57 pace and the 1 minute sprints 3:42-3:47 pace then!
I will do the long run on how i feel but try not to go faster than 4:50’s , I will keep it at about 12k/ 60 mins for now as I think adding more distance will have a knock on effect with the following days training!
What are each of the 4 runs looking to develop?
Do you think I would benefit from a heart rate monitor to pace myself better?
Hi,
Interesting article. Thanks.
By way of encouragement to others who are thinking about increasing the mileage, it was a big help to me in reducing my 5k time.
I’ve just turned 40 and started running consistently just over a year ago when I was 39 (but had done a bit here and there before). My ParkRun time was about 31mins on my first attempt, due to fitness levels and ITB pain which slowed me down. I pressed on and after about 8 weeks the ITB pain had gone and my time had gone down to about 27mins.
I began doing another 3-5k run midweek, sometimes two runs and over the next 4-5 months I broke 25mins and then got to 23mins on ParkRun which I do most weeks.
At that point my PB settled at just over 23mins and didn’t really improve. I then began chucking in hill run intervals (sprinting up my road which is on a hill of about 100mtrs and jogging down, repeating this 8-10 times). This was alongside ensuring all my runs were at least 5-8k midweek (still only one or two). My ParkRun time then dropped by another 30seconds within a couple of weeks to 22:27.
It remained at that for another 4 months until I introduced more mileage, going up to 10k for mid weeks runs (instead of the usual 5-8k) and then during one week I took on a 70k in a week challenge which included building unto a half marathon distance.
This all had a massive impact and over the next 3 ParkRuns I took 30 seconds a week off! Dropping my time down to 20:52.
I now run normally between 40-50k a week with a half marathon distance at least every other week.
For me the key thing was increasing my mileage. That was it. I did have a few aches and pains but nothing that a few days rest has not resolved.
I’m now looking at more specific interval training midweek to see if I can get down below 20mins and beyond.
Oh and losing a bit of weight has been a byproduct and no doubt helped as well!
Hi Adam, many thanks for taking the time to comment and well done on your success. You are advocating a high mileage (mostly low HR) route to faster times (see also https://the5krunner.com/2013/01/11/heart-rate-training-zones-benefits/). This will work as low intensity/high mileage will improve your general efficiency which is obviously a good thing. IT takes a little longer to improve that way and, indeed, what you advocate is great ‘base’ training and great to for newer atheltes (hence my comments about suitability for over 23minutes runners – it’s hard to generalise one time over the whole population without having to give non-straightforward suggestions). It’s probably also great training for longer distances. However when you run 5k quickly then you are pushing your lactate threshold and racing in your VO2max zones…surely training at those levels will help? And indeed it does. It has a quicker payback. However it (what I am advocating above) is NOT a recipe for continual longterm improvement. Just general exercise will make your 5k times faster becoming stronger in the gym or faster at 100/200/400m running will make your 5k times faster. However I would advocate specific TRAINING (Ie NOT general exercise) for the event, that is what is above (with all my caveats to be noted). Don’t get me wrong the long stuff is great and, for sure, I do that every week too but in the month leading up to a race my total mileage would drop quite a bit. If anyone else wants to look further there are generally accepted methods to periodise training. Generally speaking the closer you get to race day, your training becomes more like the race effort.
Good plan. I like it:-)
Very honest and infomative.
I’m unclear. Where the program specifies an optional SLOW/EASY run on Day 2 OR 3, does that mean if you do it on Day 2, you then rest on Day 3 (or vice versa)? And if so, that means 2 rest days (2/3 and 5) in the 7 day cycle. ?
do what is on day 2 (nothing) or optionally the long run. do what is on day 3 (nothing) or optionally the long run. The ‘plan’ is changed from time to time. maybe do some weights if there are 2x consecutive rest days.
Thanx. On the day 2/3 easy slow runs, should I be in HR zone 2?
depends who you ask 🙂 I would say yes
What do you mean above when you write, “The first 3 exercises should all be exhausting”? I’m assuming you aren’t referring to Day 1, 2, and 3 since 2/3 are not exhausting.
thanks for spotting that. I do change the 7days content so that comment becomes wrong. I will change it.
I’ve been itching to try this plan, but I was too busy this last 6 months training for the marathon. I finally ran the marathon on Monday in a disappointing time and the DOMS has now subsided, so it’s time for my next target. My PB is 20:24 from just over a year ago, but I’ve struggled for speed recently and I’m probably closer to 23 mins at the moment.
I’m planning on some easy running next week, with a Parkrun on Saturday for a baseline, then get on with your plan unmodified.
I haven’t found much advice online on transitioning to shorter stuff after running a marathon, so I don’t know how sensible this plan is. What do you think?
yep, you’re good to go with the baseline from Saturday.
OK, new plan! Had to stop running for a few weeks due to heel pain (not pf fortunately). Did other cardio in the meantime and finally ran that baseline in just under 21 minutes, which I was pleased with.
I am now going to hit this programme hard for the next few weeks and will report back. I have a 13.1 in mid November, so I will start upping my mileage in six weeks or so.
I will report back, as I know I have found other people’s progress on this thread inspiring.
sure you have your endurance sorted out?
Thanks for a very useful article.
I was wanting to clarify something about the rest and recovery. You mention that it’s critical to rest the day (or preferably two) after the three hard sessions. How is this consistent with the long run on day 7, i.e. shouldn’t day 7 be a rest day, given that day 6 was hard? Or should the long run be slow and easy enough that day 7 still counts as rest?
hi greg. r&r is key. 1. use the recovery advisor on your watch if you have one. 2. use a free app like ithlete or elitehrv to determine your readiness as we are all different in how we recover. rest is perhaps the wrong word: it is ADAPTATION TO THE EXERCISE. as a rule of thumb there should be 2-3 days between hard sessions. hard sessions are often best done when fresh. training after a hard session you will find it hard to hit goals. planning within a 7 day week is difficult because of the odd number of days / the weekend and many other factors 🙂 hope that helps a bit ask me to clarify a specific point if you need to.
I am 45 female. Ran a 20:20 on flat course in May 2015; ran a 20:59 on a hilly XC course saturday. I am not sure if I should try the straight forward plan or the VDOT plan. There is a part of me that thinks my endurance base needs to be better and a bit reluctant on doing 3x speed a week due to fear of injury. Thoughts?
if your goal is sub 20 quickly then you need to so speed sessions. leave 2 days between vo2/speed sessions
i’m average 21,30 5km, how far am I for sub 20’s?
this might help: https://the5krunner.com/2011/11/19/5k-improvement-to-under-20-minutes-how-long-will-it-take-me/
Doesn’t training at maximum effort on Day 6, 7 and Day 1 mean you have 3 consecutive maximum effort training sessions? That can’t be right, can it??
if tired have a rest day and restart on Tuesday as day 1. ideally I wold personally set training as blocks of 3 days. unfortunately a week has 7 days and unfortunately people like to do long runs on sundays.:-)
endurance run and sweetspot run are not max.
Thanks for sharing this plan, it seems to be straightforward and hopefully just as effective 🙂 one question based on my observations – are these 3 exercises meant to be be equally exausting? The 10×1 minute at 10secs/km faster than 4x1km (or 5x1k in my case) seems to be only about 60% of the effort I need to put into the latter. Is it how the plan is designed?
I would re-test your 5k. it does say ‘at least’ and yes those sessions should be fast. fast as you can. this plan cannot be exact as it target different abilities and different physiologies (we are all different and differently trained).
I ran 20:04 the Saturday before the last, then did 5x1k at ~3:48min/km which was 88 suffer score on strava, while 7x1min at 3:30 was only 45 suffer score on strava and felt fairly easy too, do you suggest I rather add more repetitions or speed up the sprints to match the effort?
just to clarify – based on earlier comments I take the plan said 20x1min originally, so not sure what you recommend – increase repetitions or just literally ‘fast as you can’ 10 sprints
as fast as you can
you then will nto be able to do 20
been following this plan for about 4 weeks now, skipped the easy days as I feel a pain in my left hamstring, but nothing that stops me from going full on on the hard days. trying to make it ‘exhausting’ I got the 1k repeats down to 3:38, 1 minute repeats down to 3:10, 535365353 down to 4:10 on 5 mins and 3:50 on 3 mins bits. Hope this will suffice to break 20 mins this or next Sat! fingers crossed 🙂
if you can run those speeds then, for sure, sub20
correction: 1 minute repeats down to 3:16, I wish it was 3:10 😉
you should be WAY UNDER 20 minutes. you have the speed. if you cannot do sub 20 then instead focus more on your 1km reps. failing that work on 15/20 minute reps. failing that do long stuff!