Hi,

I'm aiming to run 5k in under 20 minutes. At the moment I can run it in about 21 minutes.

I'm running about 3 or 4 times a week and am looking for some advice as to how to structure my training to get under the 20 minute mark.

Is there any benefit to running over 40 mins?
Should I be including interval training (< 2 mins) at greater than 5k pace?

Any advice much appreciated,

Thanks,

Tom

Can't help you much - I've been hovering at 21 minutes for 3 years... I did make it to 20:03 once...

But I reckon the answers to your questions are:
- there is some benefit in doing long runs - so if you have the time to do long runs then do (I do a lot of long runs and it clearly hasn't helped me)
- there is *lots* of benefit in doing interval training at greater than 5k pace - if you can find others to do this with, then do! (I don't do many interval sessions or much speed work at all... if only I did....)

The only thing that got me down from 21.30 in the 5k to 18.56 was long runs. I don't do any speed or interval training, but I do at least one or two 10 mile runs per week (with 2 or 3 10ks during the week). I will run a half marathon every month or so. I found this helped my 5k time, although I rarely run 5k.

You need a combination of training.

Structure:

Run day 1:- 10 min warm up jog 5min run at around 6min/mile 2 min jog easy, 4min 6min/mile 2min jog, 3min run 6m/m 2min jog 2min 6m/m 2min jog, 1min 6m/m 2min jog, 10 min jog cool down. Total 45mins

Run day 2:- 8-9 mile easy run with 2x5min pushing the pace along. Total 1 hour

Run day 3:- if you have a track... mini Bondarenko :15 min warm up then 3x1200m off 1:30 rest (starting at 6:30m/m getting faster by 5 secs each 1200m), 2x800m off 1:15 rest (getting faster by 5 secs each rep), 1x400m fast as you can. 10 min warm down jog. Total 1hr 30min (ish)

Run day 4:- 1hr - 1hr 15 longish run, last 5 minutes of run do 5 x 15 secs fast strides with 45 sec jog recovery.

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lewis - that training plan is too hard...

for a 5k race you do not need to do such long runs and it is far to hard...

i am the same standard as this mr tom and no way could i run your training schedule...

tom, what i did was increase my runs from 3 runs a week to 5 or 6...

i posted my training plan here on this forum maybe that'll be useful:

Rev's training plan

i have adapted it a bit... so i think it is good to be flexible with it and when you have rest days...etc.

e.g. i found that i wasn't able to do very long runs (as people suggested)... so what i did to increase endurance was to run 3.5 twice and 5 miles 3 thrice... i have neglected speedwork a bit... i cut out tempo session... i'll do farklets tomorrow and maybe i'll go crazy and do it twice, lol...

good luck!

Revenged, that programme is when you're doing 4 runs a week, when you have plenty of rest days so have to push the run on a bit and have time to recover.

If you want to run at 20min pace for 5k then it is an average of 6:26/mile pace.

The first day you could start off at having the pace around 6:30 mile pace and maybe decrease the mile pace by 5 seconds a week until it's around 6 minutes.

Maybe the second day should me 7-8 miles, I was unsure. The main thing is to get used to being on your feet for around 1 hour. It doesn't matter how far you go, you just want to keep going and try hitting the ground with your feet 160-180 times a minute.

Again with the Bondarenko, Perhapse add 10 or 15 seconds onto the starting time but you should work down to a starting speed of 6:30/mile pace. Which is around 20:15 for 5km pace. You could also add another 30 secs onto the recovery but I wouldn't say any more.

To give you an idea of what I do My day 1 I'd run at 5:15 mile pace, day 2 1hr 15 with 4x5min at 5:30 mile pace, day 3 3 x 1600 2x 1200 starting at 5:30mile pace and decreasing by 5 secs a rep and finishing with a 400 in around 60 secs. day 4 I'd add in 12x30 secs hard with 60 secs easy into the run.

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It's a funny little world ain't it?! :eek:

www.team-lewis.co.uk

If you want to know a bit more about me and what I do then visit my webiste!

Thanks for the advice guys. I think your original plan would have been a little too hard for me. I'll incorporate some of the ideas in my plan.

So for the long run, I think I'll max out at 40 mins. I can't really see any benefit running any faster, when the 5k will be about 20 mins. Any advantage to running further?

running further will build your endurance and it will make you faster over the shorter distances. Before I started doing 10-14 mile runs, I could run a sub 20 min 5k, but it was a lot harder and it took a lot more out of me physically.

Indeed... I'd say it's definately worth running longer than 40mins for your long run, I'd say try and build your long runs up to 10miles, and it'll make quite a difference

You can develop all the speed you like, but it's of little use if you can't sustain it throughout the race!

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Hey Tom,

You say you do 3-4 runs a week at present. What sort of runs do you do? (Distance, pace etc). It'd be easier to advise you if you let us know what you are doing at present. But I would suggest that Team-Lewis's schedule is far too advanced unless you are a very experienced runner (no disrespect Team-Lewis!).

But I would suggest a couple of things:

Build up to one longer run a week (60-70 mins) by adding 5 min a week to your 40 min run. Keep this at an easy pace (8:30-9:00 min mile pace). This may seem slow but you are building endurance so it doesn't need to be fast. The long run is important even for 5k, as this race is 80% aerobic and 20% anaerobic. So you need good aerobic conditioning.

Do a tempo run a week if you don't already do it. Run a miles easy, then 20 mins at 7:30 min mile pace , then a mile easy to finish. This will improve you ability to hold a fast pace in a 5k.

Do you other runs easy pace too, with a few bursts at 5k pace or quicker for 20 sec at the end of these runs.

Once you have added these elements to your training you could add some quicker interval training, but I'd suggest getting used to the above first.