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5K Advanced Training Plan
You are a competitive runner serious about improving your 5K performance. Here you find sub 18:00, 17:00, 16:00, and 15:00 minute time goal plans in 8, 12, and 16 week versions.
Not an advanced runner? Check out the beginner or intermediate plan.
The key to running a faster 5K is to improve your endurance, lactate threshold (and lactate tolerance), VO2 max, and speed. You can achieve this by optimizing three training variables:
- Effective workouts
- A balanced training week
- Intelligent training progression
Effective Workouts
For a fast 5K time, you cannot afford to have any weakness in any training zone. But for a 5K race preparation there is more emphasis on VO2 max and speed training, than what is typical for longer races. The 5K advanced training plan includes 12 training zones and sub-zones:
- Recovery run
- Easy run / Long run
- Moderate pace
- Marathon pace
- 30K pace (aerobic threshold)
- HM pace
- 15K pace (lactate threshold)
- 10K pace
- 5K pace
- 3K pace (VO2 max)
- 1500m pace
- Power
The 5K Advanced Training Week
The 6-day running week consists of 2 key workouts and 1 long run. It can be modified to 5 runs per week by crossing out one easy run or replacing it with aerobic cross-training. You can do your long run on Saturday with the first workout of the week on Monday or postpone the entire week with your long run on Sunday and the workout scheduled on Tuesday.
- Key workout 1
- Easy
- Easy
- Key workout 2
- –
- Long run
- Easy
Intelligent 5K Training Progression
The 5K advanced training plans are made up of 3 distinct training phases – base training, support training, and race-specific. My approach to training progression is called funnel periodization, where general intensities progress towards race-specific efforts.
Base Training
The 6-week base phase lays the foundation of general endurance and speed. Here your weekly mileage increases week-by-week and some easy runs are spiked with hill sprints to develop the muscular power for the training phase that follows. This is training to get ready for real training.
- Easy + hill sprints
- Easy
- Easy + hill sprints
- Moderate
- –
- Long run
- Easy
Support Training
In the 6-week support phase, your speed, lactate tolerance, VO2 max, and lactate threshold are optimized. This starts with endurance and speed support (two race distances up/down from 5K pace) and transitions to direct endurance and speed support (one race distance up/down from 5K race pace). Not only does this improve your capacity for 5K pace training, it also avoids a premature peak.
- Intervals 3K/1500m pace
- Easy
- Easy
- Tempo Mar/HM/15K pace
- –
- Long Run + fast finish
- Easy
Race-Specific
In the final weeks, intensities at 5K goal pace are emphasized. This means longer efforts at 5K pace with shorter rest intervals. Your hardest race-specific workout will be 10 days out from race day. After that, a gradual race taper begins.
- 5K/3K pace
- Easy
- Easy
- 10K pace
- Easy
- Long Run
- Easy
Customizing the 5K Advanced Training Plan
You can choose from 48 different versions based on 4 criteria:
- Time goal 18:00, 17:00, 16:00, or 15:00
- Plan duration of 8, 12, or 16 weeks
- Imperial or metric (miles or km)
- TrainingPeaks or FinalSurge
5K Advanced Training Plans
IN MILES
IN KM
Sub 18:00 min
Advanced
30 - 41 mi
per week, across 6 runs
-
Available in 8, 12, 16 weeks
-
Syncs to your Garmin
-
Email coach access
Choose Plan
Switch plans free
within 14 days
within 14 days
Sub 17:00 min
Advanced
32 - 45 mi
per week, across 6 runs
-
Available in 8, 12, 16 weeks
-
Syncs to your Garmin
-
Email coach access
Choose Plan
Switch plans free
within 14 days
within 14 days
Sub 16:00 min
Advanced
36 - 50 mi
per week, across 6 runs
-
Available in 8, 12, 16 weeks
-
Syncs to your Garmin
-
Email coach access
Choose Plan
Switch plans free
within 14 days
within 14 days
Sub 15:00 min
Advanced
38 - 55 mi
per week, across 6 runs
-
Available in 8, 12, 16 weeks
-
Syncs to your Garmin
-
Email coach access
Choose Plan
Switch plans free
within 14 days
within 14 days
Choose a plan according to your time goal but make sure you are realistic about it. If you current 5K PR is 26:00 minutes then you are unlikely to succeed with a sub 18:00 minute plan.
That said, the weekly mileage of the plan isn’t exact science to achieve a certain time goal. Rather, it is based on experience of what’s necessary to achieve a certain time. You may choose a 24:00 minute plan and achieve 22:00 minutes on race day — or vice versa. That means you could use the lower mileage 24:00 minute plan and personalize its zones for for a 22:00 minute time goal or use a 22:00 minute plan for a 24:00 minute time goal (if you are already comfortable with the weekly mileage).
But don’t worry, if a plan turns out to be too easy or too hard for you, I’ll change it for you free of charge within 14 days of your purchase.
Yes, you can fully adjust the plan to your needs.
Training zones
You can personalize the training zones of based on your fitness level for any plan with a click of a mouse button. Take a recent race result (or an educated guess) for your current ability and then update your zones as needed toward your goal race pace.
Training days
You can move your workouts easily with the drag and drop feature. For instance, if you prefer your long run on a Sunday instead of a Saturday, you can change the order of workouts. Just make sure you don’t have any hard back-to-back sessions.
You can also skip or replace some of your easy runs with aerobic cross-training, such as cycling or swimming. But I recommend a minimum of 4 running days per week.
Race Day
By default my plans assume the race is on a Sunday. Should your race fall on a Saturday, then remove Wednesday’s easy run and bring the workouts that follow 1 day forward.
TrainingPeaks and FinalSurge are the leading online training platforms for endurance athletes. Here you can upload your workouts to your running watch and follow the instructions in real-time. Post-workout it syncs your training data where you can observe your progress over time.
Both platforms come in free and paid versions. The free versions work just fine with any of my training plans.
If you want a maximum of training metrics then I suggest you use TrainingPeaks. But for an easy-to-use and beautiful interface I recommend FinalSurge.
You can contact me anytime via email if you have questions about the training plan or training in general.
But for personalized training consider my 1-on-1 online coaching.
