Intermediate 5km programme
This programme is for you if you have already done a 5km race and would like to improve your time.
The programme uses tempo and speed work. Have a look at our how the programmes work article and make sure you are comfortable at using these techniques and that this programme is suitable for you.
The programme involves running four times a week on the following days: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. You can train on different days depending on when you have time, but you should keep the recommended rest days between training.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | Rest day | Rest day | Rest day | Rest day | Rest day | Rest day | Rest day | Rest day |
| Tues | 2 miles easy | 2 miles easy | 2 miles easy | 3 miles easy | 3 miles easy | 3 miles easy | 3 miles easy | 2 miles easy |
| Wed | 30 minutes tempo | 30 minutes tempo | 40 minutes tempo | 40 minutes tempo | 40 minutes tempo | 40 minutes tempo | 30 minutes tempo | 30 minutes tempo |
| Thur | Rest day | Rest day | Rest day | Rest day | Rest day | Rest day | Rest day | Rest day |
| Fri | 20 minutes speed | 20 minutes speed | 20 minutes speed | 30 minutes speed | 30 minutes speed | 30 minutes speed | 20 minutes speed | 2 miles easy |
| Sat | Rest day | Rest day | Rest day | Rest day | Rest day | Rest day | Rest day | Rest day |
| Sun | 3 miles | 4 miles | 4 miles | 5 miles | 5 miles | 5 miles | 5 miles | 5km race |
Training aims
Weeks one to three
The tempo and speed sessions are key to this training programme and you need start them in week one. For week one, you should experiment with running at an increased pace. You may choose to do the speed and tempo sessions on a treadmill at first, so that you can accurately measure your speed and distance.
This programme also has a long run on a Sunday, but this isn't really the focus of your training week. The 5km race distance is only a little over three miles and as an intermediate runner you should be able to get around a 5km run without extra training. The aim of the long run is to build up your endurance beyond race distance, ensuring that 5km is well within your comfort zone. You can then focus on your speed.
You should do these long runs at an effort level of about seven. You are aiming to challenge yourself a little as you increase the distance, so try not to drop these down to easy or recovery pace.
You may have a goal in mind for how quickly you want to complete the 5km. Keep a note of your mile times (or, if you prefer, kilometre times). You may want to measure your 5km time at the end of week two to give yourself a benchmark time you can aim to improve on.
Pace management
Test your pace to track and improve your performance
Weeks four to six
This part of the programme focuses on tempo sessions. You need to find the fastest pace you can run for the 40 minute session on Wednesdays. This will help you pace yourself well during a race.
During these sessions, aim to increase the time you can sustain tempo running to 15 to 20 minutes. Make sure you can feel the difference between the paces you are working at. You should be able to shift comfortably from the long run pace (effort level seven) up to the challenging tempo run (effort level eight).
You need to be conscious of how much energy you have left in reserve for the finish. A great test of this is the five mile split run on the Sunday of week five. Take a mile to warm up at a steady effort level of six to seven and then lift your pace to a solid effort level seven or just above. Keep track of your time over the central three mile (5km) section.
Push yourself to approach your tempo pace during this central three miles and see the difference it makes to your mile (or kilometre) times, but try not to break into a sprint to finish. Instead, smoothly ease down from this pace section and you will have enough energy left to complete the last mile without your pace dropping below your recovery run pace. This should give you an idea of what you are capable of over the 5km distance. On the day of the race you don't need to have enough energy left for a mile run, all you need is a bit in reserve for a fast finish.
The speed sessions on Fridays aim to keep pushing up your aerobic fitness and build up your limb strength and speed. It should also help you keep in mind the difference between an effort level eight tempo speed, which you may be able to keep up for 20 minutes, and a level 10 speed run which you can only sustain for a minute or two. This is the pace you are aiming for when you see the finish line.