WHY IS THIS BEGINNER 5K TRAINING PLAN BETTER?
This is the second plan in our series of nine-week, free beginner 5k training plans, created using modern sport science and training monitoring techniques. They’ve been designed so that completing one plan prepares you for the subsequent plan.
If this plan seems too challenging, check out our Couch To 5k plan or our Beginner 5k Training Plan (Sub 28 mins).
Bookmark our training plan so you can follow it throughout your training and let us know how you get on #caffeinebullettime
Here’s 5 reasons our training plans are better than the rest:
1. Our plans obey the 80:20 principle – this means that around 80% of your training week will be performed at an easy intensity. Consistently spending less than 80% of training at an easy intensity can increase injury risk and lead to poorer race performance. Analysing training intensity distribution in other training plans was key when designing our plans as it is extremely common to see training weeks fall significantly below 70% easy intensity training.
2. Our plans are easy to adjust – They’re kept simple and the progression patterns are easy to recognise. We understand the variability in response to training between individuals, so we want you to be able to easily modify our plans to suit YOUR needs and get the most out of your training.
3. No plans start too hard – Assuming you start the plan with the appropriate level of fitness and experience, no plan starts too hard or too fast. As large jumps in weekly training workload can drastically increase injury risk. Therefore, our plans aim to ease you in to ensure you’re able to reach the start line as well as the finish line. If the plan is too hard you can change to an easier plan and if it’s too easy you can either adjust it or move up to the next plan.
4. We prioritise recovery – All of our plans have deloads/recovery weeks built into them to limit the risk of overtraining. They are clearly marked and can be adjusted by the user to suit their recovery abilities. Don’t be afraid to reduce the mileage of these weeks even further if you feel the need to.
5. We listen to your feedback – We want to hear from anyone using our plans so we can make them even better. All we care about is making sure you get a new personal best!
THE TRAINING PLAN
| WEEK | MON | TUE | WED | THUR | FRI | SAT | SUN | WEEKLY MINUTES | EASY % |
| 1 | Rest | 20 min Easy run | Rest | 20 min Easy run | 20 min Easy run | 25 min Easy run | 30 min Easy run | 115 mins | 100.00% |
| 2 | Rest | 25 min Easy run | Rest | 20 min Easy run | Intervals: 4 x 30s @ 800m pace (90s easy run recovery in between) |
25 min Easy run | 30 min Easy run | 123 mins | 93.50% |
| 3 (Recovery) | Rest | 20 min Easy run | Rest | 20 min Easy run | 30 min Easy run | 20 min Easy run | 30 min Easy run | 120 mins | 100.00% |
| 4 | Rest | 20 min Easy run, then 5 min @ 5k pace | Rest | 25 min Easy run | Intervals: 6 x 30s @ 800m pace (90s easy run recovery in between) |
25 min Easy run | 30 min Easy run, then 5 min @ 5k pace | 137 mins | 83.94% |
| 5 | Rest | 25 min Easy run, then 5 min @ 5k pace | Rest | 25 min Easy run | Intervals: 8 x 30s @ 800m pace (90s easy run recovery in between) |
25 min Easy run | 35 min Easy run, then 5 min @ 5k pace | 151 mins | 82.78% |
| 6 (Recovery) | Rest | 20 min Easy run, then 5 min @ 5k pace | Rest | 20 min Easy run | Intervals: 6 x 30s @ 800m pace (90s easy run recovery in between) |
20 min Easy run | 30 min Easy run | 122 mins | 86.07% |
| 7 | Rest | Intervals: 4 x 1 min @ 1 mile pace (2 min easy run recovery in between) |
Rest | 30 min Easy run | Intervals: 3 x 3 mins @ 3k pace (2 min easy run recovery in between) |
30 min Easy run | 35 min Easy run, then 5 min @ 5k pace | 157 mins | 79.62% |
| 8 | Rest | Intervals: 5 x 1 min @ 1 mile pace (2 min easy run recovery in between) |
Rest | 30 min Easy run | Intervals: 4 x 3 mins @ 3k pace (2 min easy run recovery in between) |
30 min Easy run | 40 min Easy run, then 5 min @ 5k pace | 170 mins | 76.47% |
| 9 | Rest | Intervals: 6 x 1 min @ 1 mile pace (2 min easy run recovery in between) |
Rest | 30 min Easy run | 30 min Easy run | 20 min Easy run | 5k Race! | n/a | n/a |
HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THIS TRAINING PLAN
A common way new runners end up injured or in too much pain to finish their plan is because they run too fast or too hard in the running intervals of their sessions. To get better results with a much lower risk of injury we recommend running at an “easy pace”.
Easy runs are run at conversational pace at an effort level of about 3-4/10. To find your easy pace you can start with running at 60-70% of your maximum heart rate or at a pace 5-10% slower than your marathon pace. Check out our article on easy runs to find out all you need to know about easy running.