Training for the 5K and 10K

What these races ask of you

The 5K and 10K blend speed, VO2 max and lactate threshold on top of an aerobic base. The 10K leans more on threshold and the 5K more on VO2 max and speed. A 5K is at pace from the gun, so it also asks for a long warm-up and a start you control.

Training follows from that. Easy running builds the base, sub-threshold running adds hard aerobic work you can recover from, and short, fast efforts build speed and power without piling on fatigue.

Arranging the week

Do at most two quality sessions a week, and count a hard long run as one. Most of the rest is easy running, at a conversational pace. Running easy days even a little too fast costs you the next hard session. Over two weeks, a good mix is about two aerobic sessions for every faster session.

Control the intensity. Effort alone drifts when you run four or five days a week: hard days and easy days both creep faster, and the stress builds without your noticing. Use a heart-rate cap on the aerobic sessions, and keep moderate sessions at 6 or 7 out of 10 so you can correct errors. See the guide on heart rate zones.

For a runner with a base, most runs are 45 to 60 minutes on three to seven days a week, and five runs of 40 to 45 minutes beat seven of 20 to 30 minutes. Leave a little in the tank after hard sessions, and back off a session rather than putting everything into it and paying for it next week.

The sessions and what each is for

Each session has one job. Choose the one the block needs and run it at the stated effort, because hard work run too hard costs more than it gives back.

• Sub-threshold run, the aerobic session, once a week. Run 15 minutes of work building to 25 to 30 minutes at 80 to 87 percent of your maximum heart rate in mild weather, a little slower than half-marathon pace for most runners. For a maximum of 180 that caps you at about 157. It gives you hard aerobic work with a recovery you can predict, so the next session is not spoiled. Hold to the cap and not above it.
• Short, fast reps, the faster session. Run 200s at 5K to 3K pace, or 300s to 400s at 10K to 5K pace, and finish at 6 or 7 out of 10, never 9 or 10. Short hill and track reps are power, not a pace to find, so judge them by effort and form. They build speed and power with little fatigue.
• Strides, at least once a week all year and two to three times a week in a build. Run 4 to 6 of 15 to 30 seconds, flat or uphill, feel-good-fast and not a sprint, with as much recovery as you need. Put them at the end of an easy run, for example 4 to 5 x 20 seconds in the last 20 minutes of a 50-minute run with no more than 2 minutes of recovery, or after a workout when you are loose, for example 5 x 30 seconds. They keep your legs quick and your form relaxed without adding fatigue, and they can stand in for plyometrics. See the guides on strides and hill strides.
• Longer intervals close to the race, once a week at most. In the last 4 to 6 weeks, for example 3 x a mile working toward goal 5K pace, at 8 or 9 out of 10. See the guide on intervals and VO2 max workouts.

Volume and the long run

Grow your capacity first through mileage. Add a day of running, and raise your peak mileage a little each year, for example 40 miles one season and 45 the next for a 10K. The high 40s to low 50s works well for the 5K, 10K and mile. Do not jump from 40 miles a week to 90.

For the 5K a long run of 60 to 90 minutes every week or two is plenty, and with a decent base you can do without one. For the 10K a weekly long run is the simplest way to grow capacity. Add it a little at a time: in 5,205 runners followed for 18 months, injuries were more common when a session was more than 10% longer than the longest run of the previous 30 days¹. See the guide on the long run.

How a block is ordered

Start with a base of at least 6 to 8 weeks. Do sub-threshold and easy running before intense work, and cluster VO2 max work, hill repeats and hill sprints in the last 6 to 8 weeks, because they help you express the fitness you have and do not build it. Sharpen in the last 4 to 6 weeks, with at most one session a week at 8 or 9 out of 10.

Race a few shorter races in the back half of the block. A tune-up race 2 to 3 months before the goal race is trained through, with easier days before it and a longer cool-down. A PR in a tune-up you were not tapering for is the cue to be more aggressive about your goal. See the guide on race-specific preparation and race goal-setting.

Strength and warm-up

Spend 10 to 15 minutes on strength work such as single-leg hops and Romanian deadlifts, even at the cost of a mile of running. Do leg swings and hip openers after every run, warm up for 10 minutes before every run, and lift on workout days. The benefits arrive in 2 to 3 weeks. Skip jumping off boxes, because strides cover the power work with less risk. See the guides on strength training for runners and strength, mobility and form.

The taper

Keep it short, starting 7 to 10 days out. Keep your number of running days and your hard sessions, and make the hard sessions a little more moderate, because 60 to 70 percent of a hard session maintains your fitness. A few days out, run 200s that start at race pace and get faster. Run hill sprints early in race week and strides the day before, 4 to 6 of 20 to 30 seconds, preferably uphill. See the guide on tapering.

Race day

A 5K is at pace from the gun, so warm up easy to hard: dynamic mobility, two easy miles, then 4 to 6 strides, finishing within 5 to 10 minutes of the start. Line up slightly out of breath and sweating. In 85 to 90 degree heat a 5K is harder than a half marathon, so use four strides, which keeps your heart rate from climbing before the start.

Eat a normal breakfast, a banana, and a gel 15 to 30 minutes before the start, and take caffeine if you use it. Do not run a morning 5K fasted. Control the first third of the race. You can press earlier than in a marathon, but control over the first third still helps. See the guide on race-day pacing.

When a workout goes badly

One bad workout is one day in a block of 22 to 24 weeks. Finish it by effort and do not chase the pace, because your body does not know the difference between 4:55 and 5:05 pace. Back off the next hard session instead of paying for this one.

Read the days that follow. A high easy-run heart rate when it is not hot, heavy legs on stairs for several days, early waking or low motivation are signs to cut intensity, because overtraining is driven by intensity. See the guide on overtraining.