5K Road/Track Race - 20:00 - Written by Jeff Thies

Plan Length: 8 Weeks

This is a plan for aspiring Sub 20 minute 5k runners. This plan best fits an athlete who has previously ran/trained for a 5k. This plan will be structured for runners who are prepared for work outs within the first week of training.


A few IMPORTANT training details:

1. MARATHON TEMPO PACE(7:00-7:10) This is important to go off of effort but this window should be appropriate for a 19:29 5k runner. These paces can be adjusted based on how hilly a course is, weather, and the fitness level you're at when you tackle the tempo run. However, you have to always come back to dialing in on the correct effort-- which is marathon pace on that given workout day.

2. THRESHOLD EFFORT. This is based off of roughly 15k effort. For a 19:29 5k runner, that is in the 6:35-6:45 range. These paces can be adjusted based on how hilly a course is, weather, sickness, and the fitness level you're at when you tackle the threshold workout. However, you have to always come back to dialing in on the correct effort-- which is 15k race pace on that given workout day.

3. Any other given training effort (10k, 5k, 3k, mile, etc) is the effort on that specific training day. So, for example, if I say 6x30 seconds at mile effort and that is done on a slow cross country course, the PACE will be slower than if you did those same reps on a track. It's crucial that you are always dialing into the right effort under the circumstances you're facing that day. With that said, a 19:29 marathoner's 10k should be around 6:30/mile, 5k around 16:15/mile, and mile around 5:45.

4. RECOVERY RUN. This pace might be between 8:00-9:00. This is where you grow and absorb the hard training sessions. This should feel easy and you should be able to hold a conversation while running.

Sample Week of Training

Below is a week of training from this plan which represents the type of workouts you will be doing.

Other 5K & 10K Road/Track Plans