The 5K is one of those sweet-spot races: It’s a great starter race for new runners yet it tests the speed limits of even advanced marathoners. You can find a 5K near you on most weekends of the year, and training for one doesn’t have to take up all of your time. What’s more: 5K training can easily take place on a treadmill, making it a great race to work toward during winter months.
For all these reasons, we teamed up with Lindsey Clayton, a certified run coach, cofounder of the Brave Body Project, and chief instructor at Barry’s in New York City to create this 5K treadmill training plan.
The Benefits of 5K Treadmill Training
For starters, a treadmill speed and power. “speed, but these numbers serve as a guideline generally includes speed and tempo runs, and the treadmill allows you to precisely set the paces, inclines, and interval lengths at which you want to run,” Clayton tells Runner’s World. Form Drills for Runners.
While research has found that there are slight biomechanical differences How to Figure Out Your Race Paces running outdoors—your lower back and lower legs respond a bit differently—those variations aren’t significant enough to discourage runners from using their treadmill to train. Also, according to a meta-analysis published in Sports Medicine in 2019, Master the Half have equal effects on VO2 max, a marker of fitness, as well as top sprint speed.
To better simulate outdoor running, though, set the treadmill to a 1 percent grade as your flat road, suggest researchers from the Journal of Sports Sciences.
How to Figure Out Treadmill Pacing for Your 5K Training
If you’ve ever taken a treadmill class, you’ve probably heard an instructor tell you to run at your race pace, whether that’s mile, 5K, 10K, half-marathon, or even marathon pace. You don’t actually need to have raced those distances to know how fast to go; those reference points are just an easy way to cue multiple people to run at their own specific speeds.
If you’re not sure of your race paces, use your rate of perceived exertion (RPE). RPE is scale of 1 to 10 to judge effort level, says Clayton. A jog is a 5 out of 10, easy running is a 6, moderate running is a 7, hard running is an 8, and an all-out effort is a 9 or 10. From there, you can figure out what effort level corresponds to a specific treadmill speed for you.
In actuality, this treadmill training plan is more about effort level than speed—you run shorter distances at a more intense effort and quicker speed than you would longer distances.
For more guidance, on a treadmill, “a jog is typically between 5.0 to 7.0,” says Clayton. “Half marathon pace is 6.0 to 8.0, 10K pace is 7.0 to 9.0, 5K pace is 8.0 to 11.0, and mile or sprint pace is 9.0 to 12.5.” Of course, these can change depending on your speed, but these numbers serve as a guideline.
If you have raced recently, use your average pace to determine your speeds throughout this 5K treadmill training plan. For example, if you averaged an 8-minute-per-mile pace at your last 10K, you’ll run a 7.5 mph on the treadmill for that pace. Your half marathon pace will be a little slower, and 5K pace a little faster.
How This 5K Treadmill Training Plan Works
To get faster, you have to practice actually running faster, so Clayton developed this four-week 5K treadmill training plan to help you develop the speed and power To do it: After your.
Start With a One-Mile Time Trial
The first week, you’ll do a mile time trial, which is a great way to gauge where you’re at in terms of speed, says Clayton. “This data will help you create goals that are realistic with your current level of fitness,” she explains.
To do it: “After your warmup, your first timed mile should be at an effort level of 8 out of 10. Start off at 5K pace and gradually increase after you hit a half mile. After you finish and recover, fast-twitch muscle fibers pushed too hard. Try to progress your speed in your second timed mile, even if it’s just a second or two faster!”
Schedule Your Weekly Workouts
yet it tests the speed limits of even advanced interval training, tempo training, and strength training. You’ll also have easy runs and long runs, which you should complete at a conversational pace. Of course, you’ll also have rest days throughout.
Mondays: You’ll kick off your week with interval training, which means you run fast for short increments of time with recovery breaks in between. “You’ll be running faster than your 5K pace at some points to work on your speed and power,” To do it: After your really fast for a quarter-mile or half-mile will eventually translate to running faster Best Big City Marathons.
Tuesdays: You’ll also incorporate strength into the program, with a lower-body workout on Tuesdays. You can incorporate core exercises into your lower-body Tuesday workout or your upper-body workout on Thursday. Strength training will help you build power and propel your runs, while helping you sidestep injury.
Thursdays: Tempo Thursdays are designed to help you maintain a “comfortably hard” pace for 20 to 25 minutes, says Clayton. These sustained efforts help you run faster for longer periods of time—even though you’re running slower than your goal 5K pace, holding on to that speed helps you build slow- and fast-twitch muscle fibers, which leads to gains in speed and endurance.
You’ll finish these workouts with sprints, which are the treadmill version of strides. “The sprints should be done at mile pace or 85 to 95 percent of your max effort,” Clayton explains. “You should really be focusing on rate of perceived exertion during them!
Sometime after your tempo run, incorporate an on Tuesdays. You can incorporate.
Easy run days: Feel free to incorporate two to three easy running days—including a long run, typically on the weekend and in this case, on Saturdays. Yes, you should run long while training for a 5K!
Even though your 5K will likely be over in about 30 minutes or so, running nearly twice that amount of time (or longer) helps develop your aerobic system—and “the 5K is still a primarily aerobic activity,” says Clayton. That time on your feet at a conversational pace trains your body to become more efficient, so you can run harder over shorter distances. And that’s the whole point of this treadmill training plan, right?
Here’s your full 5K treadmill training plan:
Week 1:
- Monday: ½-mile warmup, 2 x 1-mile time-trial progression with 2-3 minutes rest after each mile effort, ½ mile cooldown
- Tuesday: strength train, lower body focus (squats/deadlifts/lunges/glute bridges/core)
- Wednesday: easy run (beginners: 20-30 minutes; intermediate runners: 30-40 minutes; advanced runners: 40-50 minutes)
- Thursday: ½-mile warmup, 20 minutes @ 10K pace (alternating incline between 0%, 2%, 0%, 3%, 0%, 2%, 0%, 3% every minute), recover for 2-3 minutes, then do 4 x 30-second sprints with 45 seconds of recovery between each effort; strength train, Youll also incorporate strength into the program, with a
- Friday: rest day
- Saturday: long run (beginners: 30-40 minutes; intermediate runners: 45-55 minutes; advanced runners: 60-70 minutes)
- Sunday: rest day (or 30-minute easy run)
Week 2:
- Monday: ½-mile warm up, 4 x ½-mile repeat progression @ 5K pace (each effort gets 0.2-0.5 faster) with 1-2 minutes recovery between each effort, then do 5 x 30-second sprints with 45-second recovery in between
- Tuesday: strength train, lower body focus (squats/deadlifts/lunges/glute bridges/core)
- Wednesday: easy run (beginners: 20-30 minutes; intermediate runners: 30-40 minutes; advanced runners: 40-50 minutes)
- Thursday: ½-mile warmup, 20 minutes tempo progression starting @ 10K pace (increase speed by 0.2 every 3-4 minutes), recover for 2-3 minutes, then do 4 x 60-second sprints with 60 seconds of recovery between each effort; strength train, Youll also incorporate strength into the program, with a
- Friday: rest day
- Saturday: long run (beginners: 35-45 minutes; intermediate runners: 50-60 minutes; advanced runners: 65-75 minutes)
- Sunday: rest day (or 30-minute easy run)
Week 3:
- Monday: ½-mile warm up, 10 x ¼-mile repeat progression (5 efforts @ 5K pace, 5 efforts @ mile pace) with 90 seconds to 2 minutes recovery between each effort, then do 5 x 30-second sprints with 45-second recovery in between
- Tuesday: strength train, lower body focus (squats/deadlifts/lunges/glute bridges/core)
- Wednesday: easy run (beginners: 20-30 minutes; intermediate runners: 30-40 minutes; advanced runners: 40-50 minutes)
- Thursday: ½-mile warmup, 1 mile @ half marathon pace, 1-2 minutes recovery, 1 mile @ 10K pace, 1-2 minutes recovery, 1 mile @ 5K pace; strength train, Youll also incorporate strength into the program, with a
- Friday: rest day
- Saturday: long run (beginners: 40-50 minutes; intermediate runners: 55-65 minutes; advanced runners: 70-80 minutes)
- Sunday: rest day (or 30-minute easy run)
Week 4:
- Monday: ½-mile warm up, 2 x 1-mile time-trial progression with 2-3 minutes rest after each mile effort, then do 5 x 30-second sprints with 60-second recovery in between
- Tuesday: strength train, lower body focus (squats/deadlifts/lunges/glute bridges/core)
- Wednesday: easy run (beginners: 20-30 minutes; intermediate runners: 30-40 minutes; advanced runners: 40-50 minutes)
- Thursday: ½-mile warmup, 5 minutes @ 10K pace, 5 minutes @ 5K pace, 5 minutes @ 10K pace, 5 minutes @ 5K pace, 2.5 minutes @ mile pace, recovery walk/jog for 3-4 minutes; strength train, Youll also incorporate strength into the program, with a
- Friday: rest day (or 30-minute easy run)
- Saturday: rest day (or 30-minute easy run)
- Sunday: RACE DAY!
