8-week 5 km plan on 4 sessions — target 20 minutes
8 weeks4 sessions a weekTarget 20 min265 km of training, race day aside
An 8-week 5 km plan on four sessions a week for a 20-minute finish: every pace given, from race pace to 1 km pace.
This plan is for you if…
Already running three times a week for at least a month, without pain.
Able to run for 35 minutes without stopping, however slowly.
A 5 km under 21:05, or a 10 km under 44 minutes.
Able to give 2 and a half to 4 hours a week to training, long run included.
If one of these is not true, a longer plan will take you further than a short one followed halfway.
If you have to skip a session
Ill, exhausted or in pain, do not run: a plan absorbs a missed session, it does not absorb an injury. Drop the easy run first — it is the least specific. If it is the quality session or the long run that goes, do not move it to another day of the same week; pick the next week up where the plan is, never where you stopped.
Your paces for 20 min
Pace
min/km
What it feels like
Easy
5:12 – 5:36
The pace most of this plan is run at. If you cannot hold a conversation, it is too fast.
Long run
5:17
In the firm third of the easy band, never outside it. However long it is, a long run is never run quicker than this.
5 km pace
3:56
5 km race pace: strong, never maximal.
1 km pace
3:35
1 km race pace, on very short repetitions. The quickest work in the plan: sharp and relaxed, never straining.
All 8 weeks, session by session
Week 1
Base33 km
Set the rhythm: nothing hard, four runs settle in before any intensity is added. One easy run closes with strides — 20 s quick and relaxed, 40 s of jogging, no watch and no target pace.
1
Easy run40 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
2
Easy run49 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk. Finish with 4 strides.
3
Easy run40 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
4
Long run8 km
8 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.
Week 2
Base35 km
First meeting with race-day pace: fifteen continuous minutes. Eight weeks have no time for a threshold block — everything happens at race pace and above it.
1
Easy run45 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
2
5 km pace45 min
15 continuous minutes at 5 km pace.
3
Easy run45 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
4
Long run9 km
9 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.
Week 3
Build36 km
Speed enters: 400 m repetitions at 1,000 m pace. Short and relaxed — this trains running economy, not breathing.
1
Easy run45 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
2
Speed48 min
6 × 400 m at 1 km pace, 90 s recovery.
3
Easy run45 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
4
Long run10 km
10 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.
Week 4
Build30 km
A down week, and the fast work fits into 200 m. On eight weeks it is the only one, and it is not optional.
1
Easy run35 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
2
Speed48 min
8 × 200 m at 1 km pace, 90 s recovery.
3
Easy run35 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
4
Long run8 km
8 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.
Week 5
Build40 km
First long session at race-day pace, in 800 m repetitions.
1
Easy run50 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
2
Aerobic power56 min
5 × 800 m at 5 km pace, 2 min recovery.
3
Easy run50 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
4
Long run10 km
10 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.
Week 6
Specific43 km
The peak: 1,000 m repetitions at goal pace, the race distance in five pieces. That is the most a plan this length should ask outside the day itself.
1
Easy run50 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
2
Aerobic power62 min
5 × 1000 m at 5 km pace, 150 s recovery.
3
Easy run50 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
4
Long run12 km
12 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.
Week 7
Taper30 km
Taper, one week only. Ten minutes at goal pace to keep it in the legs, nothing more.
1
Easy run40 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
2
5 km pace40 min
10 continuous minutes at 5 km pace.
3
Easy run35 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
4
Long run8 km
8 comfortable km from start to finish. If it feels hard, it is too fast.
Week 8
Race18 km
Race week. Maintain, do not build.
1
Easy run30 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
2
5 km pace45 min
3 × 3 minutes at 5 km pace, 2 min recovery.
3
Easy run20 min
Conversational pace: you should be able to talk.
4
5 km5 km
Race day.
Put this plan in your calendar
Stibia exports this plan to your watch, on the days you run, with your long session on the day you choose, and the plan ending on your race date.