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5K Training Plans
Beginner, intermediate, and advanced
training plans from 8 – 16 weeks.
training plans from 8 – 16 weeks.
Don't Leave Your Performance to Chance
Experience a surge in speed and endurance
Build a powerful running engine with training programs backed by modern exercise science and the combined experience of world-class coaches. See your VO2max and lactate threshold climb on your smartwatch.
Feel better during and after your training
Balance your training with the hard-easy principle. Every key workout is followed by 48 - 72 hours of easy running or rest so that you can absorb the training, feel ready for the next workout, and reduce the likelihood of injury.
Stay motivated with exciting workouts
Beat monotony with an exciting array of workouts in different training zones that evolve from week to week and culminate in a peak performance for your event. You will enjoy the training journey as much as the race.
Don't Leave Your Performance to Chance
Experience a surge in speed and endurance
Build a powerful running engine with training programs backed by modern exercise science and the combined experience of world-class coaches. See your VO2max and lactate threshold climb on your smartwatch.
Feel better during and after your training
Balance your training with the hard-easy principle. Every key workout is followed by 48 – 72 hours of easy running or rest so that you can absorb the training, feel ready for the next workout, and reduce the likelihood of injury.
Stay motivated with exciting workouts
Beat monotony with an exciting array of workouts in different training zones that evolve from week to week and culminate in a peak performance for your event. You will enjoy the training journey as much as the race.
5K Training Plans with Coach Support
Get started in 3 simple steps
1. Choose your 8 – 16 week training plan
Find your perfect plan based on training level, duration, and miles or km.
2. Activate TrainingPeaks or FinalSurge
A flexible online calendar, individual training zones, and trackable progress.
3. Upload the workouts to your watch
Follow the instructions for your structured workouts on your smartwatch in real-time.
Imperial or Metric
IN MILES
IN KM
Beginner
5K
beginner plan in miles
-
10 - 18 miles per week
-
4 runs per week
-
8, 12, 16 weeks
Choose Plan
Set any time goal for this plan
to personalize your pace.
to personalize your pace.
Intermediate
5K
intermediate plan in miles
-
18 - 26 miles per week
-
5 runs per week
-
8, 12, 16 weeks
Choose Plan
Set any time goal for this plan
to personalize your pace.
to personalize your pace.
Advanced
5K
advanced plan in miles
-
30 - 41 miles per week
-
6 runs per week
-
8, 12, 16 weeks
Choose Plan
Set any time goal for this plan
to personalize your pace.
to personalize your pace.
Sub 30:00 min
5K
sub 30:00 plan in miles
-
10 - 18 miles per week
-
4 runs per week
-
8, 12, 16 weeks
Choose Plan
Set any time goal for this plan
to personalize your pace.
to personalize your pace.
Sub 28:00 min
5K
sub 28:00 plan in miles
-
11 - 20 miles per week
-
4 runs per week
-
8, 12, 16 weeks
Choose Plan
Set any time goal for this plan
to personalize your pace.
to personalize your pace.
Sub 26:00 min
5K
sub 26:00 plan in miles
-
12 - 22 miles per week
-
4 runs per week
-
8, 12, 16 weeks
Choose Plan
Set any time goal for this plan
to personalize your pace.
to personalize your pace.
Sub 24:00 min
5K
sub 24:00 plan in miles
-
14 - 24 miles per week
-
4 runs per week
-
8, 12, 16 weeks
Choose Plan
Set any time goal for this plan
to personalize your pace.
to personalize your pace.
Sub 23:00 min
5K
sub 23:00 plan in miles
-
18 - 26 miles per week
-
5 runs per week
-
8, 12, 16 weeks
Choose Plan
Set any time goal for this plan
to personalize your pace.
to personalize your pace.
Sub 22:00 min
5K
sub 22:00 plan in miles
-
20 - 30 miles per week
-
5 runs per week
-
8, 12, 16 weeks
Choose Plan
Set any time goal for this plan
to personalize your pace.
to personalize your pace.
Sub 21:00 min
5K
sub 21:00 plan in miles
-
22 - 34 miles per week
-
5 runs per week
-
8, 12, 16 weeks
Choose Plan
Set any time goal for this plan
to personalize your pace.
to personalize your pace.
Sub 20:00 min
5K
sub 20:00 plan in miles
-
25 - 37 miles per week
-
5 runs per week
-
8, 12, 16 weeks
Choose Plan
Set any time goal for this plan
to personalize your pace.
to personalize your pace.
Sub 18:00 min
5K
sub 18:00 plan in miles
-
30 - 41 miles per week
-
6 runs per week
-
8, 12, 16 weeks
Choose Plan
Set any time goal for this plan
to personalize your pace.
to personalize your pace.
Sub 17:00 min
5K
sub 17:00 plan in miles
-
32 - 45 miles per week
-
6 runs per week
-
8, 12, 16 weeks
Choose Plan
Set any time goal for this plan
to personalize your pace.
to personalize your pace.
Sub 16:00 min
5K
sub 16:00 plan in miles
-
36 - 50 miles per week
-
6 runs per week
-
8, 12, 16 weeks
Choose Plan
Set any time goal for this plan
to personalize your pace.
to personalize your pace.
Sub 15:00 min
5K
sub 15:00 plan in miles
-
38 - 55 miles per week
-
6 runs per week
-
8, 12, 16 weeks
Choose Plan
Set any time goal for this plan
to personalize your pace.
to personalize your pace.
Goal-based plans
The goal-based plans let you choose a plan according to your time goal. Make sure you are realistic about it. If you current 5K PR is 26:00 minutes then you are unlikely to succeed with a sub 18:00 minute plan.
That said, the weekly mileage of the plan isn’t exact science to achieve a certain time goal. Rather, it is based on experience of what’s necessary to achieve a certain time. You may choose a 24:00 minute plan and achieve 22:00 minutes on race day — or vice versa. That means you could use the lower mileage 24:00 minute plan and personalize its zones for for a 22:00 minute time goal.
You can adjust your training zones every few weeks according to your progress.
Yes, you can fully adjust the plan to your needs.
Training zones
You can personalize the training zones of based on your fitness level for any plan with a click of a mouse button. Take a recent race result (or an educated guess) for your current ability and then update your zones as needed toward your goal race pace.
Training days
You can move your workouts easily with the drag and drop feature. For instance, if you prefer your long run on a Sunday instead of a Saturday, you can change the order of workouts. Just make sure you don’t have any hard back-to-back sessions.
You can also skip or replace some of your easy runs with aerobic cross-training, such as cycling or swimming. But I recommend a minimum of 4 running days per week.
Race Day
By default my plans assume the race is on a Sunday. Should your race fall on a Saturday, then remove Wednesday’s easy run and bring the workouts that follow 1 day forward.
If you like a plan but you prefer +/- one training day per week let me know. I will adjust it for you by adding or subtracting mileage in a way the plan makes sense—free of charge.
Simply contact me via email
TrainingPeaks and FinalSurge are the leading online training platforms for endurance athletes. Here you can upload your workouts to your running watch and follow the instructions in real-time. Post-workout it syncs your training data where you can observe your progress over time.
Both platforms come in free and paid versions. The free versions work just fine with any of my training plans.
If you want a maximum of training metrics then I suggest you use TrainingPeaks. But for an easy-to-use and beautiful interface I recommend FinalSurge.
You can contact me anytime via email if you have questions about the training plan or training in general.
But for continuous and personalized training plan adjustments consider my 1-on-1 online coaching.
Hi! I'm Sandro Sket, coach & founder of RUNNINGFRONT, NSCA-Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), and a lifelong endurance athlete. I help runners like you to achieve their goals since 2013. I'm only an email away assisting you choose the right plan or for questions during the course of any training plan.
Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialists (CSCSs) are professionals who apply scientific knowledge to train athletes for the primary goal of improving athletic performance. They design and implement safe and effective strength training and conditioning programs.
Hi! I'm Sandro Sket, coach & founder of RUNNINGFRONT, NSCA-Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), and a lifelong endurance athlete. I help runners like you to achieve their goals since 2013. I'm only an email away assisting you choose the right plan or for questions during the course of any training plan.
Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialists (CSCSs) are professionals who apply scientific knowledge to train athletes for the primary goal of improving athletic performance. They design and implement safe and effective strength training and conditioning programs.
Hi! I'm Sandro Sket, coach & founder of RUNNINGFRONT, NSCA-Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), and a lifelong endurance athlete. I help runners like you to achieve their goals since 2013. I'm only an email away assisting you choose the right plan or for questions during the course of any training plan.
Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialists (CSCSs) are professionals who apply scientific knowledge to train athletes for the primary goal of improving athletic performance. They design and implement safe and effective strength training and conditioning programs.
Why Use My Training Plans?
Science-based, experience-tested training
Train with the principles and methods of elite runners. Each of my training plans features highly effective workouts, balanced training weeks, and non-linear periodization from general to race-specific abilities.
Upload all runs to your smartwatch
TrainingPeaks or FinalSurge — the world's best training apps. All your workouts are accessible on your computer, smartphone, and GPS running watch. Individual training zones, post-workout analysis, and much more.
Coach support from Sandro Sket, CSCS
You have exclusive email access to NSCA-Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist Sandro Sket for all running-related questions during the course of your training plan. No bots and no assistants, ever.
Why Use My Training Plans?
Science-based, experience-tested training
Train with the principles and methods of elite runners. Each of my training plans features highly effective workouts, balanced training weeks, and non-linear periodization from general to race-specific abilities.
Upload all runs to your smartwatch
TrainingPeaks or FinalSurge — the world’s best training apps. All your workouts are accessible on your computer, smartphone, and GPS running watch. Individual training zones, post-workout analysis, and much more.
Coach support from Sandro Sket, CSCS
You have exclusive email access to NSCA-Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist Sandro Sket for all running-related questions during the course of your training plan. No bots and no assistants, ever.
What Athletes Are Saying
Sandro’s expertise and attention to detail has helped me improve more than I had thought possible. Through his online coaching, I broke my 20 year 5K PR by 21 sec to 15:48. And with his plan, I was able to break my HM PR by almost 4 min to 1:14:29.
Shai Birmaher
United States
Sandro’s very well thought out coaching has assisted my running greatly, being able to fit my runs around the changing hours I work with my job. I am certain I would not have managed a 2:58 marathon PB at 45 years old without Sandro’s coaching.
Richard Leary
New Zealand
Following the competitive marathon plan helped me reach a new PR with a first place overall finish in 2:39:37 on a hilly course. Sandro’s scientific approach ensures that every run and workout has a purpose, arriving at the starting line fit, healthy, and fresh.
James Mount
United States
Sync Workouts with Your Smartwatch
You can upload all workouts to your smartwatch and follow the training prompts in real time.
Post workout you can analyze your training data on your laptop or smartphone.
You can upload all workouts to your smartwatch and follow the training prompts in real time. Post workout you can analyze your training data on your laptop or smartphone.
You can upload all workouts to your smartwatch and follow the training prompts in real time. Post workout you can analyze your training data and progress on your laptop or smartphone.
