Operation Move
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This is one of my favourite training plans for 5km because it has loads of the fun stuff, and it’s 3 days a week. The long runs are also long enough that you’d be in good shape if you wanted to take it up to 10km too. A great all rounder, in that way. And easy to add in some bonus easy runs if you have a week where you want to run more often.
If you are having trouble with the form below, you can visit it directly at https://mailchi.mp/opmove/plan5km
The mile is an often neglected distance, especially for people who focus on distance. But what you might not think about is that often that middle distance system is neglected. A strong mile means a faster mile, and a faster mile means you’ve got much more room for that awesome 5km, 10km, half marathon or marathon.
Especially right now! It can be hard to get motivated for things when all your usual carrots aren’t around and it can feel like we are never ‘getting back to normal’. This is where mini goals come in. Short enough, that everything you do matters, but not long enough that you lose focus.
Tempo is about 80% effort or heart rate and roughly probably equates to your 10km race pace. Efforts are more based on feel, but would be more like 90%. You want to finish your intervals feeling like you could do one or two more, but not more than that.
Strides are about 100m and are 1/3 accelerating, 1/3 holding your top speed with good control, 1/3 decelerating. You can start off more slowly and work your way into it.
If this looks like it’s too much volume for you, just reduce the intervals by about a third, or whatever is right for you.
The mile is a fun, challenging training cycle and it’s only as hard as you want it to be. That’s the brilliant part about effort based running is you can go all out, or you can cruise a bit – it’s totally up to you. And in four weeks, you can pick a new goal. But the mile is pretty fun. You might come back for round two.
The book is going to focus on my journey so far, the when the why and the how of the workouts and of training, but also how it all connects to things that are far bigger than running. I’m taking up the challenge of writing a book in 30 days. Which is a lot of writing, but hopefully just enough pressure to keep the momentum going. You can sign up to read the daily words on patreon and get access to a whole range of bonus podcast episodes, and an ebook with 52 running workouts, so you’ll never be stuck for ideas ever again. Stay up to date on:
If the response of the last (more advanced) half marathon training plan was anything to go by, what everyone would really like is a beginner plan. Don’t worry I’ve got you covered! And I’ve got options for anywhere from 3-6 days depending on what your preference is for training. Don’t worry, even the more days per week plans are very achievable because the extra days focus on recovery and easy sessions, rather than anything taxing – but you can pick a plan that’s going to work best with your schedule.
Enjoy!
There are lots of benefits of having a training plan. Some are motivation or consistency. Some are improving your speed or your endurance. Or it might just be the nature of accountability of having something on your fridge that tells you today you are running hill sprints.
Ages ago I was reading a thread about intuitive pacing and the advice was that in a marathon you should run how you feel, not to a set pace. Someone jokingly replied if they ran how they felt, they’d be walking. Which is kind of true of a training plan too. For me anyway. By nature I am very lazy and a training plan makes sure I get out and do what I need to do.
1) Variety. A good training plan will have plenty of variety to keep you interested. It will find lots of different ways to achieve your goals so you aren’t doing anything too repetitive but you are still getting the outcomes you need.
2) Fun. You can build on the things that you do like and find ways around the things that you don’t like. Because let’s face it, you are just not going to be able to do something on a regular basis if you really dislike it.
3) Expectation. Left to my own devices it would be easy to get 5km into an 8km tempo and stop because it was too hard/too hot/I was too tired. It’s very easy for excuses to creep in. But I find having a plan means if it’s written down that’s what I run and it encourages me to never change my mind mid-run.
4) It changes the way you think about exercise. You stop thinking of it as a chore or a punishment and you start think of it as training for you body to be stronger, fitter and more alive.
5) Fundamentals are the building blocks of fun. There aren’t any shortcuts but sometimes it helps to have a map.
If you are interested in a training plan or one of our group or one-on-one coaching options you can find them here.
When I started to run I didn’t really worry about times that much. I mean I tracked it in an app, but that was more for the calories burned and as a point of reference for progress down the track too. Which was really quite smart, because now I can look back on it and say wow. The first time I ran 15 kilometres it took me two and a half hours. Now it takes me less than one and a half. And if you are doing the math you’ve just worked out that I was running slower than some people walk.
I always assumed that if I put in the kilometres that my pace would naturally improve as my fitness did. And to a certain extent that was true. I did improve. But I noticed that I didn’t improve as much as other people who started at the same time as me. Occasionally I wondered at how some people were just naturally faster than me. But then, it only looked natural to me. I had no real idea about their training.
It actually wasn’t until the end of last year that I developed anything resembling a training plan. I mean I had a training plan for my half marathon efforts but that was mostly about building up my long distances, there was no real structured interval, speed or hill sessions. So I sat down and figured out a 12 week training plan for improving my speed, particularly over 5-10k distances. To be honest, I didn’t think it would be overly effective. I was just naturally slow, right?! Not built for speed.
Well I was wrong.
What is that cheesy saying? Don’t be disappointed with the results you didn’t get from the work you didn’t do. Well it’s true. I could have sat around wondering why I was so much slower, or I could put in the work to get myself from point A to point B.
Really, I have little interest in speed for speeds sake. I have an interest in long distance. But for me to run the furthest I could go, I have to run faster. Running faster is going to make those really long distances achievable.
It does require a little bit of faith though. You have to commit to your training. You have to invest in it. You have to show up when you don’t want to. And you have to believe in it, even when your progress is minimal to non-existent. And if you do all of that, who knows where you might end up? You might end up somewhere that you’d like to be.