Sub-20 5K Pace Repeats
Workout - Sub-20 5K Pace Repeats
- 15min @ 5'52''/km
- 5 lots of:
- 800m @ 4'00''/km
- 2min rest
- 12min @ 6'00''/km
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Intro
RUN SDJ breaks down How I Ran A Sub 20 Minute 5k after TWELVE Years of Trying with useful detail. The distilled version is below so you can start training with these methods now. Watch the full video for the complete picture.
Key points
- 8-week program with 5 weekly sessions, designed to reach a sub-20 minute 5K (around 4:00 min/km pace).
- The first four weeks: hill repeats, two recovery runs, one steady or progression run, and a long run each week.
- Weeks 5 to 8 swap hill work for interval training and progression runs for tempo runs. Recovery runs and the long run stay.
- Adjust paces to your own capability. The prescriptions ran too fast for easy runs. Dialing them back to genuine recovery intensity made the difference.
- Listen to your body. When a knee issue showed up, he cut mileage, added more recovery, and dropped 3 of 5 workouts in the week before race day.
- Race week pattern: easy run Monday, 2-mile shakeout Friday, massage the day before. Race execution: hold 20-minute pace through the first 4 km, then accelerate on the final km.
Workout example (typical week 6)
Monday – Hill repeats: 6-8 climbs of 90 seconds at hard intensity, recover on the descent
Tuesday – Easy run: 5-6 km at a conversational pace (roughly 5:30-6:00 per km)
Wednesday – Interval session: 5 × 800 m at 5K goal pace (around 4:00 per km), with 2 minutes easy jog between
Thursday – Easy run: 5 km easy
Friday – Tempo run: 6-8 km at threshold effort (about 4:30 per km)
Saturday – Long run: 12-14 km at a relaxed, conversational pace (about 5:30 per km)
Sunday – Rest day or optional cross-trainingModify distances and speeds for your fitness. What matters: combining hill work, quality intervals and tempo runs, and enough easy-effort mileage.
Closing note
Try this program. Adjust paces to your fitness and use the Pacing app to dial in each workout.