A bit of background. For the last few years I’ve been running ultras and more adventure races where pace has not been a concern as it’s really just been a fun day out.
I’ve decided that my next target is to concentrate on getting my arse back into gear then seeing if I can hold faster pace over ultra distances. Whilst having a young family I am looking to focus my efforts initially on 5K’s as it will really help to get some degree of speed into my leg whilst balancing family demands.
There are no end of plans out there, all very similar. Does anyone here have a plan that they would recommend, even better if you’ve followed it and it saw good results?
I’m open to options and all responses are much appreciated.
I recommend the Self-Coached Runner, Vols 1 and 2. The books are out of print but used ones are cheap on Amazon.com. I used these plans heavily in the 80s (my 5K PR from way back when was 14:35). For each distance, there are a variety of plans depending on your current fitness. E.g., for 10K I remember there were plans starting at 30 mins and going up every 2 mins. Each plan had qualifying critieria, typically that you could run a 440 and a mile within a certain time. Even today, most plans are divided only into Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced levels. The granularity of the plans in these books are still far superior to what I see from most sources today.
A bit of background. For the last few years I’ve been running ultras and more adventure races where pace has not been a concern as it’s really just been a fun day out.
I’ve decided that my next target is to concentrate on getting my arse back into gear then seeing if I can hold faster pace over ultra distances. Whilst having a young family I am looking to focus my efforts initially on 5K’s as it will really help to get some degree of speed into my leg whilst balancing family demands.
There are no end of plans out there, all very similar. Does anyone here have a plan that they would recommend, even better if you’ve followed it and it saw good results?
I’m open to options and all responses are much appreciated.
I’ve had good luck at that distance following Tom Schwartz’s methods. He coaches the Tinman Elite team in Boulder. HIs ideas are:
Don’t kill yourself on any one day
Train at a variety of paces–easy pace to V02Max pace. “Multi dimensional” workouts. So, 1km reps at pace X, followed by hill repeats or strides at pace Y.
Take it easy on the easy days–5k pace +2min per mile, at the fastest.
You can punch a recent race result or time trial into his online calculator and get your training paces. But, a typical week looks like this. And he claims you can do it year-round, which I believe and works for many people.
Monday - Easy mileage. Include 10x20sec Strides at the very end.
Tues - 15~20min of “CV Pace” work. Break it up however you like. 5x3min, 4x5min, 6x3min etc. Ideally, keep the reps around the 1km distance. 1~2min between each rep
Wed - Easy mileage
Thurs - Short Tempo, 20~30min at his tempo pace. Work up to 50min. Include Hill Repeats at the end at mile pace effort… 10x20 or 30sec with walking back down the hill for rest
Friday - Easy Mileage
Sat - Long Run, up to 90min. Easy effort to start, working down to a marathon pace type effort at the end.
You can adjust the mileage to fit your mileage/time goals. I too have a young family so I usually follow this format, training on my lunch hour. It has worked well for shorter distances (10mi and under).
Why do 5Ks? Why not 10Ks? Seems like you might be better suited to the longer distance given your ultra background. I can’t imagine the training hours would be much higher, and seems like the fitness would translate better to the Ultras should you get back into them.