
Free 5k training plan or parkrun training plan.
Boost your fitness, improve your 5k or Parkrun time, and learn how to train smart, run fast, and be strong.
A structured, periodized, scientific, and educational exercise training plan.
For folks who are new to 5k races and parkruns.
Informed by experimental and empirical evidence.
Designed by me, Thomas Solomon: a PhD scientist, an ACSM-certified Exercise Physiologist (ACSM-EP) & Personal Trainer (ACSM-PT), and a UKVRN-registered nutritionist (RNutr).

Run
Sometimes hard
Rest
Repeat.




Before you join this training plan for the first time, complete the following fitness test to help ensure you are working at the right intensities during the sessions. Fitness test weeks recur during the plan to see how you're progressing and to re-calibrate your training intensities. If you're re-joining the plan after a break (due to illness, injury, or apathy), please repeat the tests.




Once you have completed the time-trial fitness test, you are ready to rock!





Free 5k training plan:
Week commencing .




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Strength 1: | |
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Run 2: | |
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Strength 2: | |
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Run 3: | |
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Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE), Breathing rate, and the Talk test — how hard should you train?
Learn to be aware of your feelings, your breathing rate, and your ability to talk/sing, and set your training intensities according to your Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) out of 10, where RPE 1/10 is being sat down doing nothing and RPE 10/10 is maximal. Study the diagram below to learn what level of exertion to give for the various training intensities.

Please feel free to use and share this image but give credit to Thomas Solomon PhD.
Use the following tips to maximise your long-term gains for endurance racing:
80% to 95% of your weekly running time should be spent in the "Easy" domain at RPE 2-4/10. Increase your weekly volume by gradually increasing the number of Easy runs and gradually increasing their duration. This will help condition your body to move faster for longer during your harder runs and will help you recover more quickly from harder efforts. Every successful elite athlete has built their mightiness on a solid foundation of "Easy". Any hiking, running, cycling, etc, that you add on top of a suggested training plan should be kept in the "Easy" intensity domain at RPE 2-4/10.
Only 5% to 20% of your weekly running time should be spent doing "Hard" work, at or above RPE 5/10. These types of sessions are taxing, add a lot of strain to your body, and take longer to recover from. Sure, training hard every day will acutely increase your fitness, but it will also increase your risk of injury and accumulate excessive fatigue, making subsequent sessions feel harder and leaving you needing more time to recover from them. Don't aim to be mighty tomorrow; play the long game and be sensible. Train smart.



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Running pace calculator — how fast should you run?
When you have completed the 3 km Time Trial, use the app below to calculate your "Easy", "Moderate", "Threshold", and "Hard" training paces when running on Flat terrain.
Running pace calculator:
Note: The values in the table above are based on VDOT formulae.


Why run at different paces?

= totally comfortable running/jogging (or hiking on challenging terrain) that unnoticeably increases your heart rate and breathing rate. You could sustain this level of exertion for hours, without fatigue.

= a moderately hard exertion that causes a highly noticeable increase in heart rate and breathing rate after a few minutes of running, but feels comfortable and where you are right on the edge of fatigue. This is the kind of exertion you could sustain for 30 to 60 minutes but, if you went any faster, you would fatigue quickly.

= an uncomfortably hard effort that induces a rapid heart rate and breathing rate and makes you hyperventilate. S.H.I.T. is the kind of exertion you can only sustain for a short time (e.g. just a few seconds if you are sprinting, or a few minutes if you are running at your 1 mile race pace).

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Strength training for 5k runners and parkrunners (bodyweight circuits and mountain goat sessions).
(clickable links to instructional videos)
Bodyweight circuit exercises for 5k runners and parkrunners:
Squat → Bench dip → Single-legged deadlift (RDL) → Incline push-up → Forward lunge (alternating legs) → Alternating bird dog → Lying knee raise → Glute bridge → Standing calf raise → Hip adduction → Plank.
Mountain goat exercises for 5k runners and parkrunners:

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Warm-up and cool-down for running.
(clickable links to videos)
WARM-UP for 5k runners and parkrunners

Complete 5 reps of each exercise at a low intensity (RPE 2/10) using a full range of motion, and move on to the next exercise.
Rocking frog. ¦ Alternating cossack squats. ¦ Walking knee hugs.. ¦ Walking ankle grabs. ¦ Walking squats. ¦ Walking lunges. ¦ Walking leg-swings. ¦ Lateral leg swings.

Start with 2 minutes Brisk walking with purpose, no harder than RPE 2/10.
Then 2 minutes of Easy-paced jogging, no harder than RPE 4/10.
Then 2 minutes of running, progressing up to Threshold, no harder than RPE 8/10.

Complete 2 x (5-secs, 15-sec rest) of each exercise at a moderate- to vigorous intensity (RPE 6-8/10).
Butt-kicks. ¦ High-knees. ¦ High-knee skips.

Run up to 6 x 10-second accelerations, with 1 min rest between each.
Accelerate to ~95% of maximal speed (not an all-out sprint).
Focus on running tall, looking forward, and being light on your feet with a fast foot turnover.
Warm-up complete. You are ready to rock!
COOL-DOWN for 5k runners and parkrunners


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Warm-up and cool-down for strength training (bodyweight circuits and mountain goat sessions).
(clickable links to videos)
WARM-UP for strength training

Complete 10-reps of each exercise at a low-intensity (RPE 2/10), and move on to the next exercise.
Rocking frog. ¦ Lying hip abduction. ¦ Lying hip adduction ¦ Lying hip internal rotation ¦ Lying hip external rotation ¦ Walking knee hugs.. ¦ Walking ankle grabs. ¦ Walking squats. ¦ Resistance band shoulder rotations. ¦ Resistance band pull-aparts. ¦ Scapular pull-ups.

2-mins Super Easy (RPE 2/10)
2-mins Easy (RPE 4/10)
2-min progression up to Threshold (RPE 8/10).
NOTE: If you plan to do an Easy run on a Circuit day, integrate the run into your Circuit session warm-up and cool-down.
Warm-up complete. You are ready to rock!
COOL-DOWN for strength training

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