Training plans
5K training plan that adapts to your recovery
The 5K is two races in one. For a new runner it is the first distance worth finishing without stopping. For an experienced one it is a short, honest test of fitness that rewards speed and punishes a fast start. Both need the same few rules: build slowly, keep most running easy, add one or two faster sessions, and arrive fresh. Here they are with numbers by level, a walk-run plan for beginners and an example week. At the end: how Keho Coach adjusts the plan when your sleep, HRV or training load call for it.
Short answer
If you are starting from nothing, plan about 10 weeks of walk-run on three days a week, growing the running parts until you run 5 km without stopping. If you already run, 6–10 weeks on 3–6 days is enough: keep about 80 % of your running easy, add one or two quality sessions (intervals at 5K pace, tempo, hills), grow the long run to 8–16 km depending on level, and cut volume to about 60 % in the last week. Ease off when sleep, HRV or how you feel say you are not recovering.
Your first 5K: walk-run
If you can’t yet run for 20–30 minutes, don’t start with runs. Start with a brisk walk, then circuits of short runs and walks, the classic couch-to-5K idea. The running parts grow week by week, the walks stay short, and after about ten weeks the circuits have become one continuous run.
- Three sessions a week, with a rest day between them.
- Start small: runs of a few hundred metres or one to two minutes, with walks of about the same length.
- Grow the run, not the pace. Running parts get longer, walks stay at a few hundred metres, and every run is slow enough to talk.
- Repeat a week when one felt too hard. Finishing the plan matters more than finishing it on schedule.
If you have a heart condition or another health problem, or haven’t exercised in a long time, see a doctor before you start.
Weekly distance and the long run by level
For runners who already run 20–30 minutes without stopping.
| Level | Peak week | Longest run | Days a week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 20–28 km (12–17 mi) | 8 km (5 mi) | 3–4 |
| Intermediate | 35–45 km (22–28 mi) | 12 km (7.5 mi) | 4–5 |
| Advanced | 50–65 km (31–40 mi) | 16 km (10 mi) | 5–6 |
The long run is far longer than the race on purpose: it builds the aerobic engine that lets you hold 5K pace for the last kilometre. Start from what you run now, add no more than about 10 % a week, and drop to about three quarters every fourth week so the work sinks in.
Quality sessions for the 5K
Beginners need one quality session a week, intermediate runners one in the base phase and two from the build on, advanced runners two. Keep an easy day between hard days.
- Intervals: 5–6 × 800 m to 1 km at 5K race pace, with 2–3 minutes of easy jogging between. The key 5K session.
- Short repeats: 8–12 × 400 m slightly faster than 5K pace, jogging the same time back.
- Threshold (tempo): 15–25 minutes at a comfortably hard pace, or 3–4 × 5–8 minutes with short jogs.
- Hills: 6–10 × 45–90 seconds uphill at a strong effort, walking or jogging down.
- Strides: 4–8 × 20 seconds quick and relaxed after an easy run.
Order them by phase: strides, hills and a relaxed fartlek in the base, intervals and tempo in the build, short race-pace touches in the last two weeks.
Example week in the build phase
One example week about four weeks before the race, not a full plan.
| Day | Beginner (3 days) | Intermediate (4 days) | Advanced (5 days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | Rest | Rest | Rest |
| Tue | Intervals: 5 × 2 min at 5K effort, 6 km (4 mi) | Intervals: 5 × 800 m at 5K pace, 8 km (5 mi) | Intervals: 6 × 1 km at 5K pace, 11 km (7 mi) |
| Wed | Rest | Easy 6 km (4 mi) | Easy 10 km (6 mi) |
| Thu | Easy 5 km (3 mi) + strides | Rest | Easy 8 km (5 mi) + strides |
| Fri | Rest | Tempo: 15 min at threshold, 7 km (4.5 mi) | Tempo: 3 × 8 min at threshold, 10 km (6 mi) |
| Sat | Rest or cross-training | Rest | Rest |
| Sun | Long run 7 km (4.5 mi) | Long run 11 km (7 mi) | Long run 15 km (9 mi) |
| Total | 18 km (11 mi) | 32 km (20 mi) | 54 km (34 mi) |
How to set your paces
Set paces from what you can run today: ideally a race or time trial in the last six to eight weeks. Pete Riegel’s formula scales a result to another distance: predicted time = known time × (new distance ÷ known distance)1.06. A 10K in 50:00 predicts about 24:00 for 5K. The race time predictor and the pace calculator do the sums for you.
- Easy: conversational, typically 1½–2 minutes per km slower than 5K pace.
- Threshold: what you could race for about an hour, roughly 20–30 seconds per km slower than 5K pace.
- Intervals: your current 5K pace, not your goal pace.
Without a recent race, run easy days by heart rate (below roughly 75–80 % of a maximum you have actually seen) and intervals by effort: hard, but even from the first rep to the last.
A sub-25 and a sub-20 5K
25 minutes means 5:00 per km (8:03 per mile); 20 minutes means 4:00 per km (6:26 per mile). By the same formula, a 25-minute 5K goes with roughly a 52-minute 10K, a 20-minute 5K with about 41:40. If your 10K is close, 8–10 weeks of the build above will usually get you there. If it is several minutes away, train for a smaller step first.
Taper and race day
For a 5K the taper is short: cut the last week to about 60 % of your usual volume but keep a few short race-pace efforts, for example 4 × 400 m three days out. On race day, warm up for 10–15 minutes with a few strides, start at goal pace, not faster, and hold back your hardest effort for the last kilometre.
When to change the plan
- Poor sleep: after one bad night, move the interval session a day. After several, run easy instead.
- HRV and resting heart rate: if HRV sits clearly below your usual range, or resting heart rate above it, for several days, run easy or rest. Where to find your HRV.
- Feeling unwell: with a fever, chest symptoms or aching muscles, don’t run. Come back with a few easy days.
- Niggles: pain that changes your stride or worsens during a run means stop.
- Missed runs: carry on from today. Don’t squeeze missed sessions into the next days.
How Keho Coach builds and adapts your plan
- Choose Start running for the 10-week First 5K walk-run plan, or a 5K race with its date. Pick your level (New to running to Elite), how many days a week you run (1–7), which weekdays and your long-run day.
- Keho sets your paces from a recent race or personal best in Apple Health, otherwise from its VO2max estimate, otherwise from heart rate alone. Easy runs follow heart rate, faster work follows pace.
- Every week follows the rules above: the peak and longest run for your level, a capped weekly increase, a lighter week at least every fourth week and a short taper. Walk-run plans build continuous running before any faster work.
- The next seven days of runs go to your Apple Watch, with heart-rate and pace alerts from your own zones. Completed runs are matched to the plan automatically.
Nothing changes on its own. Tell Keho you are not feeling 100 % and the week adjusts, then ramps back. When several low-readiness mornings come with HRV below your usual or resting heart rate above it, when training load climbs too fast, or when you have missed several sessions, Keho offers options that only ever reduce load, always including “Keep as planned”. You decide. A 5K plan is $3.99 on its own or part of Keho Coach ($24.99 a year). Week 1 is readable before you buy, and your health data stays on your iPhone.
Common questions
How long does it take to train for a 5K?
About 10 weeks from no running at all, with walk-run. If you already run 20–30 minutes comfortably, 6–8 weeks of structured training is enough for a good 5K.
How many days a week should I run for a 5K?
Three is enough to finish and to improve. Four or five give more room for a long run, a quality session and easy running in the same week.
What comes after the 5K?
The 10K training plan builds on the same habits with a longer long run and more threshold work.
Source: Riegel, P. S. (1981), “Athletic records and human endurance”, American Scientist 69(3). General information, not medical advice.