Eight
weeks.
For runners whose easy runs sit around 5:30/km. Three runs a week: one hard, two genuinely easy. Volume builds to a peak in weeks four to six, drops in week seven, and week eight is a test on the same route you started on. New to running? Start with the first month on the routes page.
Build it, ease off,
prove it.
Both runs conversational. If you are new, walk one minute in every five and still call it a run.
Build the aerobic floor and get your legs used to three runs in seven days. Nothing in this week should feel hard.
| Week | Phase | Km | Key session | Easy runs at 5:30 /km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W01 | Phase Base | Km 22 | Key session Strides · 6 × 20 s · quick, relaxed | Easy runs 2 × 45 min easy |
| W02 | Phase Base | Km 28 | Key session 12 × 200 · 3:05–3:20 /km | Easy runs 2 × 50 min easy |
| W03 | Phase VO2max | Km 28 | Key session 4 × 4 · 3:50–4:10 /km | Easy runs 2 × 50 min easy |
| W04 | Phase VO2max | Km 31 | Key session 6 × 3 · 3:45–4:05 /km | Easy runs 2 × 55 min easy |
| W05 | Phase Threshold | Km 31 | Key session 5 × 1000 · 4:00–4:15 /km | Easy runs 2 × 55 min easy |
| W06 | Phase Race pace | Km 30 | Key session Tempo 20′ · 4:20 /km | Easy runs 2 × 60 min easy |
| W07 | Phase Taper | Km 23 | Key session 3 × 3 · 3:45–4:00 /km | Easy runs 2 × 40 min easy |
| W08 | Phase Test | Km 20 | Key session 5K test · All out | Easy runs 2 × 30 min easy |
Every weekly total is counted from the runs: easy running at 5:30 /km, warm-ups and recoveries included, and the hard reps at the middle of their pace range. Running easier than 5:30? Keep the minutes and let the kilometres fall; the plan builder sets a volume from your own week instead.
Your times,
your weeks.
The block above is the shape. The plan builder fills in your own paces from your current 5K and picks the route for each session.
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