Sample plan

5K training plan for sub-25

Ben has 70 seconds to find over 5K.

Ben is 30 and has run for three years: three days a week, about 20 km, and a 26:10 5K. Nine weeks to break twenty-five minutes.

Built by Tuin on 9 September 2026
Shown from this week, so it reads like a plan starting today — every weekday, distance and session is exactly as it was written.

The runner is made up. The plan is not: it is exactly what Tuin built from these numbers, through the same door every athlete's first plan goes through. It was written in English — the other two languages are translated word for word, never renumbered, and strength exercises are named from a standard glossary so they read the same everywhere.

Why this plan looks like this

At 5K the thing that runs out is almost never endurance, and Ben's eight weeks already carry enough of it — twenty kilometres is plenty for a race that lasts twenty-five minutes. So the plan barely touches his volume and spends its nine weeks on speed he can repeat, which is a different thing from speed he can reach once.

What the coach was told

Goal
Autumn 5K
Race day
13 December 2026
Distance
5 km
Target
24:45
Runs per week
3
Weekly volume
~20 km
Longest run
9 km
Recent effort
5 km · 26:10
Threshold pace
5:14/km

The eight weeks before

Weekly kilometres the coach read before writing a single session — the runs it built on.

20
20
20
20
15
21
21
21

What the coach said, handing it over

Here's your first plan toward the Autumn 5K on Dec 13 (9 weeks out). A few assumptions, correct me on any: your 26:10 5K from Sep 23 says a 5:14/km pace today — I'm treating 24:45 (4:57/km) as a real, work-for-it goal rather than a stretch fantasy, and building on your existing ~20km/week, 3-day rhythm (Tue/Thu/Sun) plus one strength day, which I've put on Monday since none of your run days are free otherwise.

Shape: base weeks through late October holding your current volume and easy sub-threshold work, a cutback week Nov 9 (your legs get a breather every 4th week — that's how fitness actually banks), then two build weeks sharpening toward 5K pace, then race week with a real sharpener (not just easy jogging) so you arrive fast, not flat.

Tomorrow (Thu) is an easy run, then your normal Sunday long run — I'm starting the plan the moment you can run it, not waiting for a clean Monday.

If 20km/week is more of a ceiling than your actual current average, or if that 26:10 was a rough day, tell me and I'll retune the whole ramp.

The plan, week by week

Sixteen weeks is a lot to scroll. Every week is folded — open the ones you want, and week one is open already.

9 weeks · Peak week 6 · 23 km planned

Week 1from 13 Oct2 sessions13 km planned

Ease back in

  • Thu 15
    Easy · 5 km @ 5:55-6:15/km · 25–35 min
    Easy conversational run — nothing to prove this week, just get moving again.
  • Sun 18
    Long · 8 km @ 5:55-6:15/km · 40–55 min
    Steady long run at an easy, chatty pace.
Week 2from 19 Oct4 sessions20 km planned

Base — building the aerobic engine

  • Mon 19
    Strength
    Back squat 4 × 5 · heavy ~5RM · Bulgarian split squat 3 × 6 per side · moderate-heavy · Calf raise (straight knee) 3 × 10 · light-moderate · Calf raise (bent knee) 3 × 10 · moderate · Single-leg glute bridge 3 × 8 per side · bodyweight
  • Tue 20
    Tempo run · 6 km · 30–40 min
    Short continuous tempo to build comfort at a controlled hard effort.
  • Thu 22
    Easy · 6 km @ 5:55-6:15/km · 30–40 min
    Easy run, truly conversational.
  • Sun 25
    Long · 8 km @ 5:55-6:15/km · 40–55 min
    Long run at easy effort — this is what builds your engine for race day.
Week 3from 26 Oct4 sessions21 km planned

Base — first taste of race-pace work

  • Mon 26
    Strength
    Back squat 4 × 5 · heavy ~5RM · Bulgarian split squat 3 × 6 per side · moderate-heavy · Calf raise (straight knee) 3 × 10 · moderate · Calf raise (bent knee) 3 × 10 · moderate · Single-leg glute bridge 3 × 8 per side · bodyweight
  • Tue 27
    On/offs · 8 × (1 min / 1 min) · 30–45 min
    On/off intervals — your first taste of controlled speed this block.
  • Thu 29
    Easy · 6 km @ 5:55-6:15/km · 30–40 min
    Easy run, keep it relaxed.
  • Sun 1
    Long · 9 km @ 5:55-6:15/km · 50–60 min
    Long run, easy effort, small bump in distance.
Week 4from 2 Nov4 sessions22 km planned

Build — extending the tempo

  • Mon 2
    Strength
    Back squat 4 × 5 · heavy ~5RM · Bulgarian split squat 3 × 6 per side · moderate-heavy · Calf raise (straight knee) 3 × 10 · moderate · Calf raise (bent knee) 3 × 10 · moderate · Single-leg glute bridge 3 × 8 per side · bodyweight
  • Tue 3
    Tempo run · 7 km · 35–45 min
    Longer continuous tempo — comfortably hard, controlled.
  • Thu 5
    Easy · 6 km @ 5:55-6:15/km · 30–40 min
    Easy run.
  • Sun 8
    Long · 9 km @ 5:55-6:15/km · 50–60 min
    Long run, easy effort.
Week 5from 9 Nov4 sessions17 km planned

Cutback week — let the legs absorb the last month

  • Mon 9
    Strength
    Back squat 3 × 5 · moderate · Split squat 2 × 6 per side · moderate · Calf raise (straight knee) 2 × 10 · moderate · Single-leg glute bridge 2 × 8 per side · bodyweight
  • Tue 10
    Tempo run · 5 km · 25–35 min
    Short, easy tempo — a down week on purpose, not a step back in fitness.
  • Thu 12
    Easy · 5 km @ 5:55-6:15/km · 25–35 min
    Easy, short run.
  • Sun 15
    Long · 7 km @ 5:55-6:15/km · 35–50 min
    Cutback long run — shorter on purpose, this is what makes next block possible.
Week 6from 16 Nov4 sessions23 km planned

Build resumes — sharpening toward 5K pace

  • Mon 16
    Strength
    Back squat 4 × 5 · heavy ~5RM · Bulgarian split squat 3 × 6 per side · moderate-heavy · Calf raise (straight knee) 3 × 10 · moderate · Calf raise (bent knee) 3 × 10 · moderate · Single-leg glute bridge 3 × 8 per side · bodyweight
  • Tue 17
    5x1000 @ 5K pace · 5 × (1 km) · 40–50 min
    5x1000m at 5K pace — the classic sharpening session for this distance.
  • Thu 19
    Easy · 6 km @ 5:55-6:15/km · 30–40 min
    Easy run.
  • Sun 22
    Long · 9 km @ 5:55-6:15/km · 50–60 min
    Long run, easy effort — your biggest of the block.
Week 7from 23 Nov4 sessions21 km planned

Build — moving toward goal pace

  • Mon 23
    Strength
  • Tue 24
    Intervals · 6 km @ 4:57-5:05/km · 25–35 min
    8x400 @ goal pace w/ 200 jog
  • Thu 26
    Easy · 6 km @ 5:55-6:15/km · 30–40 min
    Easy run.
  • Sun 29
    Long · 9 km @ 5:55-6:15/km · 50–60 min
    Long run, easy effort.
Week 8from 30 Nov4 sessions17 km planned

Peak — last hard week before taper

  • Mon 30
    Strength
  • Tue 1
    Intervals · 6 km @ 4:57-5:05/km · 25–35 min
    10x400 @ goal pace w/ 200 jog
  • Thu 3
    Easy · 5 km @ 5:55-6:15/km · 25–35 min
    Easy, short run.
  • Sun 6
    Long · 6 km @ 5:55-6:15/km · 30–40 min
    Cutback long run — taper starting now.
Week 9from 7 Dec4 sessions15 km planned

Race week — sharpen, don't dull

  • Tue 8
    4x400 @ 5K pace · 4 × (400 m) · 20–30 min
    Race-week sharpener — short and fast, not a fitness test. You should finish feeling like you could do it again.
  • Thu 10
    Easy · 3 km @ 5:55-6:15/km · 15–20 min
    Short, easy shakeout — legs loose, nothing more.
  • Sat 12
    Easy · 5 × (25s) · 15–20 min
    Openers — easy jog with a handful of race-pace strides to prime the legs for tomorrow.
  • Sun 13
    Race day · 5 km @ 4:57/km · 20–30 min
    Autumn 5K — race day. Trust the work, don't bank time, aim even or slightly negative splits.
Other plans
5K under 20:00 →5K in 22:00 →5K in 30:00 →10K under 40:00 →10K under 42:00 →10K in 45:00 →10K in 50:00 →10K in 55:00 →Half under 1:30 →Half in 1:45 →Half in 2:00 →Half in 2:10 →Half in 2:15 →First half, 2:30 →Marathon under 3:00 →Marathon in 3:30 →Marathon in 3:45 →Marathon in 4:00 →First marathon, 4:30 →First trail, 25K →Trail marathon, 42K →50K trail →

Yours would look different

Tuin writes every plan from the runs it can actually see and the goal you set — then keeps rewriting it as your weeks happen. The whole of it is free for 7 days.

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5K training plan for sub-25 · Tuin