Progressing on a 5 km race - in 8 weeks

After a warm-up (20 mins of jogging, GPP and 3 accelerations), you will push yourself almost to the limit for 30 seconds and then jog very slowly for 30 seconds before starting again, completing a total of 8 repetitions.

After 2 minutes of recovery at a jogging pace, you will start a second series.

Finish the session with a 10-minute warm-down (without exceeding 65% of your maximum heart rate) to relax the muscles and gradually lower the pulse.

You will recover more quickly and your body will cope with the following session better.

For the interval training, try to run at the pace at which your final repetition is as fast as the first one.

For the fast runs, you will stay at between of 90 and 100% of your maximum heart rate.

Remember to take on fluids as soon as you finish the session.
A little later, you can do a few stretching exercises, albeit without extending the muscles too much.
This could tear the muscle fibres which have already had to make an intense effort.

You will run for 45 minutes while breathing comfortably at all times.
You should be able to speak while running.

Feel free to slow down if you feel the need.

It must be an easy session.

If you have a heart rate sensor, you should stay at approximately 70% of your maximum heart rate, without ever exceeding 75%.

Remember to take on fluids at the end of your run even if it was not done at a high intensity.
As soon as you have finished, you can do a few stretching exercises.

After a warm-up (30 mins of jogging, GPP and 3 accelerations), you will push yourself almost to the limit for 1 minute 30 seconds and then jog very slowly for 50 seconds before starting again, completing a total of 8 repetitions.

Finish the session with a 15-minute warm-down (without exceeding 65% of your maximum heart rate) to relax the muscles and gradually lower the pulse.

You will recover more quickly and your body will cope with the following session better.

For the interval training, try to run at the pace at which your final repetition is as fast as the first one.

For the fast runs, you will stay at between of 90 and 100% of your maximum heart rate.

Remember to take on fluids as soon as you finish the session.
A little later, you can do a few stretching exercises, albeit without extending the muscles too much as this could tear the muscle fibres which have already had to make an intense effort.

You will run for 1 hour while breathing comfortably.
You should be able to talk while you are running.
This should be an enjoyable session.

If you have a heart rate monitor, you should stay at around 70% of your HRMax, without ever exceeding 75%.

At the end of the session, even though it has not been high-intensity remember to rehydrate and you can also do some stretches as soon as you have finished.

After a warm-up (20 mins of jogging, GPP and 3 accelerations), you will push yourself almost to the limit for 45 seconds and then jog very slowly for 40 seconds before starting again, completing a total of 10 repetitions.

After 2 minutes of recovery at a jogging pace, you will start a second series.

Finish the session with a 10-minute warm-down (without exceeding 65% of your maximum heart rate) to relax the muscles and gradually lower the pulse.

You will recover more quickly and your body will cope with the following session better.

For the interval training, try to run at the pace at which your final repetition is as fast as the first one.

If you use a heart rate monitor, the fast sections will be done at 90 to 100% of your maximum heart rate.

Remember to take on fluids as soon as you finish the session.
A little later, you can do a few stretching exercises, albeit without extending the muscles too much.
This could tear the muscle fibres which have already had to make an intense effort.

You will jog for one hour while breathing comfortably at all times. You should be able to speak while running.

Feel free to slow down if you feel the need.

This should be an easy session!

If you have a heart rate sensor, you should stay at approximately 70% of your maximum heart rate, without ever exceeding 75%.

Remember to take on fluids at the end of your run even if it was not done at a high intensity.
As soon as you have finished, you can do a few stretching exercises.

After a warm-up (20 mins of jogging, GPP and 3 gradual accelerations), you will run for 30 seconds of hill training.
You will recover as you calmly go back down to the start point, i.e. about 40 seconds

You will repeat this exercise 10 times before completing a 10-minute warm-down.

Try to find a slope with a regular 5 to 10% gradient and a regular recovery. This is so that you can concentrate on your effort.
You must maintain the same normal stride that you would have on flat terrain.

Take care to maintain the same level of intensity for all the repetitions. Run as "tall" as you can without letting the hill get the better of you.

Try to find a slope with a regular 5 to 10% gradient and a regular recovery. This is so that you can concentrate on your effort.

Remember to take on fluids as soon as you finish the session.
A little later, you can do a few stretching exercises, albeit without extending the muscles too much as this could tear the muscle fibres which have already had to make an intense effort.

You will run for 1 hour 15 minutes while breathing comfortably.
You should be able to speak while running.

It must be an enjoyable session.

You will stay at about 70% of your maximum heart rate, without ever exceeding 75%.

Remember to take on fluids at the end of your run even if it was not done at a high intensity. As soon as you have finished, you can do a few stretching exercises.

After a warm-up (20 mins of jogging, GPP and 3 accelerations), you will push yourself almost to the limit for 1 minute 30 seconds and then jog very slowly for 1 minute before starting again, completing a total of 12 repetitions.

Finish the session with a 10-minute warm-down (without exceeding 65% of your maximum heart rate) to relax the muscles and gradually lower the pulse.

You will recover more quickly and your body will cope with the following session better.

For the interval training, try to run at the pace at which your final repetition is as fast as the first one.

If you use a heart rate monitor, the fast sections will be done at 90 to 100% of your maximum heart rate.

Remember to take on fluids as soon as you finish the session.
A little later, you can do a few stretching exercises, albeit without extending the muscles too much as this could tear the muscle fibres which have already had to make an intense effort.

You will jog for one hour while breathing comfortably at all times.
You should be able to speak while running.

Feel free to slow down if you feel the need.

This should be an easy session!

If you have a heart rate sensor, you should stay at approximately 70% of your maximum heart rate, without ever exceeding 75%.

Remember to take on fluids at the end of your run even if it was not done at a high intensity.
As soon as you have finished, you can do a few stretching exercises.

After a warm-up (30 minutes of jogging, GPP and 3 accelerations), you will push yourself almost to the limit for 3 minutes and then jog very slowly for 1 min 30 secs before starting again, completing a total of 6 repetitions.

Finish the session with a 15-minute warm-down (without exceeding 65% of your maximum heart rate) to relax the muscles and gradually lower the pulse.

You will recover more quickly and your body will cope with the following session better.

For the interval training, try to run at the pace at which your final repetition is as fast as the first one.

If you use a heart rate monitor, the fast sections will be done at 90 to 100% of your maximum heart rate.

Remember to take on fluids as soon as you finish the session.
A little later, you can do a few stretching exercises, albeit without extending the muscles too much as this could tear the muscle fibres which have already had to make an intense effort.

You will run for 1 hour and 30 minutes while breathing comfortably.
You should be able to speak while running.

It must be an enjoyable session.

You will stay at about 70% of your maximum heart rate, without ever exceeding 75%.

Remember to take on fluids at the end of your run even if it was not done at a high intensity. As soon as you have finished, you can do a few stretching exercises.

You will run for 45 minutes while breathing comfortably at all times.
You should be able to speak while running.

Feel free to slow down if you feel the need.

It must be an easy session.

If you have a heart rate sensor, you should stay at approximately 70% of your maximum heart rate, without ever exceeding 75%.

Remember to take on fluids at the end of your run even if it was not done at a high intensity. As soon as you have finished, you can do a few stretching exercises.

You will run for 45 minutes while breathing comfortably at all times.
You should be able to speak while running.

Feel free to slow down if you feel the need.

It must be an easy session.

If you have a heart rate sensor, you should stay at approximately 70% of your maximum heart rate, without ever exceeding 75%.

Remember to take on fluids at the end of your run even if it was not done at a high intensity.
As soon as you have finished, you can do a few stretching exercises.

You will run for 1 hour 15 minutes while breathing comfortably.
You should be able to speak while running.

It must be an enjoyable session.

You will stay at about 70% of your maximum heart rate, without ever exceeding 75%.

Remember to take on fluids at the end of your run even if it was not done at a high intensity. As soon as you have finished, you can do a few stretching exercises.

Rest.
No running for this slot.
Stay at home and rest yourself.
The purpose of this rest period is to help your body properly integrate the work done over the previous weeks.

Stay at home and rest yourself. Take the opportunity to read our advice!

Don't run and rest. Take the opportunity to read our advice!

After a warm-up (20 mins of jogging, GPP and 3 gradual accelerations), you will run for 30 seconds of hill training.
You will recover as you calmly go down back down to the start point, i.e. 40 seconds.

You will repeat this exercise 15 times before doing a 10-minute warm-down.

Try to find a slope with a regular 5 to 10% gradient and a regular recovery. This is so that you can concentrate on your effort.
You must maintain the same normal stride that you would have on flat terrain.

Take care to maintain the same level of intensity for all the repetitions. Run as "tall" as you can without letting the hill get the better of you.

Try to find a slope with a regular 5 to 10% gradient and a regular recovery. This is so that you can concentrate on your effort.

Remember to take on fluids as soon as you finish the session.
A little later, you can do a few stretching exercises, albeit without extending the muscles too much as this could tear the muscle fibres which have already had to make an intense effort.

You will run for 45 minutes while breathing comfortably at all times.
You should be able to speak while running.

Feel free to slow down if you feel the need.

It must be an easy session.

If you have a heart rate sensor, you should stay at approximately 70% of your maximum heart rate, without ever exceeding 75%.

Remember to take on fluids at the end of your run even if it was not done at a high intensity.
As soon as you have finished, you can do a few stretching exercises.

After a warm-up (30 minutes of jogging, GPP and 3 accelerations), you will push yourself almost to the limit for 4 minutes and then jog very slowly for 2 mins before starting again, completing a total of 5 repetitions.

Finish the session with a 15-minute warm-down (without exceeding 65% of your maximum heart rate) to relax the muscles and gradually lower the pulse.

You will recover more quickly and your body will cope with the following session better.

For the interval training, try to run at the pace at which your final repetition is as fast as the first one.

If you use a heart rate monitor, the fast sections will be done at 88 to 98% of your maximum heart rate.

Remember to take on fluids as soon as you finish the session.
A little later, you can do a few small stretching exercises, albeit without extending the muscles too much.
This could tear the muscle fibres which have already had to make an intense effort.

You will run for 1 hour while breathing comfortably.
You should be able to talk while you are running.
This should be an enjoyable session.

If you have a heart rate monitor, you should stay at around 70% of your HRMax, without ever exceeding 75%.

At the end of the session, even though it has not been high-intensity remember to rehydrate and you can also do some stretches as soon as you have finished.

After a warm-up (20 mins of jogging, GPP and 3 accelerations), you will push yourself almost to the limit for 45 seconds and then jog very slowly for 30 seconds before starting again, completing a total of 15 repetitions.

Finish the session with a 10-minute warm-down (without exceeding 65% of your maximum heart rate) to relax the muscles and gradually lower the pulse.

You will recover more quickly and your body will cope with the following session better.

For the interval training, try to run at the pace at which your final repetition is as fast as the first one.

If you use a heart rate monitor, the fast sections will be done at 90 to 100% of your maximum heart rate.

Remember to take on fluids as soon as you finish the session. A little later, you can do a few stretching exercises, albeit without extending the muscles too much as this could tear the muscle fibres which have already had to make an intense effort.

You will jog for one hour while breathing comfortably at all times.
You should be able to speak while running.

Feel free to slow down if you feel the need.

This should be an easy session!

If you have a heart rate sensor, you should stay at approximately 70% of your maximum heart rate, without ever exceeding 75%.

Remember to take on fluids at the end of your run even if it was not done at a high intensity.
As soon as you have finished, you can do a few stretching exercises.

After a warm-up (30 mins of jogging, GPP and 3 gradual accelerations), you will run for 2 minutes of hill training.
You will recover as you go down back down to the start point, i.e. 1 min 30 mins.

You will repeat this exercise 8 times before doing a 15-minute warm-down.

Try to find a slope with a regular 5 to 10% gradient and a regular recovery. This is so that you can concentrate on your effort.
You must maintain the same stride that you would have on flat terrain.

Take care to maintain the same level of intensity for all the repetitions. Run as "tall" as you can without letting the hill get the better of you.

Try to find a slope with a regular 5 to 10% gradient and a regular recovery. This is so that you can concentrate on your effort.

Remember to take on fluids as soon as you finish the session.
A little later, you can do a few stretching exercises, albeit without extending the muscles too much.
This could tear the muscle fibres which have already had to make an intense effort.

You will run for 1 hour 15 minutes while breathing comfortably.
You should be able to speak while running.

It must be an enjoyable session.

You will stay at about 70% of your maximum heart rate, without ever exceeding 75%.

Remember to take on fluids at the end of your run even if it was not done at a high intensity.
As soon as you have finished, you can do a few stretching exercises.

After a warm-up (30 mins of jogging, GPP and 3 accelerations), you will push yourself almost to the limit for 40 seconds and then jog very slowly for 30 seconds before starting again, completing a total of 10 repetitions.

After 2 minutes of recovery at a jogging pace, you will start a second series.

Finish the session with a 10-minute warm-down (without exceeding 65% of your maximum heart rate) to relax the muscles and gradually lower the pulse.

You will recover more quickly and your body will cope with the following session better.

For the interval training, try to run at the pace at which your final repetition is as fast as the first one.

Remember to take on fluids as soon as you finish the session.
A little later, you can do a few stretching exercises, albeit without extending the muscles too much.
This could tear the muscle fibres which have already had to make an intense effort.

You will jog for one hour while breathing comfortably at all times.
You should be able to speak while running.

Feel free to slow down if you feel the need.

This should be an easy session!

If you have a heart rate sensor, you should stay at approximately 70% of your maximum heart rate, without ever exceeding 75%.

Remember to take on fluids at the end of your run even if it was not done at a high intensity.
As soon as you have finished, you can do a few stretching exercises.

After a warm-up (30 minutes of jogging, GPP and 3 accelerations), you will run for 3 minutes, 2 minutes and 1 minute, broken up by 1 min 30 sec slow runs to recover.

You will do a total of 3 repetitions of this exercise, while jogging for 2 minutes to recover between the series.

Finish the session with a 15-minute warm-down (without exceeding 65% of your maximum heart rate) to relax the muscles and gradually lower the pulse.

You will recover more quickly and your body will cope with the following session better.

For the interval training, try to run at the pace at which your final repetition is as fast as the first one.

If you use a heart rate monitor, the fast sections will be done at 90 to 100% of your maximum heart rate.

Remember to take on fluids as soon as you finish the session.
A little later, you can do a few stretching exercises, albeit without extending the muscles too much as this could tear the muscle fibres which have already had to make an intense effort.

You will jog for 1 hr 30 mins while breathing comfortably at all times (you must be able to speak while running).

Feel free to slow down if you feel the need.

If you have a heart rate sensor, you should stay at approximately 70% of your maximum heart rate, without ever exceeding 75%.

Remember to take on fluids at the end of your run even if it was not done at a high intensity. As soon as you have finished, you can do a few stretching exercises.

After a warm-up (20 minutes of jogging, GPP and 3 accelerations), you will push yourself almost to the limit for 30 seconds and then jog very slowly for 30 secs before starting again, completing a total of 12 repetitions.

Finish the session with a 10-minute warm-down (without exceeding 65% of your maximum heart rate) to relax the muscles and gradually lower the pulse.

You will recover more quickly and your body will cope with the following session better.

For the interval training, try to run at the pace at which your final repetition is as fast as the first one.

If you use a heart rate monitor, the fast sections will be done at 90 to 100% of your maximum heart rate.

Remember to take on fluids as soon as you finish the session.
A little later, you can do a few small stretching exercises, albeit without extending the muscles too much.
This could tear the muscle fibres which have already had to make an intense effort.

You will run for 45 minutes while breathing comfortably at all times.
You should be able to speak while running.

Feel free to slow down if you feel the need.

It must be an easy session.

If you have a heart rate sensor, you should stay at approximately 70% of your maximum heart rate, without ever exceeding 75%.

Remember to take on fluids at the end of your run even if it was not done at a high intensity.
As soon as you have finished, you can do a few stretching exercises.

You will run for 20 minutes while breathing comfortably at all times.
You should be able to speak while running.

Then, you will do 5 gradual accelerations over 100 metres

If needed (fatigue, physical issue), you can shorten this session.

It must be an easy session.

If you have a heart rate sensor, you should stay at approximately 70% of your maximum heart rate, without ever exceeding 75%.

Remember to take on fluids at the end of your run even if it was not done at a high intensity.
As soon as you have finished, you can do a few stretching exercises.

You will warm up in the normal way.

To ensure you get an accurate time, you need to run a "traditional" session when the race begins.

Don't set off too quickly to ensure you're not struggling over the final kilometres.
It's better to start slowly and speed up over the final 2 kilometres than the other way around!

Enjoy it as much as you can, even though you'll need to exert yourself a little to achieve success.

Take your place on the start line 5 to 10 minutes before the scheduled race start time.
Avoid joining the first few rows so that you don't have to set off too quickly but make sure you're not at the back of the main pack either.

Remember to stay hydrated and, above all, enjoy the excitement of it all.