7-Week Intermediate 5K Training Plan

The full schedule: every workout, every recovery week, the taper. Generated by the same open-source engine that runs inside the RunPlan app.

Is this the right plan? Assumes a running habit, not a resume: 3 runs a week, starting around 1.6 hours with a 47-minute long run. Right if you run regularly and want structure toward a time goal.

Wrong level? Same race as a 7-week beginner plan or a 7-week advanced plan.

weeks

runs / week

workouts

2.7h

peak week (W6)

base · 0wspeed · 3wpeak · 3wtaper · 1w

5K training paces

The workouts below show zones (Z2, Z4…) instead of fixed paces — your paces should come from a race you have run, not a table. Enter one and the whole plan converts:

A race you’ve run recently

Easy & long runsZ1–Z2
6:11/km
Steady & marathon paceZ3
5:38/km
Threshold & tempoZ4
5:16/km
Intervals & repetitionsZ5
4:57/km

At this fitness, a trained-for 5K lands around 25:00 (5:00/km) — that is the race this plan is building you toward.

Prefilled with a typical result — enter your own race above.

Repetition paces, mile splits and equivalent times for every distance live in the full training pace calculator.

The full 7-week 5K schedule

Free export:

- Threshold Run (3 x 10min)~47 min
  Warm-up 10min · 3 × 10:00 @ Z4 (60s jog) · Cool-down 5min
- Easy Run~25 min
- Easy Run~25 min
- Time Trial (15min)~35 min
  Warm-up 10min · 15:00 @ Z4 · Cool-down 10min
- Easy + Strides (4 x 25s)~39 min
  35:00 @ Z2 · 4 × 0:25 @ Z5 (60s jog)
- Easy Run~30 min
- Hill Repeats (12 x 90s)~62 min
  Warm-up 10min · 12 × 1:30 @ Z4 (2:00 jog) · Cool-down 10min
- Easy Run~50 min
- Easy + Strides (4 x 25s)~39 min
  35:00 @ Z2 · 4 × 0:25 @ Z5 (60s jog)
- 5K Pace (4 × 300s)~48 min
  Warm-up 10min · 4 × 5:00 @ Z5 (2:00 jog) · Cool-down 10min
- Easy Run~30 min
- Easy Run~30 min
- Ladder Intervals (12 segments)~61 min
  Warm-up 5min · 1:30/1:45/2:00/2:15/2:30/2:45/3:00/3:15/3:30/3:45/4:00/4:15 @ Z5 (90s jog) · Cool-down 5min
- Easy Run~55 min
- Easy + Strides (4 x 25s)~39 min
  35:00 @ Z2 · 4 × 0:25 @ Z5 (60s jog)
- 5K Pace (5 × 240s)~55 min
  Warm-up 10min · 5 × 4:00 @ Z5 (3:00 jog) · Cool-down 10min
- Easy + Strides (4 x 25s)~54 min
  50:00 @ Z2 · 4 × 0:25 @ Z5 (60s jog)
- Easy Run~55 min
- Progression Run~47 min
  Warm-up 3min · 35:00 @ Z3 · 6:00 @ Z4 · Cool-down 3min
- Easy + Strides (4 x 25s)~39 min
  35:00 @ Z2 · 4 × 0:25 @ Z5 (60s jog)
- Easy Run~25 min

How this 5k plan is built

Weekly running time starts near 1.6 hours and peaks at 2.7 in week 6. 1 recovery weeks are spaced through the build. The longest run is 62 minutes, in week 3; after that the taper brings you to the start line fresh.

This plan comes from RunPlan’s open-source training engine, which follows the standard coaching literature: Jack Daniels on paces and intensity, Pete Pfitzinger on long-run progression, Hal Higdon on plans a normal person can finish. It is periodized — base, speed, peak, taper — with recovery weeks on a regular cadence and weekly load increases kept inside safe limits. The intermediate version assumes a running habit: one to two quality sessions a week, a proper long-run build, and race-specific work in the peak phase. For the 5K specifically, the emphasis is speed: interval work appears early and the long run stays modest — this race is won at VO2max, not at mile 20.

You can read the actual generator on GitHub — this schedule is its output, not a spreadsheet someone typed up. The longer story is in how the plans actually work.

What you’ll be running

Easy runs14
Other quality3
Intervals & hills2
Race rehearsals & time trials1
Tempo & threshold1

Common questions

How many days a week does this 5k plan require?

3 runs per week for 7 weeks — 21 workouts in total. The biggest week is week 6 at about 2.7 hours of running.

What is the longest run in this 5k plan?

62 minutes, in week 3. The long run builds gradually and is cut back on recovery weeks — you never jump to the peak, you arrive at it.

How many hours a week does it take?

Between about 1.6 and 2.7 hours of running, depending on the week — the plan ramps up through the build and drops sharply in the taper and on the 1 built-in recovery weeks.

Can I download this plan as a PDF, or send it to Garmin?

Yes, all of it free: save the schedule as a PDF, download an .ics calendar file anchored to your start date, send structured workouts to Garmin as .fit, or export a CSV. The buttons sit right above the schedule. The app runs the same plan from your Apple Watch, with your paces and haptic cues.

What paces should I run these workouts at?

Enter a recent race result in the paces block on this page — every zone in the plan gets a pace, plus a projected 5k time. Deriving paces from a result you have actually run (Daniels' VDOT method) beats copying a table; the app does the same automatically and re-derives them as you get fitter.

Is this plan really free?

Yes. This page shows the real plan, generated by the same open-source engine the RunPlan app uses. The app itself is also free — no subscription, no locked weeks — and runs every workout from your Apple Watch with live intervals and pace targets.

What if I miss a week?

Do not try to make missed volume up — that is how injuries happen. Rejoin the plan where the calendar says you are, and treat the first week back as easier than written. Recovery weeks are built in on a regular cadence, which absorbs most real-life interruptions.