From Completing to Competing—Here’s How to Run a Faster 5K

If “just finish” was your goal and you crushed that, the next logical step is to run your next 5K faster. It’s not as hard as you might think.

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Does this sound like you? You got up the nerve to enter a 5K. It was scary yet a little exciting. Your goal was just to finish.

Then, on race day. You did it!

You proved to yourself that you can, indeed, complete a 5K.

You’ve entered into a whole new world of running, and now there’s part of you that wonders if you could go faster. My answer is YES YOU CAN!  And it’s not as hard as you think.

With the “runner to racer” plan I put together below, you will not just run a 5K, you’ll race a 5K. Not sure where to set our goals? Read our article on what a good 5K time is based on your age and gender.

Your Training Plan

If you trained for your first 5K with a training plan, you already know the rhythm of following a schedule. You can revisit the plan that got you to your first finish line and layer in the speed workouts outlined in the next section, or you can start fresh using the framework here.

If your first 5K was more casual or spur-of-the-moment, chasing a faster time will feel even more achievable—because this time, you’ll have the benefit of a structured plan designed to build endurance and aerobic capacity.

Ideally, your training will include three to four days of running each week. Here’s a good way to build out your schedule.

• Easy Runs: These build aerobic capacity while keeping stress low. Run at a comfortable, controlled pace for 20–30 minutes, two days a week. If you’re new to running, try run-walk intervals—alternate running for a set time (maybe 1 minute) with walking breaks (2 minutes) to keep your effort and heart rate in check.
• Long Runs: A weekly long run boosts both mental and physical endurance. Start with 4 miles in week one, progress to 5 miles in weeks two and three, 6 miles in week four, then step back to 4 miles in week five. Keep the pace conversational, and don’t hesitate to mix in walking if needed.
• Cross-Training (XT): Activities like yoga, cycling, swimming, rowing, or the elliptical help build fitness and reduce injury risk while giving your legs a break from pounding.
• Speed Workouts: These are the sessions that sharpen your fitness and get you a faster time. Check out the workouts below.

Six Weeks, Three Types of Runs, One Fast Race

Week 1: Progression Run

On one of your runs this week, finish the last 3 minutes of the run at a medium-hard effort. The exact pace does not matter. The goal of this workout is to train your mind to run faster at the end of a run (and eventually a race). Called a progression run, I use this workout with all of my runners, and it works a treat.

This is important, so read it carefully. Don’t worry if you run too fast and get tired before the end of the 3minutes. We’re trying to dial in your effort distribution —the ability to judge how fast you can run and still finish strong.

In fact, it’s advantageous to go too fast and get tired. You quickly learn the correct effort for the next time we do this workout and, most importantly, for the race.

Note that this workout (and all of the others in this plan) is only done once per week. That’s all you need—one specialty workout per week. Ideally, your next day should be a rest, active recovery, or easy run day.

Week 2: Fartlek

On one of your runs in week two, run (or run/walk) for 5 minutes, then begin to alternate 1minute running at a medium-hard effort with 1 minute walking or a slow run—often called a “jog.”

Complete 6 to 8 sets of 1 minute medium-hard followed by 1 minute recovery walk/jog. Cool down for 2-5 minutes.

Like last week’s workout, this effort-based workout (often called a “fartlek” run— literally translated to ”speed play” and meaning pace change) is to help you dial in your effort distribution.

Your effort on each of the faster segments is perfect when you recover your breathing in the 1-minute recovery interval, yet you run fast enough so that you feel a good mental challenge to hold your faster pace in the last few fast repetitions.

It’s a bit like Goldilocks. You want to run fast but not too fast. We’ll repeat this workout, so don’t worry if you don’t nail it this time. Training is a learning experience.

As a reminder, you should treat your body really, really well after these weekly specialty workouts. Rehydrate quickly and eat a combination of protein, carbs, and healthy fats within an hour of completing this session.. And why not treat yourself to a massage?

Week 3: Pace Practice

On one run this week, we’re going to practice pacing. While the progression run and pace change workouts from the previous weeks were effort-based, this run is pace-based.

Start your run at your average pace in your previous 5K (check your race results, as your average pace per mile is often listed in the results).

For example, if you finished your previous 5K in 37:12, then your average pace per mile was 12 minutes (12:00). For the first 5 minutes of this workout, you’d run (or run/walk) at a 12:00-minute-per-mile pace. And give yourself some latitude for heat, hills, terrain, or anything else that might make it difficult to hit that pace. As long as you average your 5K pace for 5 minutes, the goal is achieved.

After 5 minutes, walk for 1 minute, then start to run again, but this time, increase your pace to 10-15 seconds per mile faster than your previous 5K pace (11:45-11:50, using our example runner). Hold this new, faster pace for 5 minutes.

Take a two-minute walk break, then begin to run again. For the next five minutes, run 20-30 seconds per mile faster than your previous 5K pace (11:15-11:30 minutes per mile using our example of a 37:12 5K runner).

The last five minutes of running may be tough, but that’s the point. My goal is that you learn to challenge yourself to keep going even when tired. It won’t be easy, but it should be a fun challenge if you accept it.

Cool down with 2-5 minutes of walking or a slow jog.

Week 4: Progression Run

Here is where the fun starts. We’re going to repeat the workouts and you’ll see just how much you’ve improved—mentally and physically.

In week one, you did your first progression run. You finished the last three minutes at a quicker clip than the rest of your workout. This week, you repeat the run but run fast for 5 minutes at the end of your run.

By now, your mind is getting stronger and stronger. You are more willing to push yourself to run fast. And importantly, you are less worried about “dying” at the end. You’re changing from a runner to a racer.

Week 5: Fartlek

In week five, we’ll do another Fartlek but add more volume of fast running.

Start by running  (or run/walking for 5 minutes, then begin to alternate 1 minute at a medium-hard effort with one minute walking or a slow run. Complete 8 to 10 sets of 1 minute medium-hard followed by 1 minute recovery walk/jog. Cool down for 2-5 minutes.

My hope is that your “medium-hard” effort now results in a faster pace. I bet it does because you are building a stride that is comfortable at faster paces while continuing to boost your aerobic fitness.

Week 6 (Race Week): Pace Practice

Way to go! You are a totally different runner now. Pat yourself on the back for me.

The race is this weekend, so we’re just going to do one last pace practice workout four to five days before the race but with less volume of fast running to save your legs for the big day

Start your run at  10-15 seconds per mile faster than your previous 5K pace. Hold this pace for 3minutes.

After 3 minutes, walk for 2 minutes, then start to run again, but this time, increase your pace to 20-30 seconds per mile faster than your previous 5K pace. Run at this pace for 3minutes, then walk for 2 minutes to recover.

That’s it. You are READY!

Race Day

Following this six-week plan, runners typically shave 10-30 seconds per mile off their previous “my goal is just to finish” 5K times. That means you are likely to run 30 seconds to 1 minute faster for your next 5K!

Most importantly, you prove to yourself that you have more ability than you previously gave yourself credit for.

Racing faster in a 5K is a daunting task, but through this program, you’ll teach yourself to be mentally strong, accept the challenge of running hard when fatigued, and gauge your effort so you can run faster for farther.

I suspect you’ll be itching for more racing, and you can repeat this workout program again to see another jump in your performance. Next, you’ll be ready to move on to an intermediate training plan—the workouts only get more fun.