Running a fast mile not only gives you the physiological benefit of enhancing your VO2 Max, but it can also be a great way of predicting your 5km pace. This is a perfect session for runners and triathletes running events between 5km & 10km.
Each week I will be posting the Friday Fartlek Run Sessions that you can do to enhance your running. Fartlek is a Swedish term that is often used by runners and it means speed-play. See a previous post about training intensity (levels) to know how hard to work.
The inspiration for this post came from an article on Runner’s World that describes this as a great workout to predict your 5km time (more about that after the workout). Read the original article here.
Jeff Galloway is an American coach and Olympian who has worked with 300,000 athletes and devised this formula as a result.
Jeff Galloway’s Magic Mile
- 10min WU Level II;
- 3x 60sec Level IV, 30sec Level II RI,
- 1 Mile Level V;
- 10min CD Level II;
- 10min Stretching
Start the workout with a Warm Up (WU) of ten minutes of easy jogging at Level II. To elevate your Heart Rate (HR) and prepare your body for the effort that will come, you will run at Level IV for one minute, then take a 30-second Rest Interval (RI) jogging at Level II, completing three reps before moving into the main body.
The Main Set involves running a mile as fast and as consistently as you can. You want to finish the mile feeling like you could run another 100m at that pace.
The Cool Down (CD) is at a low intensity, jogging (Level II) for a minimum of ten minutes.
Finish with 10 minutes of stretching to assist with the recovery.
To predict a 5km time take the time you ran for your mile and add 33 seconds to it. This will be your predicted pace for the 5km.
I ran this workout yesterday and got a time of 6:54 for the mile, adding 0:33 makes a predicted pace of 7:27 min/mile or 4:39 min/km for a 5km. This equates to a total time of 23:17. My Garmin predicts 21:43, it’ll be interesting to see what it ends up being.
On Monday I’ll be running a 5km as I commence my COVID lockdown Faster 5km Programme, lets’s see how accurate the prediction is. Feel free to follow my progress and try it too.
UPDATE: I ran 22:55 for my 5km only 22 seconds off, so not bad at all. If you also do this session and then a 5km, touch base I’d be keen to see how your times compare.
If you would like further advice feel free to contact me.
I am the Head Coach & Director of Qwik Kiwi – Endurance Sports Consultant.
I specialise in assisting first-timers and recreational athletes to achieve their sporting goals. I can be contacted at coachray@coachray.nz and 021 348 729.
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Download the Garmin (.FIT) files for this workout for FREE
If you enjoyed this workout, here is a similar session I published.
With COVID-19 putting us here in NZ into lockdown (but still able to exercise in our local neighbourhood) and events cancelled, my race plans have been put into disarray. For the next four weeks, I’m focusing on improving my 5km time. Monday will see me running a 5km and then 28 days of focused training.
Previously over a 4 week period I and an athlete I coach have just taken over 2 minutes each off our 5km times. Jamie has dropped nearly 3 minutes from 25:36 to 22:37 (12% improvement) and I have taken my 5km time from 23:20 to 21:09 (9% improvement). I’ve put together a package that will help runners of all abilities, run a faster 5km.
I’m so certain that you will be running faster I have given it a 100% money back guarantee if you don’t improve your 5km time after 28 days. I don’t care what your excuse for running slower is after 28 days…..
- I didn’t do any training…..
- It was raining…..
- It was windy…..
- I slept in…….
I’ll still give you a 100% refund.
If you want to be one of the first 20 people to go through this programme and get it for the ultra-low price of $28 then fill in the form below. But before you do so here is what you will get for your $47:
- A dedicated training programme on Training Tilt (value $277)
- Access to a weekly group coaching call (value $30 per call x5 = $150)
- The Faster 5km Training Bible (value $27)
- A dedicated Faster 5km 28 Day Challenge support group (priceless)
That’s a total value of over $454, and you will only pay $47 for this 28-day training programme and support features. All at no risk, if you don’t get faster you get a full 100% money back guarantee.
