Goal time · 5K
A 22:00 5K works out to 7:05 per mile, or 4:24 per kilometer. Below are the mile splits for a slightly faster second half, the halfway time to aim for, and the training paces that go with this goal.
The numbers
This plan starts about 1% slower than goal pace and finishes about 1% faster, so the second half is slightly quicker than the first. The elapsed column is what your watch should read as you pass each marker.
| Mile | Pace for That Mile | Elapsed Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7:08 | 7:08 |
| Halfway (1.6) | 7:06 | 11:04 |
| 2 | 7:04 | 14:13 |
| 3 | 7:02 | 21:15 |
| Finish (3.1) | 7:00 | 22:00 |
Measured against the latest published results of 5,229 5K races on RunSesh.
One edition per race, from RunSignup races with published results. Fields include walkers and charity entrants, so this describes these races, not every runner in the country.
These are the paces for a runner who can already race a 22:00 5K, worked out with Daniels and Gilbert's VDOT formulas, the method behind the training tables in Daniels' Running Formula. If your most recent race is slower, train at the paces on the page for that time.
Most of your weekly miles, including the long run.
Steady longer runs at the pace this fitness would hold for a marathon.
A steady run of about 20 minutes, or longer repeats with short rests.
Repeats of 3 to 5 minutes, with easy jogs between.
Abbiss and Laursen's 2008 review in Sports Medicine found that during events lasting more than two minutes, pacing more evenly may improve performance times. Structuring the second half of a 5K slightly faster than the first is a way to enforce restraint early, keeping the opening kilometers from running too hot and pulling the overall race close to even. Use the halfway marker as your on-course checkpoint for whether that restraint held.
Daniels and Gilbert's VDOT formulas treat a 6:28 mile as the same performance as a 22:00 5K. That benchmark gives you a concrete fitness reference from a distance you may have raced recently.
The RRCA pace chart developed by Amby Burfoot is worth reading before setting training paces: "don't begin with a future goal time. To do so increases risk of injury and/or overtraining." Basing paces on an actual recent result keeps the effort aligned with where your fitness is now.
USATF certification measures courses along the Shortest Possible Route, with a Short Course Prevention Factor included. A runner who drifts wide of that line covers more than the stated distance, so a GPS watch averaging pace over extra ground can display a faster reading than the course itself required. Check the course markers, not the watch's laps.
Daniels and Gilbert's formulas treat a 45:37 10K as an equivalent performance to a 22:00 5K. Holding that time in a 10K suggests your aerobic capacity can support the pace demands of the 5K goal.
