The eight-week plan
The full schedule, plus what to do about the weeks you don't follow it.
Three sessions a week, never on consecutive days. Every run segment at conversational pace. Every week written on the assumption that you’ll miss something.
The schedule
| Week | The session | Running, in total |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 x (90 sec run / 2 min walk) | 12 min |
| 2 | 7 x (2 min run / 2 min walk) | 14 min |
| 3 | 6 x (3 min run / 90 sec walk) | 18 min |
| 4 | 5 x (4 min run / 90 sec walk) | 20 min |
| 5 | 4 x (6 min run / 90 sec walk) | 24 min |
| 6 | 3 x (9 min run / 2 min walk) | 27 min |
| 7 | 2 x (15 min run / 2 min walk) | 30 min |
| 8 | One continuous run | 30-35 min, your 5K |
Warm up with five minutes of walking, and finish with five more. Those ten minutes are not optional padding; they’re where a lot of the injury prevention quietly happens.
The rules for missed sessions
| What you missed | What you do |
|---|---|
| One session | Carry on as though you hadn’t |
| A whole week | Repeat the last week you completed |
| Three weeks or more | Drop back two weeks and rebuild |
| Nothing, but it hurt | Repeat the week rather than progress |
The two questions everyone asks
Can I add a fourth session?
Not yet. The rest days are load-bearing - they are where the slow-adapting tissue from lesson one does its work. Add a fourth session after week eight if you still want one.
Can I go faster instead of longer?
Also not yet. Duration first, then pace, in that order, for at least the first few months of running.
What about hills, or a treadmill?
Both fine. Walk the hills for now, and if you use a treadmill set a 1% incline so the effort roughly matches running outside.
Week eight
Pick a flat route, go slower than you think you should for the first kilometre, and expect the middle to feel worse than the end. Five kilometres at conversational pace takes most beginners somewhere between thirty and forty minutes, and the number is the least interesting thing about the day.
Resources
The eight-week planAll eight weeks and the missed-session rules, one page, printable.DownloadProgress is saved to your account.
This lesson is part of the full course
Enroll once and own it forever - every lesson, the quiz, and all future updates to The First 5K.
Or get every course with the All-Access Pass - $149 once.
Already enrolled? Check your account.