5K Horwill – 5-Pace System
Frank Horwill
About the plan
Frank Horwill's five-pace system shifted one notch up, applied to 5000 m. Here the five paces are 1500 m, 3000 m, 5000 m, 10,000 m and half marathon: the runner trains at race speed and at the two neighboring speeds on each side, separated by about 4 seconds per 400 m. The logic is that 5K speed is not developed in isolation — it is supported from below by threshold work and pulled from above by 1500 m pace. Each week touches two or three paces in a rotation that covers all five every two weeks; the final three weeks concentrate on race pace. For advanced runners who already have an aerobic base and want to take time off their 5K with real track work. How to read the paces: Horwill's system works with five speeds separated by about 4 seconds per 400 m lap, and the platform has four quality zones. The mapping used here is in the title of each session — the workout name says which of the five paces is the target, and the zone (@limiar, @intervalo, @repetição, @prova) is only the vehicle. Trust the title. This is a track plan for an advanced athlete: the proportion of quality workouts is deliberately high, because that is exactly what the five-pace method proposes.
The plan in numbers
- Duration
- 12 weeks
- Runs per week
- 6
- Weekly volume
- 5 mi · 2h 49m → 6.7 mi · 3h 31m
- Longest run
- 1h 10m
Week 1 starts at 5 mi · 2h 49m and volume builds to 6.7 mi · 3h 31m in week 10, the heaviest of the plan.
A typical week has 6 runs, and the longest session reaches 1h 10m (Long, week 10).
Over the final 2 weeks volume drops from 6.7 mi · 3h 31m to 1.5 mi · 1h 55m so you arrive at the race rested.
Race day (3.1 mi · 25 min) falls on Sunday of week 12; the week holds 1.5 mi · 1h 55m of running before it.
There are 9 tune-up races on the way to the goal race.
Key workouts
The quality sessions that come up most in this plan:
- Long11 sessions across 11 weeks
- Interval7 sessions across 7 weeks
- Threshold6 sessions across 6 weeks
- Marathon4 sessions across 4 weeks
Who it's for
Advanced level. To start safely you should already be running about 5 mi · 2h 49m per week and be comfortable with a 2.5 mi · 35 min session — that is what week 1 asks for.
Week 1 — workout preview
5 mi · 2h 49m this week
2.5 mi · 29 min
20 min
2.5 mi · 35 min
20 min
25 min
40 min
Week 10 — the heaviest of the plan
9.7 mi · 4h 5m this week
3 mi · 41 min
35 min
3 mi · 34 min
40 min
3.7 mi · 25 min
1h 10m
Plan Structure
12 weeks · 71 workouts · 13 rest days
See the full plan
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