I'm a 10k-er! Now what?

Mr_Knight

I did the "Learn to 10k" program. Hit the 10km mark on this morning's run, Day 1 of Week 10. It was super, went from nothing to 10k in 10 weeks without any really serious pain, and without a single injury or setback. The problem is that it was supposed to take 13 weeks...so now I don't know what to do next! The reason I chose a 10k program in the first place was because what I really want is to run a really fast 5k, and I'd heard the old adage that the first step to running 5km fast was to run 10km slow.

Does anybody have a "Run 5km faster!" type program? I'm sure I could shake and bake my own - something like one 10km day, one interval day, one recovery day - but I know myself and know that I do much better with actual milestones and specific tasks. Something like a Clyde Hart program for 5k runners would be fantastic - does such a thing exist?

lmissinsanity

Hill sprints and sprints, makes you much faster. Also google fartleks (spelling?)

Mr_Knight

Yes, I know those are components, I'm looking for a full blown program. So far I've found this one....

Week 1-3

Monday: 5 x 1500m @ 85-95% VO2max, 3 minute rests
Tuesday: 8-10km @ 70-80% VO2max
Wednesday: 8-10km @ 70-80% VO2max
Thursday: 20 x 1 minute @ 85-95% VO2max, 1 minute rest
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 5km at race pace (Week 1,2) or Fartleks (Week 3)
Sunday: Rest

Week 4-6

Same as above, except Monday and Thursday reduce the number of intervals to 3 and 15 but increase effort to 95-105% VO2max.