Whether you’re out to crush the competition or simply enjoy making progress on your parkrun PB, 5 kilometres is a great distance to work on improving your time.

After a thrilling Paris Olympics and with summer weather conditions having finally arrived, now is a great time to challenge yourself to get faster.

We spoke to Runna, the #1-rated running coaching app, to get their 5 top tips to help you push the pedal down and get 5km personal best! Here is what they recommend…

1. SET YOURSELF A REALISTIC GOAL

Starting with a specific time goal is crucial. Not only does this motivate you to train, it also tells you what pace you need to sustain for the distance.

Look at your current time and choose a realistic target – for example, if you’re running 32 minutes, a good aim might be to go sub-30. The faster you are, the more ‘marginal’ your gains will be: so 30 second PB is a considerable achievement for our sub-20 minute friends!

Not sure what time to aim for? Look at your current pace and practise a few 1km intervals at a slightly quicker speed. This will give you an idea of what you can achieve when your fitness improves and you no longer need recovery time between those reps.

Tip: Remember that you can always set new targets further down the line. While it’s good to be ambitious, focusing on smaller goals first will help you stay motivated.

2. ADD SPEEDWORK TO THE MIX

Around 80% of your training should be easy, but to get quicker, you should add in some faster sessions – namely, Interval and Tempo runs (stay with us – these are easier to understand and put into practice than you think!)

An Interval session sees you run faster than you can do continuously, with rest periods (walking!) in between. This forces your body to adapt to running at a faster speed.

Practise your speedwork with Interval and Tempo sessions with your personalised 5k improvement plan here.

3. CHECK YOUR FORM

Having good form is important for avoiding injury and running more efficiently – in other words, faster!

Pay attention to your posture and movement – are you slouching, swinging your arms or striking heavily on your heels? If so, you’re likely wasting energy and putting more pressure on your joints.

Improve your form by standing up tall, with your hips pushed out slightly. Relax your body (particularly your arms and shoulders) and focus on driving your arms forward. Avoid swinging across your chest (imagine a zipper on a coat which you aren’t allowed to cross).

Your foot strike should see about 80% force on the front of the foot. If you slouch, you may be heel striking, which is an inefficient use of energy. Practise good form on your easy runs first, and learn more about form with Runna coach Ben Parker here.

4. KNOW HOW TO PACE YOURSELF

There is no glory in going out too quickly and blowing up just as fast. Smart runners know how to pace themselves, as it’s essential to managing their energy throughout the run.  

Think of the 5k in three parts. Start at a controlled pace for the first kilometre or mile, pick up the pace slightly in the middle, and then push harder in the final third. This will help you manage your energy and avoid burning out too early.

Use our simple 5k pacing chart to determine your target pace based on your finish goal.

You can also find more about pacing a 5k here.

5. BE CONSISTENT AND ACCOUNTABLE

While you won’t shave 5 minutes off your 5k time in a week, being consistent and having a routine will help you progress towards your target over time.

Why not put sessions into your calendar or diary to help integrate them into your day-to-day schedule? We’d also suggest tracking your progress as you go and using this as a tool to look back on how far you’ve come and motivate yourself to lace up for those harder sessions.

Finally, look to make your training social, from telling your close friends your goals to joining a community of runners either online or in your local area, to organising to run with people that you know.

We hope you feel motivated to train towards all of your running targets, and wish you the best of luck chasing those 5k PBs.

Make sure to download the Runna app to repeat the benefits of structured training sessions. New users get their first 2 weeks free when they sign up with code “MANCHESTERHALF” via the link below.