You’ll Never Break a 30 Minute 5k Training Like This

[00:00:00] You’re running three times a week. You’re consistent. You’re following a plan, and you’re stuck at 30 minutes and 15 seconds every time you race. It’s the same story. Strong first two miles, then something breaks. You lose the finishing kick. It gets brutal. After the race, you tell yourself, I could have gone faster.

[00:00:16] The problem is not your effort, it’s your structure. It’s your sequencing. It’s how you do things. Most three plans look identical. One speed day. Two other runs. People think that’s enough because they’re working hard. But the 5K does not care about how hard you’re trying. It cares about building the right aerobic engine and putting it together smart.

[00:00:34] And three days a week, it might not cut it. I’m gonna change all of that. This is gonna be a full masterclass, deep dive that people would pay for. So get ready, lock in a lot of deep information. It includes the training week that works. Why three versus four days changes everything specific run training tactics.

[00:00:51] VO two max threshold work long runs, exact paces, exact volumes, you name it, I got you. And a free training plan to help you go sub 30 minutes in only six weeks. I am Daren DLake, certified running coach and lifelong runner. I’ve spent the last 30 years figuring out how to run my fastest 5K. I went from 20 minutes.

[00:01:11] Way back many years ago, down to 16 minutes by improving a bunch of 1% things over time and letting them do, do, do stack Up. My goal is to show 20,000 and more self-coach runners how to use the same 1% changes for themselves and live a phenomenal running life. Here’s the fun part. If you’re one to two minutes from breaking 30 minutes in the 5K and.

[00:01:31] If you start this system today, like right now, you could be running sub 30 minutes in six weeks, but only if you fix the main flaw in how you’re training. And let’s get into how to do just that. Here’s the first problem. You think a 5K feels like all out effort, but to your body, it’s actually 75 to 90% aerobic.

[00:01:48] And you may or may not have heard what aerobic is, but what does it mean? So aerobic means your body is using oxygen to make energy. While anaerobic is the opposite, it means your body is making energy without. Oxygen, or a better way to think of it is using glycogen or stored carbohydrates for energy and a TP won’t go into that stuff anaerobic.

[00:02:07] It’s like trying to win a marathon on a sprinter’s training plan. You’re working hard, but you’re building the wrong engine for the wrong race that you’re actually trying to run and wanna know more about. Basin energy systems, et cetera. I did a crazy run long and fast with little effort base training.

[00:02:20] Deep dive at the video above, or the link in the episode description of show notes below. Go check that out. A 2005 study in the Journal of Sports Science backs up all this aerobic stuff in the 75% to 90% stuff. It measured energy systems during 3000 meter track races. The result. 86% aerobic for males, 94% for females.

[00:02:41] Since aerobic contribution goes up with distance, your 5K, which is 67% longer than a three K race is probably and just mathematically gonna be more aerobic. Uh, the second mistake, mixing up pacing discipline versus effort, starting strong does not equal sub 30 minutes. Most runners blow up at. I’m gonna say the 66% mark, two thirds in because they went too hard and then the last 33%, they didn’t build the aerobic engine to keep going in a couple other areas they didn’t build up, which I will touch on in this episode.

[00:03:10] So stay tuned for that. The third mistake you’re training three days a week, which might not be enough. I was stuck at mid 18 minutes for my 5K for years, running three days a week. When I did triathlon, I swore sub 17 minutes would just happen if I went out. Harder. Just try harder, Daren. Then when I ended up running five, six days a week, I started focusing a lot of my training on running my aerobic system.

[00:03:33] My running aerobic system got stronger and I went sub 17 minutes twice in the span of six months. Uh, so like went boop boop. So I obviously worked towards that. It took me about two years to get to sub 17. Ended up finally doing it. So the three problems are clear and you’re not building the system that a sub 30 minute runner needs.

[00:03:50] If you were, you wouldn’t be watching this video. Get it. The solution starts with changing your week, but how the training plan split that actually works. So successful runners follow a polarized training model. 80% low intensity, 20% high intensity. A 2014 study in frontiers in psychology. Tested 48 trained endurance athletes over nine weeks.

[00:04:12] The polarized group. Trained at the easy 80% and then the 20% hard. That group increased their VO O2 max by almost 12%. That’s crazy. 12% is super high. They did that more than the high volume training, more than the threshold training and more than the all out high intensity interval. The hit. Training people.

[00:04:29] The 80 20 split isn’t just theory. That’s scientific proof that 80 20 works, but I’ve also seen it work for myself and others that I’ve coached. Your aerobic base is built during those easy runs. You gotta go easy. Here’s back to that third problem. Running three days a week, one hard workout, and two other runs makes it almost impossible to hit 80 20 by volume unless you’re doing very long, easy runs.

[00:04:51] I’m gonna say it. Most recreational runners, new runners, even, even advanced runners, do not have the discipline to keep their long runs really, really slow. Also, running three times per week puts you at closer to 33% hard by volume, which breaks that proven system, but four days a week, three easy runs, and one hard day.

[00:05:10] That’s 75 to 80% easy, 20 to 25% hard, depending again on how you do your runs. So it’s not actually just the runs, it’s what you’re doing inside the runs. Now you’re following the proven system. Three days a week is like trying to bake bread with 30% yeast instead of 3% yeast. For your bakers out there, you get a completely different result.

[00:05:29] It’s probably not what you wanted. Aerobic base building happens through volume, not intensity. The more days you run, the more changes happen. More mitochondria, the better oxygen use, increased stroke volume, all the run nerd science terms, you’re starting to hear about that. You’re starting to Google about that.

[00:05:45] That’s actually what’s happening. Internally that you probably don’t even know, but this doesn’t mean more miles or kilometers weekly. We’re just gonna spread them out across more days. So instead of doing 360 minute runs, you’re actually gonna do 4 30, 40 minute runs, and then a long run that’s 60 to 90 minutes if you can’t fit four running days into your schedule.

[00:06:06] Or you’re opposite and you’re really ambitious and you wanna get spicy and add a fifth running day without getting hurt. At cross training. 30 to 45 minutes of aqua jogging if you know how to do that, which most of you probably don’t, or elliptical in your gym, uh, or easy bike or swimming. I’m not really the biggest fan of swimming.

[00:06:24] It’s. Been proven not to be the most run specific, but all those things build aerobic capacity without running impact. Quick note about, uh, cross-training activities. They are not all created equal. Swimming is fine, but it’s the least run specific. The rower is probably not the row machine. The Ergo Row machine and the gym is probably not run specific.

[00:06:40] The bike is okay, but Aqua jog elliptical are probably the most running specific adaptations. Even stairs, even rucking walking might be up there. Uh, if you want more cross training, workout ideas that are run specific. I did a deep dive on that. Watch it up top or the link below in the show notes or episode description.

[00:06:58] Here’s a sample, four day week training. Week day one 30 to 45 minutes. Easy run with strides, PIOs, and form drills. I will go over what those are, day two, rest completely off. Day three speed interval. So this is a VO two max sort of day. Warm up, main set. Cool down. Day four, off day or cross training 30 to 45 minutes.

[00:07:19] Aqua jog, elliptical, easy bike. Whatever you can do to get your heart rate up that is not running or as close to running as you can. Day five, threshold or tempo work day six off day or strength train. And day seven 60 to 90 minute long run with fast finish. Each workout does something specific. Easy runs build your aerobic base.

[00:07:38] Speed work increases high anaerobic capacity and is slightly faster than 5K. Pace threshold teaches you to run fast while handling slight discomfort, so that’s slightly slower than 5K pace long run build stroke volume. Pace sustainability under fatigue. So that’s building that foundation. Cross training gives you aerobic base building without impact on your bones and tendons, soft tissue, et cetera.

[00:08:00] And strength training, plyo and form drills. They build up that chassis, a K your body to handle more load, which is volume times intensity. It’s a lot of runtime stuff, but I promise all that stuff does work. So you understand the structure and the science, but how would you use this? For yourself. Enter my free six week 5K training plan that is for you.

[00:08:18] I’ve already done the hard work. I’ve mapped out exactly what this four day structure looks like. Calculate it every pace through V dot marked easy days so you don’t accidentally turn it into an overt training zombie. This is the bridge between theory and action. Get it at the QR code link below or in the show notes.

[00:08:34] Important note, if you’re currently running. More like 31, 32 minutes in the 5K, 33 minutes even. This plan should get you there if you get other elements right, like recovery, sleep, nutrition, et cetera. This also assumes you’ve done six to eight weeks of base training before the six week block. Base phase needs more time.

[00:08:52] Sub 30 is possible, but rushing it creates injury and burnout. And if you don’t get it the first time, it might take you two or three more six week blocks. So about 12, 18 weeks to get it, possibly 24 weeks to get it. Now that you know how to set up each week, here’s exactly what pace you should be running for each type of workout going into the weeds.

[00:09:11] Here we go. So 5K. We’ve already established that it’s mostly aerobic, which is oxygen, which is quote unquote easier running, et cetera, but you’re working at the high end of your aerobic capacity. This is something that is a bit weird. For new runners, that’s the zone where you’re running fast but still pulling oxygen efficiently.

[00:09:26] So actually aerobic is zone two, zone three, zone four is still aerobic. If you do it for short enough to hold pace through the final 33% that last mile or 1.5 kilometers, when your legs are like, yo, stop in. Your brains like, stop. You need to train three specific systems VO two max to build your top end aerobic.

[00:09:45] Power threshold work to teach your body how to handle discomfort at race pace, and long runs to build the endurance that keeps you strong. When fatigue hits each one, it does something different and each one matters. But here’s the crucial part. You need to know your exact paces for each workout type guessing.

[00:10:01] It don’t work. Going too hard, turns training into racing. We don’t want that. That’s fatigue. So you get injured going too easy. Waste the session ’cause you’re kind of in that purgatory area. The best way to dial this in, use the VDOT calculator, which I’ve got a whole episode on. Hit up the video up there, or there’s a link in the episode description.

[00:10:19] Oh, the show notes and explains it more in depth, but. In short, it takes your recent race time or time trial and gives you all your training paces. It gives you VO two max pace for your intervals. Threshold pace. Tempo runs, easy pace, long run pace, everything. It removes the guesswork. It makes your training specific to your current fitness.

[00:10:36] Now, let’s break down what each workout type. Actually does and how to run them. VO two max is the maximum oxygen your body can use during intense effort. This is between, for you, sub 30 minute runners, five 50 to six minutes per kilometer, which for the United States of Americanos is 9 24 to 9 39 minutes per mile.

[00:10:54] You know what I’m gonna say? You know what I’m saying? I did a full episode on this video. I hit it at above, or the link is below in the episode description or the show notes. But here’s again, another TLDR vl two max PACE is 5K PACE or slightly faster feels like controlled chaos. I like to think of it another way as comfortably hard starting at seven, outta 10 and ending outta eight, outta 10 effort for the whole.

[00:11:14] Session. You’ve always got one or two more reps left at the end of your whole workout, but at the end of each rep, you’re breathing hard and you kind of wanna stop that last 30 seconds to a minute, minute and a half. You’re like, I wanna stop this. I’m a big fan of VO two max. Personally, I love them. This should be based on pace first and then secondly, heart rate to confirm.

[00:11:33] You are working hard. Heart rate percentage is 92 to 97% of max heart rate for VO two max at the end of the intervals, not the whole thing. You shouldn’t be hitting right at the start. The first minute, 95% of your max heart rate. That’s how you know you’re done. End the workout, go home. You went too hard in the beginning.

[00:11:49] If you just pin your heart rate for 20 minutes for the run and you keep slowing down as the miles of kilometers go along in your workout or you just go out fast in the first rep of that workout. And then you slow down across the board and you have a high heart rate. That’s not gonna build your VO two max.

[00:12:05] You should probably negative split it and get slightly faster. Each rep again, finish like you’re like, I could have gone faster. That’s how you know you did it. Huge thumbs up. Sample VO two max options. You can pick one per week. This is already in the training plan. The 30 on 30 off B’Av lot method. 30 seconds hard followed by 30 seconds.

[00:12:23] Easy. Repeat that anywhere from six to about 13 times for new runners, 13 times is a lot. So start at like six to eight before if you’ve never done a workout like this, and then after each time, rest three minutes and repeat the set two to three times after a couple weeks. Like that’s a big, big workout.

[00:12:42] Uh, or you could do eight. To 12 by 400 meters. So 400 meters. There is one lap around a normal track. You wanna do these, each one, each 400 meter interval slightly faster than your current 5K Pace. Fitness, again, that’s where we need to be. Recovery is half the time it took you to run. So example, it takes me 80, 82 seconds to run a 400 meter usually.

[00:13:00] So I would rest 40 to 41 seconds. That’s half. So again, start probably with six reps if you haven’t. Then get to eight reps, then build to 12. If you’re advanced, you can go to 16, but that’s like maybe a year or two down the road. Or you could do the four by four or four by five minute interval. So, uh, these are longer intervals for sustained VO two max.

[00:13:17] These are very close to probably race pace or slightly faster, a bit more advanced. And then you do a three minute rest in between each. So it’s four intervals at four minutes at your. VO two max pace. So that’s slightly faster than your current 5K Fitness with a three minute rest. Or you could do a four of them, which is five minutes.

[00:13:35] Crucial note, again, I need to say this, these paces are based on current 5K fitness, not goal time. When you run fast and you can sustain, that’s racing every week. That is not training, that is not good. Alright, moving into lactate threshold work. So threshold is the patient can sustain for 45 to 60 minutes before your legs shut down.

[00:13:50] I did a full episode on this. Right here, somewhere up here, or the link below in the episode description or show notes. But here’s some quick points for Sub 30 minute runners Threshold Pace is about, I’m gonna say six 15 to six 30 minutes per kilometer or for the free country runners, but the miles 10.

[00:14:08] 12 to 10, 28 minutes per mile ish. It’s not perfect. You take, your heart rate will be around 88 to 92% of max and to test it, old school, you could speak three to four words max. Like this is getting hard. I. So you gotta chat and speed up. And if you can’t speak at all, slow down. If you’re like, I cannot sustain this.

[00:14:29] Uh, but if you can actually speak full ing, you’re probably not going fast enough. So as far as effort, start at like a six outta 10, and you should aim at like a seven, seven and a half outta 10. So sample threshold workouts, lactate threshold. 10 minute easy warmup. 20 to 30 minutes at lactate threshold pace, 10 minute cool down.

[00:14:46] Or you can do three by eight minutes at your threshold pace with one minute easy jog. Or even two by 10 minutes with a one minute easy jog. And the last quality session would be the beloved long run that everyone loves or hates. I love them. I did a full episode on. The five different long runs, get it up top or the link below.

[00:15:03] I think I’ve ran out of links to put up top now. So hit up the link below on the show notes, but here’s the top level view, 60 to 90 minutes at easy zone two heart rate pace with a fast finish in the last five minutes and a proper cool down. That’s sample. There’s a lot of variations. This teaches your body to hold pace.

[00:15:19] When tired also builds up all of that aerobic base, all of that stroke volume and mitochondria stuff ’cause you’re running easy. Alright, up next I’m gonna explain why all training doesn’t matter if you blow up in the first mile of the race and talk about. Pacing. Okay, so you train at specific vo O2 max paces, threshold pace, and easy paces for a reason.

[00:15:38] You race pacing, it will borrow from all of them. It takes ’em out like a chef. It’s like different knives. Or another way to think about it, race pacing is like a financial budget. You have a total energy spend and you bank account of 30 minutes. You blow it all early. You’re bankrupt for the last kilometer, last mile.

[00:15:53] I learned this the hard way. I blew up in a random. Mid training block 5K because my GPS was way off and I was chasing the leaders. I zoned out at the 50% mark. I slowed down so much. About 10 people passed me. Felt terrible. It was one of those like, I just wanna stop. Why am I doing this? Why do I torture myself?

[00:16:10] Horrendous race. I learned quick. About not going out too fast, and I, for that first 33%, I’m locked in. It’s all head. For that first 33% I’m looking at feeling, checking all this stuff is happening. I wanna make sure I do not go out too fast. Here’s specific splits for sub 30 target with a negative split strategy.

[00:16:27] Alright, we’ll break this into four quarters. So the first quarter, first two kilometers, 1.2 miles. Start out at 6 0 5 to six 10 minutes per kilometer pace. Or 9 48 to 9 56 minutes per mile. Oh, hey, if you are listening to this as a podcast, please go watch the video because there’s a lot of numbers on the screen.

[00:16:47] Alright, so you wanna start conservative, resist adrenaline, resist fomo. It should feel like a six outta 10 effort and kind of easy. This is what you want. This is what you’ve been training for. Kilometer two to kilometer 3.5, so second quarter. Uh, we’re at the 50% mark, 1.2 to 2.2 miles. This is six to 6 0 5 minutes per.

[00:17:08] Pace or 9 39 to 9 48 minutes per mile Hold steady, gotta hold it Controlled. Should start feeling naturally like a seven to a eight outta 10 effort. But you’re okay immensely. You could keep going. You’re like, I’ve, I’ve been here, I’ve been doing this during training kilometer 3.5 to 4.5. So we’re in the third quarter.

[00:17:26] Probably the most important quarter, uh, in basketball is the most important quarter hockey in racing. This is the 2.2 to 2.8 mile mark. 5 55 to six minutes per kilometer pace is what you wanna go for. Or 9 33 to 9 39. We’re getting really tight now. Slight increase in effort and obviously speed. This will feel hard.

[00:17:46] Aerobic base shows up here as well as strides. Imply a metric work from that training plan. This is usually when you want to quit and slow down and should feel like a nine out of 10 effort. But if you did it right in training and you actually have gotten there, you should be like, I’m okay. I can keep going and the last 500 meters or 0.3 miles, so pretty much almost quarter mile, which is five 50 to 5 55 minutes per kilometer pace.

[00:18:11] That’s 9 24 to 9 33 minutes per mile pace or faster empty the tank. Pure grit, 10 outta 10 effort. But you know, it’s almost over so you can push through it. It’s that I can see the finish line. I’m now gonna sprint. Quick note on negative splitting. Why? Why do that? And why Start slow and finish fast?

[00:18:29] Because I know for sure if most people, it’s mentally easier to start slow and end fast. Your nervous system and your brain, it likes that. The best way to technically do this is even split. So every kilometer mile is the same split. Because negative splitting requires you to run faster when you’re tired, which is actually like doubly hard.

[00:18:46] I personally love negative splitting though probably because I have sprint, like fast twitch fibers. But do what works for you. I know positive split though, which is starting out fast and ending slow is. Probably the worst one, which is probably what most people do. Also, racing is like a skill, like drills, intervals, form drills, et cetera.

[00:19:04] So you should try to race more often to build that skill. Do monthly, three k, two mile, or even one mile race slash time trials if you can’t find a race around. Just. Time yourself. Go at 95%. See how you feel. Each teaches you how pace feels when you’re tired without needing too much recovery time after one or two mile time trials, which is like two to three Ks.

[00:19:23] Pacing is the technical skill, but underneath that is the physical resilience and the ability to hold form when your body is screaming to slow down, what builds that resistance. So this masterclass, you’re getting a lot of information. I just wanna know. Comment what your 5K times are. Are you at 30? 30?

[00:19:39] Are you at 31 minutes? Are you at 33 minutes? Tell me where you’re at. I really wanna know what’s happening. This will help the algorithm actually show this to more runners that wanna run sub 30. And you know what? Hit subscribe. Hit like that also helps. Let’s get back into the next section. Enter my best five body weight strength exercises for runners.

[00:19:57] I cover this in detail in a separate episode. The links below in the episode are show notes, but here’s the essentials. Most runners, they skip this. They think strength training is optional. It is not. It’s the reason some runners stay healthy and others get injured right before their goal race. Why strength training matters for sub 30 weak posterior chain glutes, hamstrings, calves create inefficient running mechanics that lead to injury.

[00:20:18] I’ve been in strength training pretty much 30 years consistently, two to three times a week for the last seven years, and I can confess. Way less injuries. I’ve also been running smarter and more consistent, but that’s another episode. Another story, you don’t need a gym. These are five movements that can be done at home or outside or anywhere on your break at lunch or whatever.

[00:20:38] So let’s start with Bulgarian split squat. This is like probably the biggest bang for your buck via studies and a lot of physical therapists. So it’s a single leg strength exercise. It targets your glutes and your quads and your hip flexors. And it looks like basically running, but it’s an exaggerated running form.

[00:20:53] You wanna put your back foot elevated on a bench. Let’s do two to three sets, eight to 12 reps per leg. Next up is single leg deadlift, posterior chain and hip stability is what this does. Hinge at the hips, three sets. By eight to 12 per leg. Probably start at one to two. It takes a bit. Keep straight back or as straight as you can.

[00:21:12] And really you’re gonna like thrust from the hips when you come up and really like tighten up your glutes. You don’t wanna like bend your back and arch your back. The next one is bent knee calf races. This targets the soleis, the endurance calf muscle, and uh, a bit of the gastro. But you need to bend your knee, so bend your knee at close to 50% as you can.

[00:21:31] Lift your heel up. Anywhere from two to three sets by, you want to go high on this, so 12 to 15 reps, so probably two sets, 12 to 15 reps. Each leg is fine. It’s critical for Achilles health. And then next up is pushups. It’s upper body what actually works a lot of your core and helps arm swing mechanics so your elbow is facing forward.

[00:21:49] Do not like slump in. You wanna have good, tight. Posture, work your way up as many as you can do. You can do regressed pushups with your knees on the ground. Start at a couple and then you wanna work your way up to like two sets of 10, maybe get up to 20 if you can. Slow controlled tempo, slow down, really fast up, you wanna hold in the middle.

[00:22:07] And last one for core and hips, side plank with leg raise. Also, glute medias, which is the smaller version of your butt muscle, which is the biggest muscle in your body and helps with running. But, uh, hip stabilizers. So all these things that get tired at the end of races and usually in the last 33%, do it with your bottom knee bent.

[00:22:27] Lift your top leg slowly. Two sets by 10 to 12 reps per side. Here’s how you progress this over. Uh, a few weeks on a calendar, weeks one to two body weight only. Focus on form. Weeks three to four. Add ten second holes at the bottom. Week five. Add weight resistance, so a gallon jug for split squats. Backpack with books for pushups and calf races, or a resistance ban of sorts.

[00:22:52] Put around your legs for certain things or hold them. Then after six weeks, you can add proper weight resistance with dumbbells, kettlebells, or barbells. Okay, so the frequency, if you’ve never lifted befores, do it once a week. Definitely not on Mondays. Uh, and then after a couple weeks, you can do twice a week.

[00:23:06] It should take anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes. Keep it on the low end. So you wanna keep doing this and be consistent. Strength helps you keep healthy, but recovery ironically makes you faster. Let’s talk about why. Here we go. We got recovery and nutrition and hydration. So training for the 5K is defined as work, the running plus rest, not work.

[00:23:23] On top of more work recovery has four buckets. Rest, sleep, active recovery, and nutrition slash hydration. The stuff you put inside your body, we got bucket one. Recovery isn’t just passively resting and chilling out watching tv. It actually is mental work and logistics as you’re managing total stress.

[00:23:40] Watch for warning signs, elevated resting heart rate, irritability, workouts, feeling harder, motivation crashing, et cetera. Every morning before getting outta bed check, resting heart rate for 60 seconds or what it was overnight. For the last 24 hours via your smart wearable or watch if it’s three to five or more beats higher than normal that morning.

[00:23:58] Make today’s run easy regardless of the plan. Bucket two, sleep. It’s non-negotiable. Target seven to nine hours per night of quality. Rest. Higher training load means you need more sleep. Consistency matters. Get a proper nighttime routine, similar bedtime, similar daily wake up time. You get better for the next day by actually sorting out your night.

[00:24:17] I’ve. Found out in psychology has proven that the third bucket, active recovery. So some options that you can use are aqua jogging, easy bike spin, 20 minute Nature walk, no phone light yoga mobility work. Again, elliptical is fine, but keep heart rate on zone one, low zone two. Enough to hold a full conversation.

[00:24:37] It shouldn’t even feel like you worked out afterwards. It just, you should feel better endorphins, pumping, et cetera. The full recovery breakdown, I got a link in the episode, uh, description below or in the show notes in last bucket, nutrition and hydration. So for Sub 30 Run is we don’t need to do the silliness.

[00:24:51] That marathon is due the week in 48 hours before the races with all that food stuff. For 5K runners just eat mostly whole foods with 10 to 15% more carbs around speed, work days, and long runs. Carbs. They’re not the enemy when running fast and long. They’re necessary post speed workout carbs plus protein at one gram per kilo or pound of body weight within 30 60 minutes long run days.

[00:25:13] Fuel during runs over 60 minutes. Gels are easiest to carry and consume them with water on those long runs. Hydration on hard training days and 24 hours before the race. Drink enough to get light colored urine and make sure you take electrolyte supplements or have slightly higher amounts of sodium slash salt on your food around those hard.

[00:25:30] And or race days. Practice race day. Hydration strategies in training. You gotta do that. You gotta see if your stomach can handle it. Try different things in training, only not in racing. And now the last section of here, your brain needs to believe that you can actually do this stuff. Sub 30 is built on the system, not luck.

[00:25:45] You’ve got the 80 20 training split VO two max work training. Threshold, training, recovery, strength, you’re done. All the work. The fitness is real. Remember earlier when I said you can’t hope and pray your way to a time your body isn’t ready for this is where that changes. I clearly remember the first time I went sub 17 minutes in all my training.

[00:26:01] I hit the times and I was beyond certain. All I needed to do was hang on. When things got tough and followed the plan, that confidence came from trusting the system, not from wishing I trained more. You’re ready for the sub 30, but the last. Third of the races is going to suck, and that’s expected. Your brain and your body will tell you to slow down and override you with data.

[00:26:19] But don’t worry, you’re training for this and your paces are right. You believe that you can handle it. Belief is a system that can be trained just like your zone two. In my upcoming book, the 1% Better Runner, I talk about this over a bunch of chapters and more. Comment below. I wanna read the book early and I’ll send you early chapters as they’re done or sign up for my newsletter and I’ll be releasing some chapters on the newsletter first.

[00:26:39] If you haven’t grabbed the free six week training plan, do it now. It’s not a list of runs, it’s the entire system we just talked about. Yes, this basically masterclass in running a sub 30 minute 5K is all broken down in that training plan. With workouts, you can execute immediately. Recovery, strength, training plan, metric strides, et cetera.

[00:26:56] Every pace, calculated every rest day, mapped every hard work has a purpose. Get out the QR code here. Link below in the show notes, and you’ll get signed up to my weekly newsletter where you’ll get tools and tactics, like new workout ideas, mental strength techniques, life stuff, run form fixes, et cetera.

[00:27:12] Speaking of form fixes, the system we just covered is training structure. But if your run form is broken, you’re fighting yourself every single run. I did a full breakdown on my top six running form fixes that will make you a faster runner. If you’re on YouTube, check that video below or everywhere else.

[00:27:26] The link is in the description or the show notes of the podcast. If you’re listening, thanks for rocking with me. Peace.