5 Speed Workouts for 5km/10km Runners (Canova Style)
Renato Canova is one of the world’s most successful long distance running coaches, having coached over 50 athletes to Olympic/World Championship medals over the 5000m through to the Marathon distance. Canova favours prescribing speed training sessions for distance runners at their target race pace to have them best prepared come race day.
Below you will find 5 speed interval training sessions for 5km and 10km runners that Canova has prescribed his elite athletes:
#1: 2km + 1600m + 1200m + 800m + (4x400m) with 200m jog recovery between all repetitions (approximately 1-1.5 minutes)
Begin at your 10km goal pace in the 2km repetition and slowly increase your speed to be at your 5km goal pace by the 800m (4th) repetition. The final 4x400m intervals should be at your 5km pace or faster. Between each interval, jog 200m at around your usual warm up/cool down pace, perhaps slightly slower. For runners targeting a 5km in around 14-16mins or a 10km in 30-34mins, this should be around 1min to 1.5min jog recovery.
#2: 3 x 1200m, 3 x 800m, 3 x 400m with 200m jog recovery between all repetitions.
Aim to complete the 1200m intervals at your goal 10km pace. The three 800m intervals should right around your goal 5km pace and the three 400m intervals should be faster than your goal 5km pace… or the pace you would ideally kick the final 400m in, in a 5km race. Again, the recovery is 200m jog recovery in no slower than 1.5 minutes.
#3: 2 x 1600m, 2 x 1200m, 2 x 800m, 2 x 400m with 200m jog recovery between all repetitions.
Like the first 2 example sessions, you want to begin at your goal 10km pace for the first few interval. By the time you’ve completed the 1600m and 1200m intervals at your 10km pace or slightly faster (for the 1200m intervals), you should be at your 5km goal pace by the 800m intervals. Again, you’ll aim to finish the session off with some 400m’s (2 in this case) at faster than your goal 5km pace. The recovery is again a 200m jog.
#4: 5 sets of (1km + 400m) with 1min rest between each 1km and 400m and 400m jog recovery between sets. (ie 1km, 1min recovery, 400m, 400m jog recovery… repeated 5 times).
This workout is more specific to the 5km but can be used to sharpen up for a 10km as well. It’s 5 sets of (1km @ goal 5km pace, 1min rest, 400m at just faster than your goal 5km pace) then a lap jog recovery between each set (around 3mins).
#5: Ladder: 400m, 800m, 1200m, 1600m, 1200m, 800m, 400m with 200m jog recovery between each repetition.
Ladders are always good fun. This one starts with just a 400m and increases by 400m until you reach the 1600m interval – the longest interval in this training session. Then you come back down by 400m each interval to finish at 400m. Ideally, you want to start at your goal 5km pace in the 400m and 800m and then pull the pace back a bit in the 1200m, 1600m, 1200m to your goal 10km pace. Then back to your goal 5km pace for the final 2 repetitions: the 800m and 400m. Between each speed interval, like the first 3 sessions in this article, jog 400m in around 1-1.5min.
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