Fast 5K: 25 Crucial Keys and 4 Training Plans

by Pete Magill

Overview

Spend two hours with Pete Magill’s Fast 5K and you’ll know how to run your fastest 5K.

In his fast-paced, ultimate guide to 5K running races, celebrated running coach Pete Magill reveals the 25 crucial keys to setting your next 5K PR. Magill shares hard-earned lessons he gained while leading 19 teams to USA national championships and setting multiple American and world age-group and masters records.

Fast 5K shares Magill’s essential keys to finding your fastest running fitness and race readiness. The 25 keys include optimal training mileage, effective tempo runs, VO2 max workouts, hill repeats, plyometrics that work, ways to prevent injuries, recovery tips, guides to diet and racing weight, choosing racing flats, and much more. Offering three 12-week and one 16-week 5K training plans, Fast 5K is the key to your best 5K running times.

Pete Magill is a world-class 5K runner, personally holds multiple American and world age-group records in track & field and road racing and is a 5-time USA Masters Cross Country Runner of the Year. Now in this distilled guide, you can get world-class advice on how to run your fastest 5K ever.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781937715922
Publisher:	VeloPress
Publication date:	09/10/2019
Pages:	200
Sales rank:	419,727
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Pete Magill is a running coach, world-class runner, and contributor to Runner’s World, PodiumRunner, and formerly to Running Times. As a coach, Magill has led his masters clubs to 19 USATF National Masters Championships in cross country and road racing. Currently a coach with Southern California’s Cal Coast Track Club and California Triathlon Club, Magill has worked with athletes of all ages, from youth through masters. He holds multiple American and world age-group records in the sports of track & field and road racing, and he is a 5-time USA Masters Cross Country Runner of the Year. His popular columns, Magill on Masters, The Long Run, and The Performance Page covered training, nutrition, and mental training. Magill is author of SpeedRunner, Build Your Running Body, and The Born Again Runner.

Table of Contents

Introduction: A Fast 5K

PART ONE: TRAINING KEYS

Key 1: Set a Reasonable Goal

Key 2: Schedule a Sensible Training Volume and Intensity

Key 3: Train All Your 5K Running Muscles

Key 4: Slow Down Your Distance Runs

Key 5: Split Tempo Runs into Repetitions

Key 6: Include VO2max Workouts

Key 7: Schedule Short Repetitions/Intervals

Key 8: Join the Over-the-Hill Gang

Key 9: Schedule Hill Repeats

Key 10: Lengthen Your Long Run

Key 11: Try Downhill Running

Key 12: Perform Goal-Pace Repetitions at the Right Time

Key 13: Run a 5K Tune-Up Race

Key 14: Schedule Injury-Prevention Exercises and Resistance Training

Key 15: Schedule Technique Drills and Plyometrics

PART TWO: LIFESTYLE, DIET, AND GEAR KEYS

Key 16: Eat a Runner’s Diet

Key 17: Run Light

Key 18: Wear Light Racing Flats

Key 19: Sleep, Rest, Recover

Key 20: Review Non-Running Activities and Hobbies

PART THREE: RACE-DAY KEYS

Key 21: Try a Mini-Taper

Key 22: Beat the Jitters

Key 23: Race-Day Guidelines (Pre-Race)

Key 24: Racing Guidelines

Key 25: Assess Your Performance

Bonus Masters Key: Age-Related Adjustments and Advice

PART FOUR: WORKOUTS AND TRAINING

1: Warm-Up Routines

2: Length of Distance Runs

3: Training Paces

4: Training Schedules

Beginner’s 12-Week Plan

2-Week Adjustment for 5K Race (Beginners)

12-Week Plan

16-Week Extended Plan

12-Week Low-Intensity Plan

2-Week Adjustment for 5K Race

Acknowledgments

Index

About the Author

Editorial Reviews

Pete Magill is the Mr. Miyagi of running. He will build you up comprehensively for a lifetime of happy running, and you won’t even have to paint his fence or wax his car.

Jay Duplass

Pete’s latest marvel of scholarship is a hoot to read and a treasure to follow. Pete explodes all ignorance while sharing the most intelligent steps to 5K excellence.

Ken Stone

If you want to run a faster 5K but don’t know where to start, Pete Magill has done the research so you don’t have to. In Fast 5K, he combines years of experience as a coach and competitor with the latest science to help you get the most out of your training. He’s truly a 5K runner’s best friend.

Claudette Groenendaal

Pete Magill must have found the fountain of youth. I coach college students, and he consistently outruns half my team! He must know something the rest of us don’t!

Steve Scott

Pete Magill’s Fast 5K is like having a personal coach at your fingertips. His easy-to-digest keys break down the components of 5K training in a way that will benefit runners of all abilities. You’ll want to read this book before you start training for your next 5Kor you might get beat by someone who did.

Sean Wade

Praise for Fast 5K and Pete Magill

“Pete Magill’s running career has shown he’s the ‘master of the 5K.’ This guidebook proves that he’s also the best at teaching others how to improve their 5K performance. Do what Pete says, and you’re sure to run stronger, healthier, and faster.

Amby Burfoot

This thorough book covers all aspects of training and racing the 5K, yet reads with an easy familiarity, based on Magill’s experience as a runner, coach, and student of the sport. Magill knows what you need to do to improve and where you’re likely to make mistakes. Anyone who reads and follows this book will undoubtedly become a better runner and likely end up with a 5K PR.

Jonathan Beverly

Whether you’re just starting out as a runner or starting afresh, you can do no better than heed the guidance of running’s ultimate comeback kid, Pete Magill.

Matt Fitzgerald

If I were looking for advice on how to run smart, race smart, and stay injury-free over the years, I’d buy Pete Magill’s Fast 5K. Pete is one of the most knowledgeable running coaches in the USA and proves his successful racing year after year after year.

Bill Rodgers

I’ve said it before, and I’m saying it again: If you want to run faster, do what Pete Magill says. It’s that simple.

Scott Douglas

Praise for Fast 5K and Pete Magill

“Pete Magill’s running career has shown he’s the ‘master of the 5K.’ This guidebook proves that he’s also the best at teaching others how to improve their 5K performance. Do what Pete says, and you’re sure to run stronger, healthier, and faster.”

—Amby Burfoot, 1968 Boston Marathon winner and author of Run Forever and The Runner’s Guide to the Meaning of Life

“If you want to run a faster 5K but don’t know where to start, Pete Magill has done the research so you don’t have to. In Fast 5K, he combines years of experience as a coach and competitor with the latest science to help you get the most out of your training. He’s truly a 5K runner’s best friend.”

—Claudette Groenendaal, USA National Champion, NCAA Champion, former NCAA Women’s national record holder for 800 meters

“I’ve said it before, and I’m saying it again: If you want to run faster, do what Pete Magill says. It’s that simple.”

—Scott Douglas, Runner’s World contributing writer and author of Advanced Marathoning and The Athlete’s Guide to CBD

“Pete’s latest marvel of scholarship is a hoot to read and a treasure to follow. Pete explodes all ignorance while sharing the most intelligent steps to 5K excellence.”

—Ken Stone, founder and editor of Masters Track and Field News, contributing editor for Times of San Diego

“Pete Magill’s Fast 5K is like having a personal coach at your fingertips. His easy-to-digest keys break down the components of 5K training in a way that will benefit runners of all abilities. You’ll want to read this book before you start training for your next 5K—or you might get beat by someone who did.”

—Sean Wade, Olympic marathoner, masters world record holder, and founder of the Kenyan Way

“Pete Magill is the Mr. Miyagi of running. He will build you up comprehensively for a lifetime of happy running, and you won’t even have to paint his fence or wax his car.”

—Jay Duplass, American film director, author, and actor

“This thorough book covers all aspects of training and racing the 5K, yet reads with an easy familiarity, based on Magill’s experience as a runner, coach, and student of the sport. Magill knows what you need to do to improve and where you’re likely to make mistakes. Anyone who reads and follows this book will undoubtedly become a better runner and likely end up with a 5K PR.”

—Jonathan Beverly, editor-in-chief of PodiumRunner, and author of Run Strong, Stay Hungry and Your Best Stride

“If I were looking for advice on how to run smart, race smart, and stay injury-free over the years, I’d buy Pete Magill’s Fast 5K. Pete is one of the most knowledgeable running coaches in the USA and proves his successful racing year after year after year.”

—Bill Rodgers, four-time winner of both the New York City and Boston marathons

“Whether you’re just starting out as a runner or starting afresh, you can do no better than heed the guidance of running’s ultimate comeback kid, Pete Magill.”

—Matt Fitzgerald, author of How Bad Do You Want It? and Racing Weight

“Pete Magill must have found the fountain of youth. I coach college students, and he consistently outruns half my team! He must know something the rest of us don’t!”

—Steve Scott, head track coach at Cal State San Marcos, 3-time Olympian, former American record holder in the mile

“You want to run a faster 5K? This book’s for you.”

—LetsRun.com podcast

“Pete Magill is a running genius. I found Fast 5K to be a superb, practical book.”

—Bassocantor Reviews blog

“Pete Magill’s new book Fast 5K covers every angle when it comes to preparing for this popular distance and will be useful for beginners right through to more experienced runners.”

—Athletics Weekly

“Fast 5K is a quick, enjoyable, and insightful read that will leave you primed with lots of practical advice to blaze a new PR.”

—PodiumRunner

From the Publisher