Help me run sub-5 in 6 weeks

Week 1:

M - 6 miles easy

T - 8 miles easy

W - 20 minute tempo at 6:00. warmup cooldown

Th - 6 miles

F - 8 miles comfortably hard

S - 6 miles + 4x100 strides untimed and smooth

Su - 10 miles

Total: ~50 miles

Week 2:

M - 6 miles + 4x100 strides untimed and smooth

T - 8 miles

W - 4x1000m with 1 minute rest @ 5:40-:45 per mile. warmup cooldown.

Th - 6 miles easy

F - 8 miles with middle 6 miles ~6:20 pace

S - 6 miles + 4x150 strides untimed and smooth

Su - 10.5 miles

Total: ~50 miles

Week 3:

M - 6 miles + 6x100 strides untimed and smooth

T - 8 miles easy

W - 12x400m @ 85 down to 80 sec per lap. 1 minute rest. warmup cooldown.

Th - 6 miles recovery run

F - 9 miles, 2-3 warmup then progress down to 6:20/mile.

S - 6 miles + 6x100 strides untimed

Su - 11 miles

Total: ~50+ miles

Week 4:

M - off, rest or cross train

T - 7 miles + 6x100 strides

W - 20 minutes tempo @ 6:00 per mile. warmup and cooldown

Th - 7 miles easy

F - 9 miles comfortably hard

S - 7 miles easy + 4x150m accelerations. Pick up speed 50m, float 50m @ same speed, decelerate

Su - 10 miles easy

Total: ~45 miles

Week 5:

M - 6 miles easy

T - 8 miles easy + 6x150 strides

W - 14-16x400m @80-85 seconds per lap with 1 minute rest. warmup cooldown

Th - 7 miles easy

F - 9 miles comfortably hard

S - 7 miles easy + 4x150 accelerations

Su - 11 miles

Total: ~50+ miles

Week 6:

M - off

T - 8 miles easy + 4x150 strides

W - 8 miles comfortably hard

Th - 6 miles easy

F - 6 miles +4-6x200 @35-36

S - 6 miles easy

Su - 8-9 miles easy

Total: ~45 miles

Thanks for the reply. It seems like there are not very many workouts with this though? Is that the best way to go? My previous weekly schedule had track work M/W/F, long run Sat, off Sun, and easy runs the other days.

Too much track work. You ran 5:02 so you’re obviously close. Rather than hit 4 mediocre workouts a week, why not do two and really crush them and get the most gains?

Only run this if you are comfortable at this mileage. Doing 8-9 miles hard plus a long run would kill you if you haven’t run close to this mileage before.

Thanks for the advice. I think I will drop my third workout of the week; it has felt like a bit much, but I was just following my coach up until this point.

Lol with quarantine I've been so bored that the past 4 weeks I've averaged 60 miles/6 days. Probably too much, but the off day each week made it do-able, and I surprisingly haven't felt too drained even with all the track work. Might drop to follow this plan for the next few weeks though; I probably don't need the extra mileage right now.

Right now your goal should be cross country in the fall, but I threw together that base phase block with a large emphasis on endurance so that you could still break 5 while mainly focusing on aerobic strength. Packing in more miles would be more beneficial with this time off, just be careful, find your sweet spot of mileage, and know when to push or back off. As for the lack of track work, it is my personal opinion that younger runners should focus on creating a foundation before they start hammering workouts at paces that wouldn't be challenging for them given a few more months of running experience. I had the weeks at 50mpw because that was my sweet spot for when I finally went under 5, and by a large margin, too.