GO UNDER 50 MINUTES

This programme consists of two tough sessions per week, but with the elements – speedwork, hills, tempo running and goal-pace reps – spread across a fortnight.

The race-specific efforts progress from your current 10K pace to goal 10K pace, with tempo training to boost lactate threshold, and intervals and hills to build strength and speed. Don’t feel that you have to do the intervals on a track. In fact, Goater recommends varying your surfaces to avoid injury.

Who’s up for it? / Runners with 5K or 10K racing experience and who are capable of around 25 minutes for a 5K.

Divide and conquer / Five-time British Olympian Jo Pavey, a 10,000m specialist, recommends splitting the race into three chunks and handling each differently. ‘Doable pace for the first two miles, push a bit in the middle two, then go hard for the last two,’ she says.

Perk run / Gear yourself up for the race with a coffee or a caffeinated gel. Caffeine helps to reduce your perception of effort when you’re running. Nathan Lewis, lead performance nutrition scientist with the English Institute of Sport, says one dose will suffice. ‘Taking it 45-60 minutes before the race gives time for its effects to take hold.’ A study in the Journal

of Sport Sciences found that a caffeine dose of 3mg per kg of body weight, taken one hour before an 8km race, improved performance by an average of 23 seconds.

Master steady pacing / Use out-and-back runs to develop your sense of pacing. Legendary running coach Arthur Lydiard made his athletes do time-based out-and-backs on even terrain.

‘The goal is to run both halves as evenly as possible, or with slightly negative splits [doing the second half faster],’ says former Olympic marathoner Lorraine Moller. ‘If you’re unable to maintain your pace, you’re starting out too fast. This is a costly mistake, so repeat the out-and-back exercise regularly until you get the hang of it.’

Race more /Don’t restrict your racing to one big ‘A’ event. ‘I suggest runners schedule a race once every two to four weeks to get feedback on how their training and fitness are progressing,’ says veteran running coach Joe Rubio. ‘Racing is a skill and you need to practise to improve.’