Want to Run 5k in 22 Minutes: What Should My Third Run Be?

Hi, I am a 39-year-old female who has been running for just over a year. Before this I was a competitive cyclist at national level. Sadly, I developed a lower right leg dystonia which stopped me cycling — I discovered that when I added sprints to my walks, the foot behaved during them and calmed down briefly afterwards.

I built to a 5k and did my first parkrun in 22:34. I currently run two sessions a week: one parkrun or sprint intervals over 3+ miles, and a 40+ minute run at roughly a mile per hour slower than race pace. Now I’m pondering a third run to see if I can get under 22 minutes. What should that third session be?

— Lynn

Answer by Dom:

Hello Lynn!

What a story—from national-level cycling to a 22:34 parkrun debut in just over a year, while managing a dystonia diagnosis. That is a remarkable achievement by any measure. Let’s work out how to get you under 22 minutes.

• A caveat first
• What pace should you be running?
• Making the most of your two existing sessions
• When adding an extra run, always start short and easy
• …Then add a bit more variety in your running

A Caveat First

I am not familiar with dystonia, and I imagine every person’s experience with it is different. I will come at this from a general running coaching perspective—my recommendations may or may not interact with your condition in ways I cannot predict. That makes me a little hesitant to be too prescriptive.

But you are an elite sportswoman who has trained and competed at national level. You know what it feels like to push hard, and you know how to listen to your body. I trust you to experiment with what I suggest and work out what is right for you. You are the best judge of that.

What Pace Should You Be Running?

Before we talk about adding a third session, let me give you some concrete numbers to work with. Knowing your target paces makes every session more purposeful.

Sub-22 minutes for a 5k means running 22:00 flat—that is 4:24 per kilometre, or 7:04 per mile. That is your race pace target.

Your easy running pace should be substantially slower: around 5:20–5:30 per kilometre (8:35–8:50 per mile). Easy means a full conversation—no gasping, no discomfort. If it feels too relaxed, that is the point.

For interval work, you want to be running slightly faster than race pace: roughly 4:10–4:20 per kilometre (6:42–6:57 per mile). This is hard effort—you can manage only a few words between breaths.

I recommend plugging your current parkrun time into the Running Pace Calculator—it will give you personalised easy, tempo, and interval paces based on your current performance. Use those numbers to check whether your existing sessions are pitched at the right effort level.

Making the Most of Your Two Existing Sessions

Before reaching for a third session, it is worth asking whether your two existing sessions are structured as well as they could be. I want to flag something about your current training.

Your 40+ minute run at “roughly a mile per hour slower than race pace”—that is actually quite a demanding session. If your race pace is around 7:04 per mile, you are running this session at approximately 8:04 per mile. That is not an easy run. It sits in what coaches call the “moderate effort zone”—too hard for proper recovery, but not hard enough to drive the specific adaptations of a proper tempo or interval session. The thing is, that zone can actually hold you back.

I would suggest one of two adjustments. Either slow it down to a genuine easy pace (5:20–5:30 per km / 8:35–8:50 per mile), where you could hold a comfortable conversation throughout. Or restructure it as tempo intervals: for example, 4 × 8 minutes at threshold effort with 2 minutes easy between each, or 3 × 10 minutes with 3 minutes easy. Structured tempo intervals give you the same training stimulus with better recovery built in.

Given your cycling and handcycling background, your cardiovascular fitness is likely excellent. Your limiting factor for running is probably running-specific neuromuscular adaptation—your legs learning the mechanics and turnover of running—rather than aerobic capacity. That means structured, varied running sessions will serve you very well.

When Adding an Extra Run, Always Start Short and Easy…

Great that you found parkrun—I love it. I do parkrun almost every week myself. It’s a fantastic way to run a fast 5k, be part of a community, and build friendships along the way.

When adding a third run, I always recommend starting short and easy. Your current training is already reasonably demanding. What is likely missing is genuine easy running—and that is exactly what your third session should provide, at least to begin with.

Given your aerobic fitness from swimming and handcycling, I think you could add a 30-minute easy run quite comfortably. Then build it up gradually over several weeks—ideally toward 50–60 minutes at a relaxed, conversational pace. Running long at true easy pace builds your aerobic base and makes every other session feel a little more manageable.

At the end of that easy run, add four to six strides: 20-second accelerations where you smoothly build to near-full speed, then jog easily back to your starting point. Full recovery between each. Strides are excellent for neuromuscular sharpening—they sharpen your leg speed without adding meaningful training stress. They are particularly useful for someone with your background in sprinting.

If the easy run presents challenges with your dystonia, not to worry. With all those other activities, your aerobic base is clearly strong. Work with what your condition allows and build from there.

…Then Add a Bit More Variety in Your Running

Once the third easy run is established and comfortable, you can think about adding more variety. Like with cycling, different types of sessions provide different stimuli.

Your sprint work is great. I would recommend also mixing in somewhat longer intervals. A standard sub-22 preparation might include 12 × 400m at interval pace (4:10–4:20 per km) with 90 seconds easy jog recovery. You can vary the interval length while keeping the total work at around 5k: 8 × 600m, or 6 × 800m. If 12 × 400m feels like too much at first, start with 4–6 repeats and build up over several weeks.

Two links worth bookmarking:

• Running Pace Calculator — personalised paces based on your current race performance.
• Running Workouts — a full summary of different session types to try.

Lynn, you are clearly someone who knows how to compete and how to train. Adjust what feels right, back off if something does not agree with your condition, and keep building. That sub-22 parkrun is very much within reach.

Let me know when you break it!

All the best,

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