Are you wondering what is 25km in miles? If so, welcome to RunDreamAchieve. I am excited to know you have made it here and hope these tips will be helpful to you. 25 kilometers in miles comes out to 15.5 miles. The USATF 25km road national championships are held each year in Grand Rapids, MI. I competed there back in 2008 finishing 17th in the country with a time of 1:21:33 or 5:16 per mile pace.
I held 5:19 mile pace for 26.2 miles running 2:19:35 at the 2007 California International Marathon the year before. So, I understand the complexities of trying trying to run fast over 25km. It is not an easy distance to compete in but is perfect for those athletes seeking to step up to the marathon. The 25k is slightly further than the half-marathon distance.
25k in miles is 15.5 miles versus the half marathon which is 13.1 miles. I would focus on spending 4 to 8 weeks running easy mileage before you start a 26 to 24 week build up for a 25K though. The reason being is that you don't want to be in a rush when it comes to racing. It takes a minimum of 4 weeks for your body to adapt the stress load you are placing on it. So, fitness cannot nor should it ever be rushed.
USATF 25K Road National Championships
I highly recommend training to compete in this event. The 25km road national championships are held each year in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The course is relatively flat the first 8 miles until you get to the half way point where it becomes much more rolling terrain. Again, this is the USA National 25k championships. So, you will most certainly have great competition to pull you to a fast time.
The key tactic is to watch your pacing. In addition, make sure you are hydrating well in the race. Michigan weather in May tends to be warm and sometimes humid. So, be aware of this going into the race. I would strongly recommend investing in a heart rate monitor. Heart rate monitors like the Garmin 245 I use will help ensure you stay in the correct heart rate zone. In addition, not overtrain.
My top recommendation is to focus on a minimum of 16 and preferably 24 weeks for your goal 25k race. Again, the longer the build up the better prepared you are going to be in racing over 25 kilometers. 25km in miles is 15.5 miles. So, a race further than the half marathon means you need to develop your endurance as well as your speed.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR PRIVATE, MEMBERSHIP COMMUNITYHow Do I Train for a 25K Run?
Focus on Your Speed Development
How do athletes maintain 25k race pace longer than their competition in the race? You have to improve pace sustainment. The only way to get 25k race pace to feel more like marathon race pace is training faster than your goal race pace. Remember, this can't be rushed. The key strategy is to improve you body's lactate tolerance. We focus on doing 1, vo2 max workout per week with the running courses and training plans available here.
Below are some examples of the types of vo2 max workouts you may see…
- Track intervals i.e. 6x1mile, 3x2mile, 16-20x400m etc.
- Road Intervals, 10x1k, 4x5K, etc
- Hill repetitions 2 sets of 5x200m reps all out up, jog walk down, 10x300m etc
- Fartlek workouts i.e 30 minutes of 1 min hard/1 min easy or variations thereof
Again, the key focus with speed training is to run much faster than you are planning on racing at over 25 kilometers. So, we want to lessen the strain you will feel at your 25k race pace. You are running at between 95 to 100 percent of your maximum heart rate at these efforts. Naturally, you will need to take breaks in between intervals. Remember, the goal is to recruit more fast twitch muscle fibers. The more of these you can recruit the more efficient you are going to race in the 25k race you are aiming for.
Do Longer Long Runs
What has been the longest long run you have done in the past training for a 25K? 14 miles? 16? I would focus on working toward 20 to 22 miles for a race of this length. One, you will be running further than the race distance itself. So, you will build an enormous amount of endurance running this far. In addition, you will be teaching the body to burn fat more efficiently. 25km in miles comes out to 15.5 miles or 25,000 meters. So, continue to stay consistent in your training and you will do well over this race distance.
The good news is the faster you train the more your body will use fat as its main fuel source. Also, you will conserve what you have much less of, carbohydrates (glycogen) and be able to call upon that later on in your race.
A major mistake many runners make is running too many of their miles or kilometers too easy. Yes, building endurance is important. That being said, you have to stress the body's energy systems adequately and often. So, running longer will build endurance but running your long runs at faster paces will build stamina and strength. You will need all three to run a fast and competitive 25k time.
How Long Should You Train for a 25k?
25km in miles is 15.5 miles. So, we are not talking about a 5K which doesn't take a great deal of time to prepare for. I would recommend training for a minimum of 16 and preferably up to 24 weeks for a 25K. Again, you don't want to try to rush the process of getting into great shape. A 4 to 6-month build up for your 25k is optimal time for you to get into the best possible shape.
Focus on Longer Tempo Runs
Longer tempo runs will help you tremendously. Sure, a 2 to 5 mile tempo run is a good start. That being said, tempo runs of up to 10 to 12 miles are needed to run strong over 25 kilometers. 25km in miles is 15.5 miles or 25,000 meters. So, training longer at our anaerobic threshold is essential. We are running. between 85 to 88 percent of our maximum heart rate running at this effort.
Remember, it takes the body between 3 to 4 weeks to adapt to any stress load being placed upon it. So, expect the process of getting into great race shape to be a challenge. You are preparing for a 25k, not a 5k, 10k or 15k. The good news is that the body always adapts.
So, as you get in better shape your heart doesn't have to work as hard. In addition, your pace per mile or kilometer during your long runs will increase. Thus, you will be in better condition to handle higher amounts of lactic acid build-up.
Do Faster, Varied Paced Long Runs
I used this strategy to lower my 25K PR from 1:23:05 to 1:21:33. In addition, my marathon PR from 2:43:36 to 2:19:35. Easy long runs will build endurance and help you burn fat effectively. That being said, faster long runs will help improve your overall stamina and strength. The world's best middle to long distance runners know how important these types of long runs are.
So, have you run long and slow for your long runs every single weekend in the past? If so, you now know what you need to start doing in order to run faster over the mile all the way to the 25k distance. Below are some examples of the types of long runs that helped me to eventually hold 5:19 mile pace (3:18 per k) for 26.2 miles.
- 2 mile jog, 10 miles@5:26-30 mile pace, 2 mile easy, 1 mile in 4:55, 5 miles@5:50 mile pace, 2 miles easy (22 miles)
- 1 mile jog, 7 miles@5:20 mile pace, 3 miles easy, 2 miles@5:15 mile pace, 2 miles easy, 4 miles@5:40 mile pace, 2 miles easy, 1 mile in 5:00 (22 miles)
Remember, never run fast every single weekend. You should alternate a faster long run followed the next week with an easier, relaxed long runs. Again, recovery is key. The benefits of your hard training you are doing today will be seen several weeks and months from now.
Closing Thoughts
As discussed above, 25km in miles comes out to 15.5 miles or 25,000 meters. You would have to run around the track 62 and half times to equal 25,000 meters. So, it is an endurance event and aerobic in nature versus the mile or 5k which are more of speed events. That being said, you need to continue to build both your endurance as well as speed to run a fast 25km time.
Make sure to subscribe to the RunDreamAchieve YouTube channel. I create new training and racing videos there each week to help runners such as yourself set new personal bests. I hope that this post has been helpful to you. In addition, that you will take what you have learned and use it to get a new personal best.
You are more than welcome to visit the about page if you would like to know more about my racing history. I didn't have a great deal of talent but used my work ethic to make up for it. The result was I ran some competitive times. I hope my expertise and background will inspire you to make major gains in your own training and racing.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR TRAINING PLANS
