| Yorkchestershire Bloke |
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Right before you all laugh at my times I’m a mid-forties male who due to work and family commitments doesn’t have a huge amount of time to dedicate to training and is lacking direction as to the best way to go about my training/ I’m looking to break 18.59 mins for a road 5K this year, my most recent 5K (done about 4 weeks ago) had me hitting 5K in 20m:21s so I know I’ve still got some way to go. Anyone got any advice of the sort of training weeks/months I should be doing to shave off that 1m:22s from my 5K time..? I |
| aidan |
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Hard to answer without information about what you're already doing, but every week you should strive for: 1 x intervals (add up to ~3 miles total) 1 x tempo (2-4 miles @ 20-30 seconds slower than CURRENT race pace for that distance) 1 x long run (20-25% your total week volume) 1-4x conversational pace runs w/ 3-6 strides after, depending on your schedule and how your body feels you can decide how many days are these runs VS days off probably in that order of importance too, at least in my opinion. does not have to get more complicated than this. Don't over think it; good luck |
| Yorkchestershire Bloke |
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That's great, thanks for the feedback. What sort of pace do you think I should do my repeats (intervals) at? I was thinking something like 5x1K off 90s recovery jogs. The question is, do I do them at CURRENT race pace or shift to TARGET pace? Answers on a postcard please. ;O) |
| has been who never was |
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Agree with this plan, sort of. Weekly tempo run is by far the most important of the plan. And I'd like to see it @ 4-5 miles instead of 2-4. Long run I'd rank second - very important for aerobic fitness. Intervals can wait - would rather see if you can get a PR without them 1st and substitute in a medium effort longer run (6-7 miles) instead for the time being. When you do start intervals, go slow @ 1st given your age. Also agree that it does not need to be complicated. Run your tempo hard, your medium run medium and your long run according to feel. Everything else will work itself out. Finally, don't be ashamed about your marks. They are not bad for a 40 something and you are out there, which is all that matters. Large luck. |
| Rtype |
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aidan's advice is good. I'm getting by on 18 miles a week, 5 days of running. I'm 53 and my first race in over a year was 19:36. My goal is to break 19 also. Everything I do is documented on the 50+ thread. One thing seldom mentioned is that getting and staying lean is just as important as the running. 19 flat is what I'd call an optimal goal. Certainly we no longer have lives that allow for total devotion to running. Personally, at this age, I simply have more important things to do than run. |
| Yorkcestershire Bloke |
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Thanks for the advice, I'll pop over to the 50+ thread and checkout your training. Good point about getting and staying lean...at the moment I'm carrying way too much timber and need to shift around 11Kgs to get to what I think is an ideal 'race weight'. That is something I'm also going to focus in on over the coming weeks. |
| pr100 |
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Do you have any spare weight? For a lot of people the easiest way to get faster is to lose weight... |
| pr100 |
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Gah - missed the last post somehow :/ |
| Yorkcestershire Bloke |
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:-) yep...all I've read states that 1lb lost is roughly 6 secs per mile off your time. Although this is somewhat subjective and depends on whether you're losing fat or muscle I reckon that if I hit my weight target combined with some quality training I will smash the bejesus out of my current PR. |
| Yorkcestershire Bloke |
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Sorry that should read "6 secinds off your 5K time" and NOT mile.. |
| Daily double |
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What kind of mileage are you doing base? During training? Would think you have to be up in 50plus range during interval weeks...I woulnt hesitate to go to 60-75 during base training... But that's Just me Mileage consistency mileage consistency (my mantra lol) |
| hitmonlee |
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Depends on where the muscle is too. A 19 minute 5k runner can be heavy with muscle though a sub 15 runner is going to have little extra weight of any type. |
| joho |
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How much mileage you running now. Your tempo pace should be based on current fitness (or slightly faster) not your target. You can use Mcmillan's calculator to get your paces for different workouts. If you are not familiar with it, visit his website, put in a recent race and it will produce a chart of various workout paces. A handy tool. http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/calculator I would suggest getting the tempo in and upping overall weekly mileage before worrying about any long run at all. Work on that and then add some shorter faster stuff. |
| Yorkchestershire Bloke |
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Thanks folks...keep the advice/comments/observations coming. I'll pop updates in here as I progress along the journey. My currently weekly mileage varies (depending on work/family commitments). I typically do anywhere between 25-40 miles, but of recent most weeks have been high twenties/low thirties. For the record, I can happily manage a long run of 10-12 miles however lack of free time is making that sort of mileage difficult. I'm trying to free up an hour each day for training with perhaps one day of 75-90 mins (depending on time demands). |