Breaking 19:00 for the 5K

IdahoRunner, you're unlikely to find anything other than sarcasm and arrogance on this site when you post a goal like that. All of us have run under 14 minutes. (Just kidding, just kidding.) I'm not sure if I'm allowed to tell you this, but you will get a lot more support at

http://www.coolrunning.com

. The message boards over there have several threads that you would find interesting. Good luck in your quest!

yeah, I also thought of coolrunnings immediately

WEEK 2 UPDATE:

Date Dist Time Pace Comments

4/20 Off - Did 15 exercise core training routine

4/21 3.1 27:15 8:47

4/22 3.7 31:20 8:33

4/23 5.2 47:48 9:16

4/24 None - Friend asked me to help him move after work

4/25 4.3 37:49 8:47

4/26 7.5 64:59 8:39

Week - 23.8 mi.

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About 1.2 miles short of target... this is because Thursday I had to help a friend move and so I didn't end up getting a run in at all. Tried to make up for it Friday and Saturday by bumping the mileage those days a bit. Overall I'm feeling very good, paces are mostly on the low end of the target range.

Peace

I'm definitely still in a beginning stage here, and so far it's looking good. No pains or anything besides the usual expected soreness.

WEEK 3 UPDATE:

Date Dist Time Pace Comments

4/27 3.5 29:05 8:18 Calisthenics - 5x10 - 4 exercises

4/28 4.3 37:04 8:37 Core Workout - 1x11 - 15 exercises

4/29 4.8 44:55 9:27

4/30 - off - it was sleeting here... *%#!-ing Idaho

5/01 3.8 33:00 8:41

5/02 5.2 47:54 9:18

5/03 8.5 76:24 8:59 Pretty painful run

Week - 30 mi.

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I hit the mileage target this week, which took some doing because of the unexpected day off due to weather. I had briefly considered running a 5k this morning but I decided instead to run one in DC when I go to visit my brother later this week. So I'll be racing this coming Saturday. This week is going to be a challenge to get everything in, I have to drive 20 hours Wednesday and Thursday, and fly on Friday for 6 hours. Hopefully I can make time for everything this week, which is the first Early Quality week.

Peace!

This is a three week update because things have been crazy lately:

WEEK 4 UPDATE:

Date Dist Time Pace Comments

5/04 - Workout: 5 x (2 x 200@48s / 200rest + 1 x 400@96s / 400rest) + 1 mile warmup & cooldown; Core workout 1x12 @ 15 exercises

5/05 - 2.7 mi 24:26 9:03

5/06 - Workout: 5 x 1 mi. (7:14, 7:21, 7:06, 7:20, 6:51) with 1 min. rest

5/07 -

5/08 -

5/09 -

5/10 - Race - 5K @ 19:30 (sea level) 1 mile warmup

Week - 19.0 mi

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Major issue this week, on the 7th, I hit a deer with my car going 65 MPH on a backroad in Montana. So to make my flight on the 9th I had to drive 17 hours straight. I didn't get any running in as a result. The result at the race was good though considering how little rest I had the whole week leading up to it. I figure that at the altitude I live at (around 5000ft), that 19:30 is worth about 20:00 even.

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WEEK 5 UPDATE:

Date Dist Time Pace Comments

5/11 -

5/12 - 4.5 mi. 37:00 8:13

5/13 - 2.6 mi. 21:00 8:04

5/14 -

5/15 - 2.6 mi. 21:00 8:04

5/16 -

5/17 - 2.6 mi. 21:00 8:04

Week - 12.3 mi

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Not much to say here. A terrible week because of traveling to see my parents and give my girlfriend a tour of the East Coast. Got to see DC, Philly, Central PA, Northwestern PA, and Niagara Falls though in about a week. I probably lost fitness during this week if anything.

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WEEK 6 UPDATE:

Date Dist Time Pace Comments

5/18 - 8.0 73:06 9:08 - The heat was ridiculous, felt terrible

5/19 - Workout: 3 x 1200@4:36 / 600m rest + 1 mi. warmup and cooldown; Cycling: 12.5mi @ 45:30 - 16.5MPH

5/20 - 2.1 21:43 10:20 - Intentionally slow shakeout run

5/21 - Workout: 3 x 2600m @ (10:29, 11:32, 10:48) / 600m rest + 1 mi. warmup & cooldown; Swimming: 14 laps

5/22 -

5/23 - Workout: 3 x (600@2:21 + 1 min. rest + 300@70s + 30s rest + 200@47s) + 400m full recovery + 1 mi. warmup & cooldown

5/24 - 3.1 23:29 7:34 - Felt great; Swimming: 16 laps

Week - 31.7 mi.

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This week was great. I feel really good and workouts are going right on target. I hit the mileage target I was going for (30), which I will hold for another week before I move up to the peak of 35 for this cycle.

I fully anticipate that I will hit my target of 19:00 and then some. I started the cycle at a VDOT of 44, and the race I ran puts me at 50 (I'm including altitude in the calculation here), and my goal is a VDOT of 53. I see no issues getting there by June 21.

Peace.

IdahoRunner

This is at least as interesting if not more interesting than the 300+ pages of Henry Rono BOGUS training ("I feeling heat in the gut today 123 minutes run").

with 19:30 already in the books you're getting there. the bashers will eventually stop posting so keep it up.

Good thread. Good job bouncing back for Week 6 -- a lot of born-again runners have a week like your Week 5, and then never post here again.

Also, I think after 6 weeks it looks like you were smart to call this the "sub-19" thread. It looks like you definitely have the potential to post 17:xx eventually, but that will come months down the road. Which is fine -- I run with a lot of fine marathon-type runners who won't ever run in the 17s, so just to get to that point post-college ain't bad.

Just keep taking it slow and easy like you are. Good luck!

I love the week6 for "bouncing back" too! Had a low week off myself, tourguiding for friends.

It will be interesting to see your progress, keep posting!

WEEK 7 UPDATE:

Date Dist Time Pace Comments

5/25 - Off - Cycling 23 Miles

5/26 - Workout: 3 x 1200 (4:30, 4:38, 4:39) / 400m rest + 1 mi. warmup and cooldown

5/27 - 3.1 30:20 9:47 - shakeout; Swim: 850y

5/28 - 6.0 42:58 7:09 - Tempo run, felt pretty good; Cycling 12.4 miles

5/29 - 3.1 22:59 7:24 - Felt good, too fast though?; Swim: 750y

5/30 - Off - Felt sore and destroyed, so called off a 400 repeat workout. Did some barefoot jogging on the football field.

5/31 - 6.9 57:09 8:16 - Terrible feeling run, legs sore and jelly like, plus did less miles than planned because woke up late; Hiked about 3 hours in the Tetons

Week - 24.6 mi.

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Mileage was low this week but that was partly intentional. I would have been right on had I not scrapped the Friday workout... but I felt terrible and knew my form would be not worth going out on the track with. One thing I've learned this week is to keep my easy runs easy, the 7:24 pace "recovery" run on Thursday just trashed my legs more than they already were, and I didn't feel the delayed onset muscle soreness until after it.

One thing I recommend is to not run your recovery runs on courses that are measured race distances. It is psychologically too hard to not race yourself in that situation.

Next week I'm moving on to the Final Quality stage, and going for 30 miles even. Probably will stick with that level for the remaining weeks rather than push it. After the June 21st peak (and also possibly a race on the 28th), I will rest up a week, and then move on to a more substantial 24 week program. My training goal for that will be based on how I do on the 21st of course.

Peace.

WEEK 8 UPDATE:

Date Dist Time Pace Comments

6/1 - Off - Cycling 31.5 Miles

6/2 - Workout: 3 x 1600 (6:45, 6:47, 7:09) / 1min rest + 1 mi. warmup and cooldown

6/3 - 2.0 ? ? - shakeout; Swim: 700y

6/4 - Workout: 3x200@44s + 200rest + 2x1000@3:55 + 2:00rest + 2x400@78,73 + 400rest + 1mi. warmup and cooldown

6/5 -

6/6 - Workout: 4x1000@4:16 + 1min. rest + 2x800@3:16,3:25 + 400 rest... at this point I had "runners trots" and had to seriously hurry home to prevent a terrible accident. 1 mi. warmup and cooldown

6/7 - 8.1 71:22 8:48

Week - 26.3 mi.

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It was a so-so week. I missed the mileage target because of Thursday being out in the desert doing test flights for our UAV systems all day, and then had some engagements in the evening. Workouts went well with the exception of the one where I had some serious digestive issues come up. The only thing that worries me is how hard it is to run 8 miles, the next workout cycle is going to have a much longer and more emphasized base phase.

Peace

This answer is why I am pushing my son to take up soccer..

and FYI- runnersworld does 10 times more (positive promotion) for the "sport" of running than this site.