Never ran, can I do a sub 20 5k?

You fail, I didn't capitalize my "I". I ran the mile today as mentioned at what I thought was a demanding pace for myself. 7:42 was my time.

Weak sauce. This thread's over. Try again.

manamana

not my usual name wrote:

I'm 43 and weigh 150 lbs. I ran in high school but wasn't dedicated and wasn't any good, then dabbled a bit off and on since then. Last spring I started running regularly: about 30miles per week - not really structured, just three or four days of 10k runs and one longer run on the weekend. I suspect if the OP did nothing more than this fitness routine, he'd be running 20min for 5k by the end of his first month, no problem.

I don't know. There's a thread on runners world where all the participants are trying to break 20 minutes and some have been trying for months or even years and still can't do or have just barely squeaked under.

And these are people running 5-6 days a week with workouts and long runs and all that.

Of course you'll have people that can break 20 off a minimum amount of training, but I don't think it's all that easy for most people to get under 20 without doing quite a bit of work for it.

Any suggestions on a routine? I'm at 15 mpw right now and that's all from three miles per day, five days a week at a very easy pace. Anything I should change? What's next? Thanks guys.