Sub 16:00...needs help

My times are similar. 24 years old, would like to crack 16 in the 5K. You should be able to hit atleast 5:50's in the half. I ran 1:16 when my 5K best was 16:30.

You guys should check out this thread. I have not posted in a few days cause I am sick and not running, but am starting back up with a race, of all things, tomorrow. You may find some interesting workouts in what we are doing. And you are free to ask any questions.

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=3233801

My pr is 15:39 (indoors) (17 years and 20 pounds ago). Nothing spectacular but in your ballpark. To hit that I averaged 65-75 miles per week, two main interval sessions. I did this program from Jan 3 to end of February. Base of similar mileage for 6 weeks after XC season (with a weekly tempo run of 4-5 miles, 5:45-50 pace)

Tuesday 4-6x1200 (1 lap jog)beginning averaged 3:45, end averaged 3:38-40 (sometimes substituted with 3-4 x 1 mile at 5:05 average during this period, 1 lap jog recovery

Thursday 20x400 (1 minute rest) beginning, 75 second average, end worked up to 25x400 (1 minute rest) average 71.5 seconds. I was more speed oriented so the quarters felt easier which is why they were faster than the 1200s.

Easy days were 7-9 miles at 6:40 to 7:00 mile with a long run of 10-14 miles. Ran twice a day 3 days a week. Easy am runs 7:00-7:15 per mile (3-5 miles).

I tended to train better than I raced (I was a head case) I think I underperformed but can't do anything about that now. Coach had us peak for indoor conference and try to hold it too long. Crashed hard by mid April.

If you can run 5k in 16:32 as long as you have done some long runs, 6:00 pace for a half marathon is well within your capabilities. My half marathon pr is 1:18:36 and I set that 2 years after my 5k best. I ran a 16:40 5k three weeks before the half marathon best.

Good luck to you.

The things that got you to 16:30 will also get you to 15:59. The biggest thing is what you already know is that you need to run year-round.

Sounds like you race pretty often, which is good. My approach would be to do 12 weeks of base, then 12 weeks of "competitive" training. then 2 weeks off. Then repeat. That would be 26 wks + 26 wks = 52 wks.

Base can be whatever you want, there is no magic formula. But this works:

M: 5-10 easy + 5-10 x 100m @ 400 pace

T: 10 mi hard run

W: 5-10 easy

T: 10 mi hard or fartlek

F: 5 easy

S: 12-15 easy

Su: 5 easy or cross training

It depends on what volume you are used to. If you are low, start with the minimums, if you are used to 50-60 then aim for the max.

With this schedule you can race Saturday or Sun pretty easily, and it will be like a hard run.

For the "other" 12 wks, you can do what was outlined above me. For a 15:59 5k I like 1200m and 1600m repeats like above: 4-5 x 1200m and 3-4 x 1600m. Enough rest for your HR to drop to 120. You don't want the rest super-short as the 1200s are VO2max training and the 1600 reps are clsoer to LT work.

About like this:

M: 5-10 easy + 5-10 x 100m @ 400 pace

T: 6-8 x 800m @ 2:28-2:30

W: 5-10 easy

T: 3-4 x 1600 @ 5:05-5:10

F: 5 easy

S: 12-15 easy or RACE

Su: 5 easy or cross training

You can rearrange the days if you have a SUN race or you feel like you need two EASY days for a Saturday race. You can also do a workout of 10 mi hard at 5:40 or so IN PLACE of one interval workout.

Once you have done 12 weeks of decent races, take a break. do some other sports you miss for a few weeks, than start with base-training again. Aim to do more volume and faster paces than the cycle before. do this until you break 16:00, or 15:30 or 15:00!!

This is a really good schedule, at least in my mind. Too many people try to over complicate things with fancy workouts trying to accomplish all sorts of stuff in one workout. Spend some time building the base, then work on the specific stuff, and be consistent every week.

I would add a couple of wrinkles personally, this is just me. I would do the 5-10 x 100 at least twice a week, every week, including the base phase. Maybe substitute 200's once a week for these strides once a week. Do not do this if it takes away from the primary work though. The most important thing you can do is the work between 4:50 and 5:15 or so pace.

ghghghghgh wrote:

My times are similar. 24 years old, would like to crack 16 in the 5K. You should be able to hit atleast 5:50's in the half. I ran 1:16 when my 5K best was 16:30.

thats a great half compared to your 5k. most people who run a 1:16 run faster than 16:30