Beating 19 at 29- Please help!

work on getting your easy run pace down to 7-7:15. The best way to do this is to push the pace on easy runs and tempo - ie a sustained sub max effort for 3-5 miles.

I don't think you need to lower your easy run pace down to 7 or 7:15 pace. Easy runs are called easy for a reason. Over time, your easy run pace should get a bit quicker naturally. If your goal is sub 19, I don't think you need to be doing easy run paces faster than 7:30/mile.

Basically, just keep putting in the miles and slowly up that mileage over time. A good rule of thumb is 10% increase in mileage per week. Maybe once a week, throw in a tempo run at a pace you can sustain for at least 3 miles. I would think at your current fitness, you could try seeing how 7 min/mile feels for a tempo pace.

Also, don't be afraid to hop into several 5ks and experiment with how you approach the race. That way, you can develop a feel for how fast to go out in order to maintain sub 6:10 pace for the whole 5k (which would be 19 flat). It will let you know how kind of training you need to do to accomplish that objective.

Get up to 40 mpw. Do lots of hills. Once a week, either a longer hill (800m) or sprint a short, steeper hill (8-12x). Workouts like 1/2/3/2/1 (i.e. 1 min hard, equal easy) are good.

The thing to really watch out for is the fact that you can probably run a lot faster than your body is ready to handle. Keep track workouts and hard efforts resonable. Do not join a club/training group and gun for the fast guys during a workout. That will help keep you injury free.

Excellent feedback. I ran 3.5 tonight, after work, at 7:08-7:04-7:14. It felt like a pretty strong pace, probably not sustainable for another full mile, but I felt good after.

I'm 3 weeks into running again, and right now a 19 seems light years away. Hills will be in my diet Friday

distance runner 10k wrote:

work on getting your easy run pace down to 7-7:15. The best way to do this is to push the pace on easy runs and tempo - ie a sustained sub max effort for 3-5 miles.

Ridiculous, IMO.

Easy should be easy. Tempo should be fast.