I need help settin a realistic 5k time. Ive just begun running again after being lazy for a while, and im trying to come up with a realistic goal for a 5k in September.
My background... 16:50 pr in HS, 16:22 in college though not running for a school, just on my own. I am a 36 years old guy.
I am not overweight, 5'10 160, just hadnt been running but here and there for the last 6 years or so. I started running 5 days a week on March 23 this year. With runs of 2-4 miles, approximately 15 miles per week, with the 2 miles being a tempo run and all else moderate to easy. I ran a 23:49 on March 23 to set a baseline for my 5k. On April 26th i ran my first official 5k race and ran 19:32. This was all on the previous training mileage listed. Now bear in mind i realize a 4:00 improvement is fully due to running a baseline 5k without training at all leading up to it, and I dont expect those gains to be repeated.
I have now pushed my mileage to 4 mile tempo runs and 6-7 mile easy runs. 1 to 2 tempo runs a week, all else easy. I do 6-8 striders twice a week after long easy runs. This puts me around 25 or so miles per week now.
My question is, am I reaching too far to set a goal for 18:00 by september? I want to be realistic, and not set an unattainable goal. Any suggestions on a good goal?
Thank you so much for any advise
I do plan on bumping up my mileage again by june, but not greatly, and adding intervals to a weekly or every other week rotation.