Take mefrom 17 to sub 16 in one year

Here are some examples of what you should be running if you want to run a sub 16:

Easy Pace- 6:54 Per Mile

Threshold Pace

400m: 1:22 (82 Sec)

800m: 02:45

1000m: 03:26

mile: 5:32

Interval Training

400m: 1:16 (76)

1000m: 3:10

1200m: 03:48

Repetition Pace

200m: 34

400m: 70

800m: 2:20

I hope that this helped you out!

Bump.

Let's get workouts in here that people have done when running 15:45-16:15, not just paces pasted from McMillan calculator.

I don't know what your mileage is but if it's under 80 mph you should run more. Running more is important for most people. If you just did that alone and did the same workouts that you are doing now you will more than likely see a benefit. If you're currently running 60mpw and you make your way up to 100 miles a week over a few months and are able to sustain that and do your old workouts, you will be much faster. Once you are adjusted to the mileage you can increase the duration and intensities of your tempo/LT runs. You should also do some strides and/or hills at least once a week. That alone should get you close. I don't know what type of runner you are but if you already have some amount of speed (can run 4:40 mile) then what I just said should help you. If you don't already do a lot of miles and you're not old, I think that shaving 1:00 off your time in a year is realistic. If you are able to shave that 1:00 off your time in a year don't expect to be able to take another 1:00 off inthi following year. It's doesn't really work like that usually.

Yeah, how did you get to 17:00?

If you did it off speed and just 40 miles per week, then definitely boost your miles.

If you did it off endurance, then take track work and the little things serious to improve your speed.

In the end you need to bring it all together consistently at a higher level. At a minimum you'll need to be doing 50+ miles per week if you aren't relying on talent. Train your body to handle the speed or else your form will never be aggressive enough to run a really fast 5k.

I went from 17:30 (XC) to 15:45 (Track) in a year.

My mileage increased from about 35 to 55 mpw, but the biggest differences were:

- 3 mile tempo runs twice a week in addition to regular training as the 1st of 2 runs that day. No warm-up or cool-down. Sometime in the AM I would just lace up, head out and let the pace quicken until I felt like I could hold that pace comfortably, then shut it down at 3 miles. When I first started doing these I would start at around 7:30 pace for the first half mile and the last mile would be around 6:00. By the time I was in peak shape in the spring, the first mile might be 6:15 and the last one sub 5:30. I vividly remember the first time I ran under 17 for one of these runs and how easy it felt.

- Strength training. Just some basic stuff like lunges, calf raises, other plyometrics

- Even though my mileage did not increase that much, the long run did. I went from running 8-10 miles as a long run to 12-15 miles.

- No real magic workouts, but I was primarily training for the 800/1500, which did include some longer intervals (3 x 1000m, 6x600m, 3x(4x400))

Have you already periodized, building a strong aerobic base before sharpening for the season?

Also, do NOT listen to the second poster and start running workouts based on goal pace when your current fitness isn't there yet. It doesn't work that way.

andyboyce30 wrote:

Here are some examples of what you should be running if you want to run a sub 16:

Easy Pace- 6:54 Per Mile

Threshold Pace

400m: 1:22 (82 Sec)

800m: 02:45

1000m: 03:26

mile: 5:32

Interval Training

400m: 1:16 (76)

1000m: 3:10

1200m: 03:48

Repetition Pace

200m: 34

400m: 70

800m: 2:20

I hope that this helped you out!

Did you get these figures from Jack Daniels?

I am running 50 miles per week after coming back from injury. Any ways to increase mileage without risking injury greatly? Grass and trails mainly? I went from 19 to 17 in 15 months by the way

I am immensely impressed by your huge improvement in only 1 year. Should the 3 mile tempo runs just be 90% of effort? Not all out but heavy breathing? And how important are the strength training exercises?

If running on trails and grass works for you, then sure. I do 100 mile weeks on the road and that works for me. I assume that you are quite young and I don't know what your injury background is. I run my mileage very slowly (7:30-8:00 pace) but I run my workouts very hard. I don't have a lot of speed so I like to go really hard on tempo runs. Anyway, because I run my easy days very easy, it's always been easy for me to increase my mileage without injury. If you are running your easy days below 7:00 pace, this may be a little hard on you. It's really hard to say because every runner is different. In the summer I think that running is the most important thing and not to worry so much about workouts. I do like to run a long run of at least 15 miles and run a tempo every now and then. 15 Miles may be a little long for you right now but 10-12 should be fine. I like 3x2 miles with a two minute rest or a five mile tempo. If your mileage is lower you can just run a three mile tempo. if you're around 17:xx then you can run six minute pace as your tempo pace without a problem. If it feels too easy don't worry about it. If it feels extremely easy you could run maybe 5:45 pace but I wouldn't go a lot faster than that for now.

If you want to increase mileage I think that two things are very important. Don't try and jump too much too soon. For instance, increase your mileage by 10 miles for a week and run that for a few weeks. If you are running 5 days a week then just increase your daily mileage by two miles. Once you feel comfortable with that, then increase it again. Do not try and add 20 miles in a week if you've never run mileage before. The risk of injury is not worth it. Secondly, do not run fast all the time, especially when you are increasing your mileage. If you are doing strides and tempos, it's not really going to matter how slow you are running your easy days. Do strides/hills at least once a week and do a tempo run. Always err on the side of NOT overdoing it. Don't be a workout champion. If 6:00 pace is your tempo pace, its better to run 6:00 pace than 5:40 just because you can. Stay fresh and don't overdo things. You just have to be patient. Running is not a sport where you can have a huge improvement in one month. It's just not going to happen. If you're patient and moderately cautious, you will see great improvements over time.

Appreciate all that you said. Cheers mate! Going to take my easy days easier like above 7:00/mi and do 3 mile tempos like u mentioned.

what about recovery? any tipperooos?

anotherrunner1 wrote:

Appreciate all that you said. Cheers mate! Going to take my easy days easier like above 7:00/mi and do 3 mile tempos like u mentioned.

what about recovery? any tipperooos?

I'm not sure what you mean by recovery. Recovery pace?I think of all easy runs as recovery. If you aren't doing a workout then I just think go slow. Save your energy for tempos/track workouts/races. If you're looking for recovery supplement or something like that, I don't really use things like that. Make sure that you do strides or really short 10-12 second hills twice a week too. With tempos and mileage that will keep you sharp in the off season.

anotherrunner1 wrote:

Appreciate all that you said. Cheers mate! Going to take my easy days easier like above 7:00/mi and do 3 mile tempos like u mentioned.

what about recovery? any tipperooos?

Yeah mate, stop talking like a 17yo girl. "tipperooos". bloody hell.

impressive improvement

my thoughts:

step 1: build your endurance - How? long easy pace run....if you can go 8 now go for 10...if you are already at 10 go for 12. etc. You can do this run once per week or even twice per week during this early phase - on grass or soft trail would be best.

If you can get you endurance up from where it is now - this means you can run further before getting tired and this helps you when running at a faster pace later (by delaying how soon you will have to slow down).

step 2: tempo time

after you have focused on building endurance - start to focus on tempos (you can do them in step 1, but now you emphasize them. they become more important - long run can be just 1/week so that you can do 2 or possibly 3 tempos per week....no need for any other workouts at this time...instead focus on controlled steady running - the pace should feel like you could hold it for 10 miles even though you may only be going 4-6 miles...over time you want to try to build this up to 10 miles however. if you feel irritable during these runs or start to stress about them - your are going too fast = slow down. they should start easy and gradually up the pace to just slightly slower than you feel you should be going (in other words - hold back a little) too many runners push these runs too much - this is not a race...and the goal is not to try to run faster than you did the time before - this is a process where you are trying to condition your body to maintain a strong pace for a longer and longer amount of time...when you can run 10 miles at whatever pace (maybe for you it is 6:00) then you can speed it up and start to shorten the distance to maybe 7-8 miles at 5:50 for a while.....that is step 3:

step 3: a little faster now

slowly bring the pace down

begin to race

drop the mielage some

it is ok to swap out a tempo for an interval workout now