Just to update I did manage to break 18 with a 17:45 last week. It's only been a year but I've made huge jumps in running. I can't believe my long run used to be 4 miles that's my morning double now! I still remember when 15mpw was hell on my legs. Now I am able to complete a 100mpw with 3 workouts of 7x1000, 3 mile + 2 mile tempo, 17 long run if I want to. Here's what I've done since December 2015.
74, 45, 90, 75, 75, 88, 104, 15, 90, 72, 36, 86, 50, 90, 80, 80, 38, 80, 80, 80, 45, 70, 65, 70, 30, 65, 45, 60, 30, 56, 40, 55, 25, 50, 37, 50, 22, 45, 30, 12, 45, 20, 40, 28, 40, 12, 30, 20, 30, 25, 20, 25.
I would of ran more 100s but I missed a couple doubles those weeks but I was still running 10 miles as my main run. Also got up to 17 miles as a long run. I was running at 5:00km pace and 5:30km for recovery doubles.
I've lost like a stone too going from 177lb to 162lb. So I hope this inspired any new runners who are currently building mileage, just stick with it and be patient and you can do it.
I dropped my mileage to 8 milers and 4 milers instead of 10s and 5s and I've been racing every weekend for the last 4 weeks. I've knocked off some good time from all the high mileage, gonna race again this weekend and see if I can keep improving.
The thing is I've jumped up two VDOTS in three weeks, should I ignore the new VDOT or train at it? Also is it a bad idea to keep racing every weekend? Is it possible to get another PB?
Here's my 5K progression from the time of the original post.
03/12/2016 354 3 17:45 72.77% PB
26/11/2016 353 8 18:05 71.43% PB
19/11/2016 352 8 18:44 68.95%
05/11/2016 350 6 18:22 70.33% PB
29/10/2016 349 9 18:54 68.34%
08/10/2016 346 32 20:49 62.05%
01/10/2016 345 10 18:46 68.83%
24/09/2016 344 9 18:54 68.34%
03/09/2016 341 11 18:57 68.16%
27/08/2016 340 25 20:38 62.60%
06/08/2016 337 7 18:30 69.82% PB
25/06/2016 331 19 19:24 66.49%
18/06/2016 330 7 19:21 66.67%
04/06/2016 328 52 21:41 59.49%
28/05/2016 327 13 18:51 68.44% PB
21/05/2016 326 19 19:53 64.88%
14/05/2016 325 45 21:53 58.95%
07/05/2016 324 82 22:55 56.29%
30/04/2016 323 54 21:48 59.17%
23/04/2016 322 13 19:04 67.66% PB
16/04/2016 321 62 23:03 55.97%
09/04/2016 320 15 19:50 65.04%
26/03/2016 318 12 19:19 66.78% PB
19/03/2016 317 31 20:53 61.77%
12/03/2016 316 32 20:10 63.97%
20/02/2016 313 18 20:05 64.23%
06/02/2016 311 32 20:15 63.70%
19/12/2015 303 14 19:57 64.66% PB
03/10/2015 292 25 20:36 62.62% PB