Can i be a sub 16 5k with only 45-50mpw

'RE: Can i be a sub 16 5k with only 45-50mpw'

'The short answer is yes. I ran my 5k PR, which is a 16:02, while running through a 95 mile week'

Where is the logic there?

I trained with a guy who ran 14.40 off 40-50 mpw. Off the same training I was running a minute slower. He also ran 8:44 for the steeplechase!

I ran 16:20 off 50 mpw.

A few years later, I ran 15:50 off 35 mpw.

The following year, I ran 15:40 off 65 mpw.

Yes.

I ran 16:07.9 (just checked! :D) at 17. At the time I was doing three workouts (or two and a race) per week and nothing else.

I ran 15:15 without running over 35 miles a week for two months. I didn't run any faster throughout the season, but it was a 40 second PR.

JrXC712 wrote:

Can I get down under a 16 minute 5k with only doing 45 to 50 miles a week or must I be in the higher mileage?

The ONLY thing that matters here is whether you have the talent to do it or not. I ran 15:48 in high school on 15-20 miles a week MAX, with some weeks as little as 10 MPW. So, YES it can be done if you have the talent to do it.

There is no one formula that you can plug in for every person to give a desired result.

For example...

Runner A runs 30 MPW and runs only 16:48. He then ups his mileage over the next year to 80 MPW and then runs 14:50.

Runner B runs 30 MPW and runs 16:07. He then ups his mileage over the next year to 80 MPW and then runs 15:42.

Runner A started at a worse place but got to a better place than Runner B did even with the same increase in training.

Every runner is different in terms of starting ability, and ever runner is different in terms of ability increase due to training. Make no mistake though, the TALENT level for each runner never changes.

I had mono one summer. Zero miles for 8 weeks. Throughout the fall ran three 8 milers a week. Started training for indoor track in December. From January to February ran less than 40 miles a week, but raced ever weekend: 1500's, 3000's and 5,000. First week of March ran 14:53.

It's all relative to talent. I could run a million miles a week and never break 16. A friend of mine ran consistent 15-mid in high school, and likely never broke 30 mpw. At age 40 he decided to make a comeback training "the right way." Every time he got near 40 mpw, he got stress fractures. But in his early 40s off of 25-30 mpw, he ran sub-17 on a regular basis. But he had talent (4:25 mile in HS, 51 speed in the 400).

I was a 16:03 5k XC senior year of HS. During the mid to late season, we averaged 50-55mpw, which is when I ran that 16:03. During the summer before, I was hitting high 60s. So it is relevant to when you race and what mileage you run. It all depends on your natural ability and if you respond well at that amount of mileage.

gamecock wrote:

It's all relative to talent. I could run a million miles a week and never break 16. A friend of mine ran consistent 15-mid in high school, and likely never broke 30 mpw. At age 40 he decided to make a comeback training "the right way." Every time he got near 40 mpw, he got stress fractures. But in his early 40s off of 25-30 mpw, he ran sub-17 on a regular basis. But he had talent (4:25 mile in HS, 51 speed in the 400).

If you are running a million miles a week, you are destroying 16 minutes for 5k every time you run.

JrXC712 wrote:

Can I get down under a 16 minute 5k with only doing 45 to 50 miles a week or must I be in the higher mileage?

.

If you have the talent, you can run a sub 16 minute 5k on ten miles a week.

I was no spectacular talent but, at age 19, ran a 16:20 3 mile having never run further than 1.5 miles before that (off of playing basketball and running 1.25 miles at top speed every morning).

Bullshi.....

Chapa ran 28:32 on 100+ mpw in high school

He also ran 7:37.7 on 70-80 mpw in college

The mileage doesn't completely make the runner

aaaand this is also 10 years old, lol